Photo: Super Formula
Super Formula championship leader Ryo Hirakawa set the pace in the second practice session of the Suzuka double-header.
Hirakawa left it until the final six minutes to set his fastest lap, as did the majority of the grid. The 1m35.648s lap was nearly three tenths of a second quicker than second-fastest driver Tomoki Nojiri, who was the only other driver to get below 1m36s in the session on his final lap.
Dandelion Racing’s Naoki Yamamoto, who last weekend became 2020 Super GT champion with Tadasuke Makino, was third fastest. There was just 0.03s separating Yamamoto’s lap from seventh fastest, with Kazuki Nakajima just pipping Yuhi Sekiguchi and Kamui Kobayashi – who topped free practice one – to fourth.
New Zealand driver Nick Cassidy finished the session seventh fastest, with 0.1212s separating him and KCMG’s Yuji Kunimoto in eighth.
Makino was ninth fastest, while Sho Tsuboi rounded out the top 10 with a 1m36.393s lap.
After spending most of the session further down the order, Sacha Fenestraz was the first driver in the session to dip below the 1m37s mark. He eventually finished 11th ahead of Nirei Fukuzumi (Dandelion Racing) and his Kondo Racing team-mate Kenta Yamashita.
Charles Milesi, who caused a red flag in free practice one after getting his car stuck in the gravel at Turn 1, was 17th fastest after being top of the timings during the middle period of the session.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryo Hirakawa | Team Impul | 1m35.648s | 17 | |
| 2 | Tomoki Nojiri | Team Mugen | 1m35.941s | +0.293s | 19 |
| 3 | Naoki Yamamoto | Dandelion Racing | 1m36.027s | +0.379s | 25 |
| 4 | Kazuki Nakajima | TOM’S | 1m36.034s | +0.386s | 18 |
| 5 | Yuhi Sekiguchi | Team Impul | 1m36.036s | +0.388s | 17 |
| 6 | Kamui Kobayashi | KCMG | 1m36.042s | +0.394s | 19 |
| 7 | Nick Cassidy | TOM’S | 1m36.057s | +0.409s | 19 |
| 8 | Yuji Kunimoto | KCMG | 1m36.179s | +0.531s | 19 |
| 9 | Tadasuke Makino | Nakajima Racing | 1m36.287s | +0.639s | 20 |
| 10 | Sho Tsuboi | INGING | 1m36.393s | +0.745s | 17 |
| 11 | Sacha Fenestraz | Kondo Racing | 1m36.490s | +0.842s | 26 |
| 12 | Nirei Fukuzumi | Dandelion Racing | 1m36.631s | +0.983s | 22 |
| 13 | Kenta Yamashita | Kondo Racing | 1m36.691s | +1.043s | 19 |
| 14 | Ukyo Sasahara | Team Mugen | 1m36.812s | +1.164s | 18 |
| 15 | Hiroaki Ishiura | INGING | 1m37.198s | +1.550s | 18 |
| 16 | Toshiki Oyu | Nakajima Racing | 1m37.258s | +1.610s | 17 |
| 17 | Charles Milesi | B-MAX Racing w/ Motopark | 1m37.386s | +1.738s | 14 |
| 18 | Nobuharu Matsushita | B-MAX Racing w/ Motopark | 1m37.441s | +1.793s | 13 |
| 19 | Kazuya Oshima | ROOKIE Racing | 1m38.007s | +2.359s | 16 |
| 20 | Tatiana Calderon | ThreeBond w/ Drago Corse | 1m38.043s | +2.395s | 23 |