Photo: Super Formula Lights
Honda has confirmed in the announcement of its 2024 motorsport plans that Iori Kimura will drive for B-MAX Racing in Super Formula this year.
Kimura won the 2023 Super Formula Lights title with B-Max, and was expected off the back of that success to step up to the top level of single-seater racing in Japan. In mid-December he announced at a function with B-MAX that he would race for the team in Super Formula, and its engine supplier Honda has now confirmed that move.
Since starting his car racing career in 2016, Kimura has had a lot of success. The Russian-Japanese racer’s first programme in single-seaters was the 2019 Japanese Formula 4 season, in which he came ninth in the standings with one podium, and he returned to the championship two years later as a Honda junior. A tally of four wins and three poles put him third in the points table.
He then stepped up to the Formula 3-level SF Lights series with B-Max, taking three wins, two poles and coming third in the standings as a rookie in 2022 and an improved haul of six wins, six other podiums and five poles to become 2023 champion.
Fellow Honda junior Syun Koide came third in SF Lights last season with Toda Racing, and picked up four wins and one pole. For his sophomore campaign he will switch to B-Max, while Souta Arao takes his seat at Toda. Arao came third in French F4 in 2022 and 17th in GB3 last year as a Red Bull junior.
The Honda Formula Dream Project team and B-Max will partner up for the 2024 Japanese F4 season, and run juniors Yuto Nomura and Ryota Horachi. Nomura was a race-winner in French F4 in 2022 then switched to Japanese F4 for 2023 and came fourth in the standings with one win. Horachi raced for the Akiland Racing team in the championship last year and was ninth in the points table with three fourth places being his best finishes.
Toyota has also announced where its juniors are headed for 2024. Seita Nonaka will stay at TOM’S for his fourth season in SF Lights, and be joined by Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura as team-mates.
Kobayashi took five wins en route to the 2023 Japanese F4 title, and Nakamura took three victories as he finished a close runner-up to him in the title fight. Both will also be racing for the apr team in Super GT’s GT300 class this year.
In Japanese F4, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge Racing School team will run Yuki Sano, Tokiya Suzuki, Kiyoshi Umegaki and Kazuhisa Urabe. Sano raced for the team last year and came seventh in the standings, and Urabe switches from Bionic Jack Racing who he took one victory and came eighth in the 2023 standings with.
Suzuki and Umegaki are both graduates of Japan’s karting scene, although the latter does have some European racing experience on karts.