Kenta Yamashita fastest at Super Formula test days at Suzuka

Official testing for the 2024 Japanese Super Formula Championship took place on February 21 and 22 at the Suzuka circuit. A total of 21 drivers from 12 teams took part in these first tests of the season.

The morning and afternoon sessions of the first day took place in completely wet conditions, and red flags were raised three times in the morning and twice in the afternoon. In these conditions, Tadasuke Makino (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING, Honda engine) achieved the best time in the general classification of the first day (1:53.515 in session 1), followed by Tomoki Nojiri (TEAM MUGEN, Honda engine) (1' :53.544 in session 1) and Ayumu Iwasa (TEAM MUGEN, Honda Engine) (1:54.197 in session 1).

The weather became cloudy in the morning of the second day of testing and track conditions remained dry in the afternoon. Kenta Yamashita (KONDO RACING, Engine Toyota) achieved the best time of the day (1:36.327 in session 4). Next come Nirei Fukuzumi (Kids com Team KCMG, Toyota engine) (1:36.448 in session 4) and Ren Sato (PONOS NAKAJIMA RACING, Honda engine) (1:36.454 in session 4).

Pourchaire 6th on the second day

First day, Theo Pourchaire (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL, Toyota Engine) spun at turn 7 just after entering the track, just two minutes after the start of the first session. He stopped on the bed of gravel. This caused the first red flag to appear. The car suffered no damage, but due to traffic he was unable to set a good time, finishing in 15th place in the session with a time of 1:55.748.

Théo Pourchaire had difficulties on the wet Suzuka track – Photo: JRP

The afternoon session was also subject to unsettled conditions with varying amounts of rain, but he managed to close the gap to the leaders and finished 14th with a time of 1:56.461. The FIA ​​champion F2 2023, who has used only Pirelli tires throughout his career in car, seemed confused by the difference in tire characteristics.

Among the rookies, Ayumu Iwasa was the fastest in both sessions, finishing 3rd in session 1 with a time of 1:54.197 and 2nd in session 2 with a time of 1:54.544. Juju Noda (TGM Grand Prix, Toyota Engine) spun and went off the track once in the morning and once in the afternoon. His best time of the day was 2:03.499 (18th).

Pourchaire, on the other hand, recorded a time of 1:36.818 during the afternoon session of the second day. It was the first time in this test that he recorded a time in the region of 1 minute 36 seconds. Finally, he was fastest among the rookies with a 6th place in the general classification. Iwasa took 18th place (1:37.627) and Juju Noda took 21st (1:39.963).

The Overtake System (OTS) can be used up to an hour after the start of a session, and it appears that some cars were using the OTS on the lap where they recorded their best time.

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