Photo: Formula Motorsport
Formula 2 race-winner Roman Stanek has made a surprise step up to single-seaters’ top tier by landing a seat in Super Formula.
The 22-year-old Czech has joined Kondo Racing, which will expand to three cars but with Stanek’s entered under the name ‘MK Racing’. MK are the initials of the team’s founder Masahiko Kondo, who is still in search of a primary sponsor for the entry.
Stanek’s deal was announced a few days before pre-season testing began this week at Suzuka. One of his team-mates and fellow rookies is former F2 rival Luke Browning, who has emerged unharmed from a huge crash in wet conditions at the Suzuka test.
“Really thrilled to continue my career in the top level single-seater category,” said Stanek. “I am very much looking forward to a new start with MK Racing in Japan, and I am very grateful to the team for this opportunity.”
Across his three seasons in F2, Stanek won both a feature race and a sprint race. Last year he claimed two pole positions, each converted into a runner-up finish, and was third in two sprint races en route to 10th in the standings.
Prior to that, Stanek had spent three years in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with similar levels of success. He made the podium twice in his sophomore campaign, and was fifth in the points table the year after as he picked up a feature race victory, converted his maiden pole into a second place finish and was runner-up in both races at Spa-Francorchamps.