If you were to make a list of drivers yet to win a Super Formula race that were most likely to break their duck in 2023, TOM’S driver Ritomo Miyata would probably have been at the top.
Although he had only climbed the podium on two other occasions prior to his breakthrough win at Suzuka last weekend, such was his high level of consistency last year that an opportunity was bound to come sooner or later.
That said, it was Saturdays rather than Sundays when Miyata tended to excel in 2022. He qualified second on no fewer than four occasions, and if you discount the summer Fuji race when he was sent to the back of the grid for causing a red flag, his average grid position was second only to runaway champion Tomoki Nojiri. And yet in the races, Miyata would nearly always slip back, unable to replicate the same pace over a stint.
The first two rounds of the new season at Fuji looked like being more of the same. Miyata qualified second to Nojiri for both races, and yet finished fifth and fourth respectively. But at Suzuka, it was a different story.
Demoted from fifth to 12th on the grid for a marginal track limits infringement exiting Spoon Curve in Q2, Miyata was clearly a man on a mission come race day. Three passes, including one critical move on Ryo Hirakawa, in the opening stint meant he was up to seventh by the time the pit window opened and the leaders started pitting.
By the time poleman and long-time leader Toshiki Oyu stopped on lap 19, Miyata was into the lead and in prime position to benefit when Oyu was rear-ended by Nojiri at the start of the next lap, prompting the safety car to be deployed.
After his stop, Miyata slotted into third behind early stoppers Sho Tsuboi and Liam Lawson. With his fresher tyres, he was soon on the attack, breezing by the Mugen car of Lawson at the start of lap 26 before setting off after Inging man Tsuboi, setting the fastest lap.
With a pace advantage of around a second a lap over Tsuboi, who stopped back on lap 11, Miyata was not to be denied. Despite having all but exhausted his Overtake System allocation by this stage, he was able to get a superior run out of the final chicane and complete the move sweeping around the outside of Turn 1 with two laps to go.
“This is my third full season, so I felt like I kept the team, sponsors and fans who have always supported me waiting a long time,” said Miyata after breaking his duck.
“After the mistake I made in qualifying, and having to start down the field, I was quite depressed… I couldn’t have imagined winning in that situation.
“TOM’S has been looking after me since I was first raced in F3 [in 2017], so my feelings of gratitude for their support were so strong that I cried the moment I took the chequered flag.
“In Super Formula, everyone has basically the same car, so the skill of the driver plays a big part in determining the outcome. The level is so high and it can be tough at times. So partly for that reason I was overwhelmed with happiness and the tears came.”
Of course, the timing of the safety car meant there was an element of luck involved with Miyata’s win, but at the time of the caution he was closing down on leader Oyu, and even had the race run green all the way, a podium finish looked within reach.
So, just how did Miyata turn around his usual race-day fortunes and find the long run pace that would allow him to end an almost two-year barren run for TOM’S?
“I had the impression from the Suzuka test it would be tough to look after the tyres, so I imagined that a lot of drivers would pit around the minimum,” he explained. “I went into the weekend thinking about how to set up the car and adjust my driving to combat this.
“In Super Formula, there are basically only two strategies - pit at the earliest opportunity or go long. Even while trying to drive one way or the other, there were many times the car didn’t perform as expected. There were also a lot of times last year when I wasn’t ‘hooked up’ with the car and the performance from qualifying to the race would drop.
“Finally in the previous race at Fuji, I felt like we’d finally got it right with the set-up. I was able to confirm that again this time at Suzuka and I was able to drive with the same confidence I had at Fuji. This time I was really able to make use of what I learned at Fuji and now I want to carry this forward to future races.”
Miyata’s win has thrust him into title contention, putting him only four points behind Nojiri after the reigning champion’s uncharacteristic error that put he and Oyu out of the race.
TOM’S team owner Nobuhide Tachi said post-race he feels now Miyata has got his first win under his belt, there could be many more to follow.
“For a long time there have been times it seemed he could win but he didn’t, and likewise times he could be on pole but he couldn’t,” said Tachi of Miyata. “There are a lot of drivers who when they get their first win, they keep on coming. It feels like the door has opened.
“Miyata is not a driver with a strong presence. He’s not a driver that necessarily stands out; he is consistent and his driving doesn’t always look fast visually, but after the race there are a lot of surprises with him. He is making precise requests in terms of his feedback, and he is always talking a lot with the engineers. I think he has potential to grow further.”
Miyata has never made any secret of his ambitions to race overseas in the future. Indeed, when he first landed his current drive with TOM’S in 2021, he revealed his frustration at his lack of chances while erstwhile Formula 4 rival Yuki Tsunoda had gone on to Formula 1.
Since then, Miyata has talked about wanting to race in series such as Formula 2 and Formula E, but as a Toyota driver, the most realistic option would be a berth in the Japanese marque’s Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship.
Hirakawa proved in 2020 that success in Super Formula can open doors in the Toyota WEC programme, with a series of impressive tests the next year paving the way for him to replace Kazuki Nakajima in 2022.
Kamui Kobayashi is only two years the junior of Nakajima, and at some point Toyota will likely be looking to replace him with another Japanese driver, especially considering Kobayashi's dual driver/team principal role.
Considering Miyata’s young age and the fact he speaks increasingly good English, it’s not hard to imagine him being the first in line for such a chance if he keeps up this good form.
Asked by Motorsport.com about the significance of his Suzuka win for his future, Miyata replied: “Super Formula is a very high level series, and now it’s also becoming bigger overseas.
"I’ve closed the gap to the top of the standings, so I think I can fight for the championship, and I hope it means I can make the step to a world championship in the future.”
