First victory for Ukyo Sasahara at Fuji, big accident for Sacha Fenestraz

Ukyo Sasahara did not miss the opportunity for a first victory in Super Formula. In Fuji, the Team Mugen driver won the 6th round of the season. Starting in a solitary 13th place, the Japanese was able to take advantage of the racing events and the 2nd safety car to win, at the end of a very lively race. Sho Tsuboi (P.mu/Cerumo INGING) signs his first podium of the season, ahead of championship leader Tomoki Nojiri (Team Mugen).

Hirakawa and Fenestraz on the mat in the first rounds at Fuji

From the first lap at Fuji, the championship runner-up, Ryo Hirakawa (Team Impul), was hit by Toshiki Oyu's car at the exit of turn 1. The driver Toyota in Hypercar was forced to retire, just like Atsushi Miyake (Team Goh), caught in the accident. Two laps later, it was the turn of Franco-Argentinian Sacha Fenestraz to be eliminated from the race. To gain 7th place, the driver of the Kondo Racing team and Naoki Yamamoto (Nakajima Racing) touched each other at high speed. Destabilized, car number 4 went straight towards the wall. The violent shock split the car in two. Sacha Fenestraz emerged from the accident unscathed, but lost big points in the championship.

Smooth @sachafenestraz is alright. But damn, that crash was frightening. #SFormula pic.twitter.com/uJ6HKxKMQD

—Ari TH Feeder |アリ TH フィーダー (@AriTHFeeder) July 17, 2022

Unlucky Sekiguchi, opportunistic Sasahara

After the intervention of the first Safety Car, Yuhi Sekiguchi remained in the lead of the race until the first pit stops. However, emerging ahead of Nojiri, the Impul team driver was the victim of a loose wheel on his exit lap. Stopped at turns 10-11, the pole sitter was unable to restart and was forced to retire.

The intervention of the safety car benefited drivers who had not yet stopped, as was the case for Sasahara. Coming out in the lead after his obligatory stop, the driver covered by Red Bull in Japan managed the race restart perfectly. He didn't let go of the controls until the checkered flag and won at Fuji with a 2 second lead over Tsuboi. Giuliano Alesi had to retire after a problem during his pit stop.

🥇WINNER🥇
SUPER FORMULA Rd.6#富士スピードウェイ

TEAM MUGEN 1️⃣5️⃣ #笹原右京 player
が波乱のレースを制して#SFormula 初勝利👏#SFNEXT50 pic.twitter.com/dJOqmnTVYD

— スーパーフォーミュラ公式 (@SUPER_FORMULA) July 17, 2022

In the championship, it was Tomoki Nojiri who performed very well in Fuji. Taking advantage of the retirements of his closest rivals, he now has a 29-point lead over Hirakawa and 36 over Fenestraz. 

The classification of the race: 

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