Japanese F4 graduates test in Super Formula Lights at Fuji

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Reigning Super Formula Lights champion Ritomo Miyata topped the first day of post-season testing at Fuji Speedway, as a host of Formula 4 graduates made their test debuts.

Miyata topped the morning session on Monday by 0.167 seconds in the same TOM’S-run car he won the 2020 title in, and it was Atsushi Miyake who was second fastest with Rn-sports.

Miyake raced as a Honda junior in Japanese F4 in 2019 and was title runner-up, but switched to representing Toyota in Super GT300 this year.

He was making his single-seater return in the test, and he then set the fastest laptime of the afternoon session to end the day 0.008s behind in the combined classification after Miyata did not take part in the second session.

Kazuto Kotaka stayed on at TOM’S and was third fastest, while former Formula V8 3.5 racer Yu Kanamaru led Super GT regular and ex-SF Lights racer Daiki Sasaki as the fastest of B-MAX Racing’s drivers.

RS Fine’s Shunsuke Kohno was sixth, and like Miyata relied on his best lap from the morning.

A contingent of Japanese F4 racers trying out the Dallara 320 for the first time then filled the timesheet after that, with 2019 champion Ren Sato (Toda Racing) ahead of current champion Hibiki Taira (TOM’S) and runner-up Reiji Hiraki (B-Max Engineering). Slowest was two-time Japanese F4 Independent Cup champion Sergeyevich Sato with RS Fine.

Test results