Yuto Nomura takes Japanese F4 lead with victory at Autopolis

Photo: Japanese F4

Honda junior Yuto Nomura won the sole Japanese Formula 4 race at Autopolis at the end of a wet weekend in which multiple sessions were cancelled.

There were six practice sessions over Thursday and Friday, and Nomura set the pace. A 1m52.897s on the second day of track action put him 0.05 seconds ahead of Toyota’s in-form junior Yuki Sano, with fellow Honda junior Ryota Horachi 0.231s behind in third.

Kageyama Racing’s Kotaro Shimbara was a further 0.052s back in fourth, with the top eight completed by Toyota juniors Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki, and Itsuki Sato.

Wet weather meant that both qualifying sessions and race one on Saturday were cancelled, and the practice order had been used to set a grid for the race that did not go ahead.

It instead was used for race two on Sunday, which took place under dry skies but on a damp track so the safety car led the field through the first lap. Helm Motorsports’ Yotaka Toriba spun out while behind the safety car, prompting the safety car to stay out for two more tours.

Nomura got a jump on the pack when green flags waved, and the top 18 (the championship class drivers) mostly ran in formation through lap four. Shimbara passed Horachi for third on lap five, and soon had a queue of cars behind him.

Drago Corse’s Itsuki Sato just held off Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya through the first sector of lap seven after plenty of side-by-side action, but once Urabe was ahead after that there was no response from Sato and he was quickly gapped.

It was a similar story up front, with the top two gapping themselves from Shimbara who had his mirrors filled by Horachi.

Nomura never came under any serious pressure from Sano, despite the pair staying close, and won by 0.608s. Shimbara was 5.472s behind in third, leading home Horachi who lost the points lead to the race winner.

Race result (13 laps)