Home News Kotaka quickest again at rainy Suzuka in Super Formula Lights testing

Kotaka quickest again at rainy Suzuka in Super Formula Lights testing

by Ida Wood

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Kazuto Kotaka was the driver to beat for the second day in a row in Super Formula Lights testing on Tuesday, as the rain increased at Suzuka.

Laptimes were slower than on Monday due to the wetter track, and the trickier conditions caught out B-Max Engineering’s Yudai Uchida – the 2020 Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific champion – at 130R in the morning which led to red flags.

The rain continued to fall when the session restarted, with many drivers completing installation laps but few embarking on stints.

Japanese Formula 4 champion Seita Nonaka lowered the pace, feeling confident in the wet in his RS Fine-run car.

Kotaka was able to go over a third of a second faster though, ending the day with a 2m07.678s lap. Beyond Nonaka, only Kotaka’s TOM’S team-mate Hibiki Taira and B-MAX Racing’s Syun Koide were able to get within a second of the pace.

The 2021 SF Lights champion Teppei Natori rejected his opportunity to appear in the upcoming Super Formula rookie test, with an offer which would have covered much of the cost of taking part, as he is independently pursuing his 2022 racing plans.

Test results

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Kazuto Kotaka TOM’S 2m07.678s 38
2 Seita Nonaka RS Fine 2m08.032s +0.354s 37
3 Hibiki Taira TOM’S 2m08.089s +0.411s 44
4 Syun Koide B-MAX Racing 2m08.339s +0.661s 42
5 Seiya Motojima Rn-sports 2m08.972s +1.294s 20
6 Yuga Furutani TOM’S 2m09.315s +1.637s 43
7 Yuui Tsutsumi Rn-sports 2m09.521s +1.843s 29
8 Iori Kimura B-MAX Racing 2m09.585s +1.907s 41
9 Togo Suganami B-MAX Racing 2m09.612s +1.934s 30
10 Kakunoshin Ohta Toda Racing 2m10.926s +3.248s 35
11 Nobuhiro Imada B-Max Engineering 2m11.855s +4.177s 20
12 Reiji Hiraki Helm Motorsports 2m12.256s +4.578s 28
13 Yudai Uchida B-Max Engineering 2m13.094s +5.416s 11
14 Yuya Hiraki Helm Motorsports 2m13.446s +5.788s 23