Former Formula 1 driver and 2021 Formula E champion Nyck de Vries will compete in two rounds of this year’s Super Formula season with Team Impul.
De Vries, 29, will make his debut in the Japanese single-seater series at Motegi on 23-25 August, before contesting the Fuji double-header on 11-13 October.
He will vacate the cockpit of the #19 SF23 entered by Impul for the season finale at Suzuka on 8-10 November, ostensibly due to the official Formula E test scheduled directly prior to it on 4-7 November in Valencia.
Last year’s Super Formula Lights runner-up Hibiki Taira, who has already contested two rounds with Impul this year, will be back at the wheel of the team’s Toyota-powered #19 car at the Japanese Grand Prix venue in mid-November.
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The news about de Vries joining Impul means Super Formula will once again have international representation on the grid. The previous two rounds at Sugo and Fuji (SF is visiting Fuji twice this year) marked the first races in Japan’s top formula since 1978 to feature no ‘gaijin’ racers.
Defending Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire was initially entered as the only foreign driver on the 2024 grid with Impul, but he ended up leaving the series after just one round to pursue his IndyCar ambitions in North America.
Pourchaire was replaced on a one-off basis for Autopolis by factory Lexus driver Ben Barnicoat, ensuring the presence of international talent, before Taira’s appointment at Sugo meant the entire SF field comprised local Japanese racers.
De Vries’ signing is hence a major shot-in-the-arm for the series, especially with his pedigree and previous success. The Dutch driver won titles in both F2 and FE and was recruited by AlphaTauri to race in F1 last year, although he was dropped by the team halfway through the season due to a lack of results.
He is currently racing in the top Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship with Toyota and recently completed his comeback campaign in FE with Mahindra Racing.
De Vries scored his maiden outright WEC win at Imola in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID alongside Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi - who also races in Super Formula - while his best result with the less-than-competitive Mahindra M9 Electro was a fourth place in London.
