Sugo Super Formula: Sekiguchi scores first pole since 2018

Sekiguchi did not appear to be among the favourites for pole at a track where he has won twice in Super Formula through free practice and the opening two segments of qualifying.

But after making it through in fourth in his Q1 group, and third in Q2 - also split into two groups for this weekend only - Sekiguchi saved the best for last as he posted two laps good enough for pole.

His best effort of 1m19.231s put him just 0.043s clear of Tadasuke Makino in the Honda-powered Dandelion Racing car, giving him his fifth career pole and a first since Okayama in 2018.

Inging rookie Sena Sakaguchi continued his impressive recent form by qualifying third, only 0.214s off the pace, ahead of fellow first-year driver Ritomo Miyata (TOM'S) and practice pacesetter Nirei Fukuzumi (Dandelion).

Autopolis winner Giuliano Alesi (TOM'S) couldn't quite replicate his wet-weather form from the previous round, qualifying in sixth, a little over a second off Sekiguchi's pace.

Toshiki Oyu (Nakajima Racing) and Hiroki Otsu (Mugen) completed the Q2 order.

In the second Mugen car, points leader Nojiri dropped out in a dramatic second segment of qualifying and will only line up 10th on the grid on Sunday, his worst starting position of the season so far.

Nojiri had been set to advance when Sho Tsuboi - fastest up to that point - and Nobuharu Matsushita went off almost simultaneously at Turn 2 and Horseback Corner respectively, bringing out the red flags.

Tomoki Nojiri, TEAM MUGEN

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

With Tsuboi and Matsushita both losing their laptimes as a result, Nojiri was a provisional fourth, but the session was resumed after that stoppage, allowing Sekiguchi to sneak ahead and into Q3.

It means Nojiri joins Kenta Yamashita (Kondo Racing) on the fifth row of the grid.

Tsuboi (Inging) meanwhile lines up 12th behind the KCMG car of Kazuto Kotaka, while Matsushita will start 14th behind reigning champion Naoki Yamamoto (Nakajima Racing), who was slowest in his Q2 group.

Ryo Hirakawa's replacement at Impul, Nissan SUPER GT regular Mitsunori Takaboshi, narrowly missed out on escaping Q1 and will make his second Super Formula start from 15th on the grid.

He is joined on row eight by Koudai Tsukakoshi (Drago Corse).

Q3 results:

Cla	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Team Impul	1'19.231
2	Tadasuke Makino	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1'19.274	0.043
3	Sena Sakaguchi	P.MU/CERUMO･INGING	1'19.445	0.214
4	Ritomo Miyata	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1'19.799	0.568
5	Nirei Fukuzumi	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1'19.828	0.597
6	Giuliano Alesi	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1'20.371	1.140
7	Toshiki Oyu	TCS Nakajima Racing	1'20.485	1.254
8	Hiroki Otsu	Red Bull MUGEN Team Goh	1'21.232	2.001