Photo: B-MAX Racing
Super Formula Lights champion Yuto Nomura will graduate to Super Formula with B-MAX Racing next year.
The 20-year-old Japanese racer will be going into his fifth year of car racing, and has been a Honda junior since making his single-seater debut in French Formula 4 back in 2022.
That year he was also a Red Bull junior, and he won two races en route to seventh in the standings. He then spent two seasons in Japanese F4, coming fourth in his rookie campaign and winning the title as a sophomore. Over the two years, the second of which was with B-MAX, he won eight races, took 10 other podiums and six poles.
Nomura remained with B-MAX for this year’s step up to Japan’s third-tier SF Lights championship, and he had a stellar season. After finishing second in all three races of the season opener, then failing to score at Autopolis, he won 12 of the remaining 13 races over the next four rounds and his title-winning margin was equivalent to almost five wins’ worth of points.
Earlier this month he drove for B-MAX in SF’s post-season test, and was 24th in the overall classification. For 2026 he takes over the seat of Syun Koide, his predecessor as SF Lights champion with B-MAX, after he came 16th in his rookie campaign.
“As mentioned in the announcement, at this time, there is no information that we can share with the fans,” Koide said in a statement after Nomura’s graduation was confirmed. “While there is some anxiety, we will continue to challenge ourselves in order to definitely return again [to SF].”
Nomura will also join Real Racing in Super GT’s top GT500 class next year. He debuted in the sportscar series’ secondary GT300 class this season, and came 11th in the standings with one win and one pole.