Alex Palou wins without trembling at Fuji

Since the start of the Fuji weekend, Alex Palou (Nakajima Racing – Honda) seemed to have that little extra on the track compared to the competition. Dominant in qualifying, the Spaniard overcame the wet and tricky conditions of the track this Sunday to score his first career success in Japan.

From the first laps, after a start under safety car regime, the former resident of the FIA ​​European Championship F3 has built up a head start against its rivals led by Sho Tsuboi (P.mu/cerumo.INGING – Toyota) and Yuhi Sekiguchi (Team Impul – Toyota).

A useful margin as the track proves difficult to understand, Palou almost being surprised at turn 1, and leaving a few seconds behind. But not enough to break the momentum of the Iberian driver who finally won ahead of Tsuboi and Nick Cassidy (Team Tom's – Toyota).

Palou's victory offers Nakajima Racing a first success since 2010 in the series. Leader of the championship before this meeting, Naoki Yamamoto (Dandelion Racing – Honda) finished 11th but remains in control of the general classification with 27 points, ahead of Nick Cassidy (22).

Note the 14th place of Patricio O'Ward (Team Mugen – Honda) after difficult qualifying yesterday.

Discover the full report of the Fuji Super Formula event, in issue 2225 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.