Kondo defends ex-F1 driver Doohan despite three crashes in Super Formula test

Kondo Racing has come out in defence of Jack Doohan following the ex-Formula 1 driver’s troubled maiden Super Formula test blighted by three crashes at the same corner.

Driving for the Toyota-powered Kondo squad in this week’s Suzuka post-season test ahead of a likely switch to Japan next year, Doohan hit the barriers at the Degner 2 right-hander on all three days of running - all of which were relatively low-speed impacts.

Due to his existing contractual commitments with the Alpine F1 team, for which he contested the first six grands prix of 2025 before being replaced by Franco Colapinto, Doohan was unable to address the media directly at Suzuka.

However, Kondo Racing factory manager and de facto team boss Nobuaki Adachi came out in defence of the embattled Australian, praising the performance of the 22-year-old.

Adachi told Autosport: “Both Luke [Browning] and Jack performed very well. It just so happened that Jack had a series of crashes, but he is a driver with a lot of potential. Suzuka at this time of year is very difficult, and I think he’ll be able to make the necessary adjustments to ensure it doesn’t happen again next time.”

Doohan’s third crash occurred during the morning session of the final day at Suzuka, when conditions were at their best, and Kondo repaired the damaged #3 Dallara-Toyota in time for the last 30 minutes of the afternoon session.

He ended up ninth-fastest of the 14 rookies in action on Friday, and 26th overall, eight tenths of a second slower than Browning, who finished fourth in F2 this year. Adachi added that Kondo was determined to allow Doohan to end his maiden Super Formula test on a positive note.

“I think it would have been heartbreaking for him [if the final crash ended his test], so we did everything to get him back out on track,” said Adachi. “We really wanted him to leave not having a bad impression, and somehow we were able to do that, which I am happy about.”

Neither Doohan nor Williams junior Browning, who drove on the second and third days at Suzuka after returning from F1 test duties in Abu Dhabi, are officially confirmed to race next season, but it appears likely the pair will form Kondo’s 2026 line-up.

They are set to replace Kenta Yamashita and Zak O’Sullivan, who move on to fellow Toyota teams KCMG and Team Impul respectively. Browning concluded the test with the fifth-fastest time among the rookies and 13th overall, 0.661 seconds behind TOM’S pacesetter and fellow first-timer Ugo Ugochukwu.

On the team’s prospects for 2026, Adachi said: “Given our results in recent seasons, we’ve reached the conclusion that our cars have some issues. The feedback from Luke and Jack allowed us to identify some areas to improve, so we will verify those points ahead of the next test [at Suzuka] in February.”