Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata has needed to adapt to a completely different environment in 2024 after Toyota sent him to Formula 2 and the European Le Mans Series.
The 25-year-old Japanese won the Super GT title in sportscars last year alongside taking the SF crown in his third season in that series, having done four years in Japanese Formula 3/Super Formula Lights before that.
Miyata is currently 18th in F2’s standings, with two fifths in Melbourne his best race results.
According to Kazuki Nakajima, an ex-Formula 1 driver, double SF champion and triple Le Mans 24 Hour winner who is Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe’s vice-chairman, “to move from Japan, without any experience in racing abroad, he’s adapting pretty well, and I would say it’s in line with our expectations”.
“Of course, he has had a lot of challenges. Everything was new for him – the car, the tyres and, most importantly, the tracks are all completely new,” he added in conversation with Formula Scout while providing Miyata trackside support at F2’s recent Spa-Francorchamps round.
By taking the “challenging” lack of track time “into consideration”, Nakajima thinks Miayata “is doing quite well, and adapting very well to the new circumstances”.
“I think he has shown very good speed [on tracks he has test mileage on]. Bahrain was one of those and Barcelona was really promising, so in this sense, he’s still learning, but he is showing very good potential.”
Miyata concurs that “the other drivers have a lot more experience – DRS, Pirelli tyres, the tracks and European teams” and that “it was a big change for me; [I go] step-by-step, no need to rush”. He is also grateful that his Rodin Motorsport team “understands my situation”.
F2 is a step down from the F1-level Super Formula, but that does not make Miyata’s switch easier.
“If you purely speak about the laptime [it is slower], but in the end it’s just a different championship. Wherever you come from you still need to learn a lot of things, but it’s basically the life that a race car driver has to take.”
In ELMS he is driving for COOL Racing in the LMP2 prototype class, and won on debut at Barcelona with team-mates Lorenzo Fluxa and Malthe Jakobsen.
“We decided to go for it, because any track time, any experience with the extra interaction with the team and everything, helps a lot to get used to the way of working in Europe,” Nakajima explains.
“I think he’s enjoying his driving, enjoying his time with the team, so of course it’s challenging for F2, but on the other side, I think it’s giving him a very good experience.”
TGR Europe, which retains links to the F1 paddock, plans to keep Miyata in Europe for 2025.
“That’s for sure the target, but I wouldn’t mention anything about the detail category and things like that. Of course, the target is for him to progress his career [in] whichever way is best for him,” concludes Nakajima.