Super Formula Sugo: Fenestraz strategy pays off for first win

The field was essentially divided into two groups by the second of two safety car periods on lap nine of 53. Most drivers opted to get their mandatory pitstop out of the way during the caution, but a group of seven elected to stay out.

Fenestraz was the leader of the former group, having jumped ahead of poleman Tomoki Nojiri at the start and comfortably held off the reigning champion at the first safety car restart. 

By pitting in, Fenestraz risked losing time in traffic and allowing those that hadn't pitted, led by TOM'S driver Ritomo Miyata, to build up a buffer before making their stops.

Initially it seemed that Miyata was in position to do exactly that, as he gained more than a second lap on Fenestraz once the race resumed on lap 15.

By lap 20, the gap between Miyata and eighth-placed Fenestraz was out to almost 12 seconds, growing to more than 20 seconds by lap 30.

But Fenestraz was able to maintain his pace despite being stuck behind the Team Goh machine of Atsushi Miyake, the last of those that stayed out, and Miyata was unable to keep up his earlier blistering speed as his tyres faded.

The gap between the pair reached 27 seconds before Miyata finally bit the bullet and pitted on lap 46 of what eventually became a timed race running to 49 laps.

That cleared the way for Fenestraz to take the victory by five seconds ahead of Toshiki Oyu (Nakajima Racing), who leapt from fifth to third with a good start and then jumped Nojiri for second place in the pits.

Ritomo Miyata, Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

As well as Fenestraz's first win in Super Formula, it also marked a first for the Kondo Racing squad since the 2019 Okayama race.

Nojiri nonetheless extended his points lead in third, with nearest title rival Ryo Hirakawa only able to salvage seventh place from 16th on the grid.

The Le Mans 24 Hours winner was up to third after the second safety car period, behind Miyata and Tadasuke Makino, dropped out of the points when he made his pitstop and then picked off several slower cars to make his way back up to seventh.

Makino was the top finisher of those that stayed out under the safety car, rejoining in fifth after his stop and then passing Dandelion Racing team-mate Hiroki Otsu late on for fourth.

Miyata arguably stayed out too long as he dropped behind Makino and finished sixth, with Hirakawa and three other drivers that pitted under the safety car, Nirei Fukuzumi (Drago Corse), Yuji Kunimoto (KCMG) and Ukyo Sasahara (Mugen) making up the points scorers.

It leaves Nojiri with an extended 17-point lead at the head of the standings, with Fenestraz now only seven points behind Hirakawa.

Fenestraz's Kondo Racing team-mate Kenta Yamashita was forced to watch from the sidelines after spinning at Turn 1 at the start, ostensibly due to slight contact with the Nakajima Racing machine of Naoki Yamamoto, and getting stuck on the inside of the track.

Nobuharu Matsushita likewise went off due to brake failure at Turn 1 while battling Makino at the first safety car restart, his crash causing the caution that provided the strategic intrigue.

Super Formula Sugo race results (49 laps):

Cla	#	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	4	Sacha Fenestraz	Kondo Racing	1:10'32.529
2	65	Toshiki Oyu	TCS Nakajima Racing	1:10'37.833	5.304
3	1	Tomoki Nojiri	Team Mugen	1:10'39.550	7.021
4	5	Tadasuke Makino	Dandelion Racing	1:10'39.675	7.146
5	6	Hiroki Otsu	Dandelion Racing	1:10'43.416	10.887
6	37	Ritomo Miyata	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1:10'44.183	11.654
7	20	Ryo Hirakawa	Team Impul	1:10'47.494	14.965
8	12	Nirei Fukuzumi	ThreeBond Drago CORSE	1:10'50.600	18.071
9	18	Yuji Kunimoto	KCMG	1:10'51.691	19.162
10	15	Ukyo Sasahara	Team Mugen	1:10'52.003	19.474
11	38	Sho Tsuboi	P.MU/CERUMO･INGING	1:10'53.864	21.335
12	64	Naoki Yamamoto	TCS Nakajima Racing	1:10'54.935	22.406
13	36	Giuliano Alesi	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1:10'55.220	22.691
14	14	Kazuya Oshima	docomo business ROOKIE	1:10'57.712	25.183
15	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Team Impul	1:11'00.747	28.218
16	53	Ren Sato	Team Goh	1:11'05.483	32.954
17	7	Kamui Kobayashi	KCMG	1:11'05.717	33.188
18	55	Atsushi Miyake	Team Goh	1:11'07.557	35.028
19	39	Sena Sakaguchi	P.MU/CERUMO･INGING	1:11'13.073	40.544
	50	Nobuharu Matsushita	B-Max Racing Team	15'36.760	42 Laps
	3	Kenta Yamashita	Kondo Racing
View full results