The names to watch out for in Super Formula despite Rovanpera’s late dropout

It would be fair to describe the new Super Formula season, which begins this weekend with a pair of races at Motegi, as one of the most anticipated in quite some years. And that applies even if the biggest star attraction, Kalle Rovanpera, won’t be among the 24 drivers that make up the series’ largest grid since early 1999.

Even without Rovanpera, there are still six international drivers, the highest tally this side of the COVID-19 pandemic, including two fresh arrivals from Formula 2. There are three new teams, bolstering the total to 16, while a reshuffled schedule, as Motegi replaces Suzuka as the venue for the curtain-raiser, only adds to the unpredictability.

As we enter the fourth year of the SF23 era, and with almost-universal stability on the technical regulations (the only difference of note being the switch to E10 fuel), the margins between the teams are only set to get slimmer and slimmer. Last year, it wasn’t uncommon for the slowest driver in Q1 to be within a second of the fastest, and the increased grid size means even just making it into Q2 will be a bigger achievement than ever.

When it comes to picking a favourite, reigning champion Ayumu Iwasa will be tough to dislodge. The Racing Bulls Formula 1 reserve lamented the fact he didn’t win the title by a wider margin last year amid unreliability and one or two costly errors, and almost as if to make up for that, has set himself the lofty goal of winning all 12 of this year’s races.

Even if that target isn’t terribly realistic, Iwasa was the clear benchmark in the second half of last year, and probably should have won the title much more easily than he did, as the man he deposed as champion and his nearest rival in the points, Sho Tsuboi, admitted.

It felt like Team Mugen, or at least the #15 side of the garage (now the #1 this year), returned to its usual high level last season, having finally come to terms with the switch to common dampers that led to a sub-par 2024. Iwasa also seemed to be boosted by the change to the latest 46% renewable Yokohama slick tyre, which remains in service this year.

Iwasa not only wants to retain his title, he also wants to dominate in 2026

Motegi was in fact one of Iwasa’s weaker tracks last year, but a full resurfacing of the Tochigi Prefecture venue over the winter – the first in 14 years – means there will be a reset of sorts, as drivers head into first qualifying on Saturday with just one day of running under their belts.

A handful of Super Formula drivers had the chance to try the ‘new’ Motegi in last month’s Super Taikyu season opener. Among them is Dandelion Racing’s Kakunoshin Ohta, who set a new series lap record at the circuit in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 as lap times jumped by over three seconds compared to 2025. And if that’s any indication of things to come this weekend, then Tomoki Nojiri’s five-year-old lap record could well be vulnerable.

However, Ohta, along with Dandelion team-mate Tadasuke Makino, arguably has the most to lose from the changes after the team’s dominant showing at Motegi last year. “There will be a big impact on performance, but I think the new surface doesn’t help us, as it should help those that struggled before,” admitted Ohta. “It will close the pack up.

"I’m managing expectations in terms of where we expect to be. We could have the car perfectly in the window, but if I've only got two 90-minute sessions to beat 10 years of experience that these guys have of going around these circuits, I think it's going to be very, very difficult" Luke Browning

“The new tarmac will especially help with the degradation. There’s a lot more grip for both traction and braking. Some corners also feel different in terms of the amount of bite, especially the final chicane, where the car is in the combined phase. There will be much less sliding, which was always an area where you gained or lost a lot of time.”

As well as Iwasa, another driver who is likely to welcome the change is Tsuboi, as Motegi is a long-standing ‘bogey’ track for TOM’S. “Because the track has been resurfaced, I’m hoping this acts as a reset for us,” said the 2024 champion. “Of course we won’t know how it is until we try it, but it would be great if we can somehow use it to our advantage.”

Referring to the ‘big three’ teams that have dominated the SF23 era, winning every race but one between them in that time, Ohta added: “The key to the weekend will be how to adapt, so I think it’s a chance for a team other than TOM’S, Mugen and Dandelion to win.”

Fraga scored a breakthrough win last year, but can he turn that into a title attack?

Photo by: JRP

The one occasion that a non-’big three’ team broke through was in last year’s season finale at Suzuka, as Nakajima Racing driver Igor Fraga capped off a fine rookie season with a win in the ‘replacement’ sprint race that was held in place of the cancelled Fuji round. The big question now is whether Brazilian Fraga, along with his team-mate Ren Sato, can make that final step to being a consistent threat for wins across the entire season.

“The goal is to be fighting for the championship,” Fraga said. “It won’t be easy, but if you look at the last two rounds of last year, I think it’s quite possible. The car base has improved a lot, and especially since the final two rounds of last year, the car became a lot harder to get any ‘oscillation’ regarding the performance in different temperatures.”

Of the other internationals, Sacha Fenestraz has been working hard to close the deficit to his TOM’S team-mate Tsuboi in his second year back from Formula E, and should be a threat to add to his sole win from 2022. Ex-F2 racer Zak O’Sullivan switches from Kondo Racing to Team Impul and has the unenviable task of trying to score the once-dominant team its first points since 2024.

But it’s the other Briton on the grid, Williams F1 reserve Luke Browning, who is likely to be the focus of most international fans in the absence of Rovanpera. However, pre-season testing was nothing to write home about, as he ended up 18th overall for Kondo after his monster 130R crash on the first day, so it’s no surprise that the 24-year-old from Cheshire isn’t expecting to be at the sharp end in his first race weekend in Japan.

“I’m managing expectations in terms of where we expect to be,” said Browning. “We could have the car perfectly in the window, but if I've only got two 90-minute sessions to beat 10 years of experience that these guys have of going around these circuits, I think it's going to be very, very difficult. And I don't want to underestimate how talented these guys are. 

“Our goal is to continue learning and get there by the end of the season, but I think we need to manage our expectations at the start of the season and see where we go.”

Browning suffered a monster crash in testing as he got to grips having transferred over from F2

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Browning makes the move to Super Formula from F2 along with Roman Stanek, who is driving for one of the three new teams on the block, Buzz MK Racing, although the team itself is being operated by Kondo. Stanek turned some respectable times in testing considering he missed last year’s post-season test, ending up within three tenths of Browning, but the F2 race winner still faces an uphill task to challenge for points.

The same applies to F3 convert Charlie Wurz, the son of ex-F1 racer Alexander, who is driving for the revived Toyota-powered Team Goh outfit – and while the name isn’t new, the make-up of the team is different to the one that subsequently morphed into TGM Grand Prix. Much like Stanek, it would be wise not to expect too much from Wurz, who estimated after the Suzuka test that his pace would put him only around the P15 mark.

The new team in best position to make an impact at Motegi is Delightworks Racing with its veteran hire Nobuharu Matsushita, returning to the series for the first time in 18 months and determined to make the most of his chance. The Honda-powered team has aggressively recruited staff from Matsushita’s former team B-Max and his former Super GT employer Mugen, and fifth in the Suzuka test suggests things are coalescing nicely.

It would be remiss not to mention the driver who actually topped the Suzuka test, Rookie Racing’s Nirei Fukuzumi. After a difficult second season at KCMG last year, the perennially underrated two-time GP3 feature race winner looks like he may have the tools to finally challenge at the front

Matsushita is careful not to get overexcited – he cites the example of ThreeBond’s Atsushi Miyake placing third in testing last year only to struggle once the season proper began – but the former F2 driver’s past record makes Delightworks feel like a genuine dark horse.

Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the driver who actually topped the Suzuka test, Rookie Racing’s Nirei Fukuzumi. After a difficult second season at KCMG last year, the perennially underrated two-time GP3 feature race winner looks like he may have the tools to finally challenge at the front of the field again as he replaces the retired Kazuya Oshima.

The Rookie team may only have one car, but the Akio Toyoda-owned squad is certainly not to be underestimated, and with Fukuzumi it feels like this could be the breakthrough year. It’s yet another intriguing sub-plot to keep tabs on when Super Formula begins this weekend. 

Having topped the Suzuka test, can Fukuzumi spring a surprise at Rookie?

Photo by: Masahide Kamio