Photo: Super Formula Lights
Enzo Trulli claimed his first Super Formula Lights wins in round four at Fuji Speedway.
His maiden pole came in qualifying for race one, pipping Yuui Tsutsumi to top spot by 0.013 seconds. Syun Koide and Yuga Furutani were third and fourth fastest, and David Vidales was 12th and last having had his two fastest laps deleted.
The race started with Furutani stalling and dropping to last, while Trulli went unopposed at the front. Vidales cut the chicane after trying to go wheel-to-wheel with Igor Fraga, then ended up in a lengthy battle with Furutani before retiring in the pits at the end of lap 10.
Hibiki Taira took third from Koide on lap two, and it was not until the second half of the 21-lap race that he began to close in on Tsutsumi. On lap 17 there was a bit of weaving from Tsutsumi as he tried to break the tow, and on the last lap Taira (who was warned over track limits abuse) braked late at the chicane and the final corner but was not close enough to actually attempt passing.
The pair finished three seconds behind Trulli, who vaulted from seventh to fourth in the standings, and had a handy gap back to Koide.
Qualifying for race two was a close contest, and points leader Taira took his fourth pole of 2023 by 0.056s over Iori Kimura and with Koide just 0.085s back in third.
Kimura tried going down the inside of Taira at Coca Cola corner on lap one, and on lap two Taira weaved down the pit straight to try to break the tow.
That succeeded, and it was not until lap 10 he was pressured again. Kimura tried the outside at turn one and they ended up going side-by-side all the way to turn eight where he got ahead.
On the next lap Kimura weaved and it did not work, with Taira going down his inside at turn one. But he went too deep and Kimura got back ahead. For the remainder of the 15-lap race, Kimura would weave down the pit straight and both got warned over the matter.
Kimura won by 0.415s over Taira, but got a five-second penalty (and a penalty point) for multiple changes of direction. But with Taira getting a five-second penalty for track limits abuse, it meant Trulli in third should have inherited victory. However he was disqualified for an underweight car, so fourth-on-the-road Koide claimed his first win over Kimura and Taira.
Tsutsumi qualified fourth but sank down the order early on. However with fifth-on-the-road Vidales getting a 30s penalty and two penalty points for a manoeuvre that put Furutani out of the race, it meant Tsutsumi finished fifth behind Igor Fraga.
Trulli started from pole and won race three. Taira finished second and came under intense last-lap pressure from Kimura, who had got into third by passing Tsutsumi at turn three on lap six. Koide started fourth but was shuffled down to seventh in battles.
Results round-up
Race 1 (21 laps)
1 Enzo Trulli TOM’S 33m26.078s
2 Yuui Tsutumi Rn-sports +2.969s
3 Hibiki Taira TOM’S +3.706s
4 Syun Koide Toda Racing +6.066s
5 Togo Suganami B-MAX Racing +8.413s
6 Iori Kimura B-MAX Racing +9.126s
7 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +12.064s
8 Yua Furutani TOM’S +14.758s
9 Igor Fraga B-MAX Racing +15.966s
10 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +43.447s
Pole: Trulli, 1m34.153s
Fastest lap: Trulli, 1m35.248s
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Koide 23m55.101s
2 Kimura +1.276s
3 Taira +1.691s
4 Fraga +6.450s
5 Tsutsumi +9.099s
6 Nonaka +9.441s
7 Suganami +12.035s
8 Imada +25.486s
9 DRAGON B-MAX Racing +25.767s
10 David Vidales B-MAX Racing +33.541s
P: Taira, 1m34.103
FL: Taira, 1m34.806s
Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Trulli 23m56.840s
2 Taira +2.870s
3 Kimura +3.485s
4 Tsutsumi +6.722s
5 Suganami +10.051s
6 Furutani +11.395s
7 Koide +13.317s
8 Fraga +14.618s
9 Nonaka +15.099s
10 Vidales +16.315s
FL: Kimura, 1m35.346s
Championship standings
1 Taira 83 2 Kimura 76 3 Koide 43 4 Trulli 40 5 Fraga 25 6 Nonaka 24 7 Suganami 21 8 Furutani 19 9 Tsutsumi 14 10 Vidales 11