Pourchaire will act as Alfa Romeo’s Formula 1 reserve driver next year, having recently made his FP1 debut for the Hinwil squad at the Circuit of the Americas, but declared earlier this year that he will not stay in F2 for a third season.
Should he indeed elect to leave the series, Super Formula would offer a logical alternative for the 19-year-old Frenchman while he waits for a potential F1 race chance in 2024.
Motorsport.com understands that Pourchaire has been in touch with Kondo Racing about the possibility of replacing Fenestraz, who is unavailable for all bar the final two rounds of the 2023 Super Formula season as his Nissan Formula E deal will take precedence.
It now appears likely that Pourchaire will participate in the rookie test at Suzuka on December 7-8 in one of Kondo’s two Toyota-powered cars, with Kazuto Kotaka, who won the Super Formula Lights this year, in the other.
Kenta Yamashita is set to not participate in the test, but looks on course to remain at Kondo for a seventh consecutive season.
However, it remains to be seen whether a test outing for Pourchaire would translate into a race drive, as reports have also linked him to a potential third season in F2 with ART Grand Prix despite his previous keenness to move on.
Additionally, racing in Super Formula would make him unavailable to Alfa Romeo for three grand prix weekends due to clashes - namely the Emilia-Romagna GP in May, the Canadian GP in June and the Mexican GP in October.
Should Pourchaire ultimately opt against racing in Super Formula, ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi could act as a potential back-up option for Kondo should it wish to run an international driver in the absence of Fenestraz.
Merhi was previously thought to be a contender to drive for Honda squad B-Max Racing, but his chances have faded as the second seat alongside likely incumbent Nobuharu Matsushita is now increasingly likely to go to HPD scholarship winner and Formula Regional Americas champion Raoul Hyman.
Euroformula driver set for TOM’S Lights chance
With Kotaka moving on from Super Formula Lights, the title-winning TOM’S team plans to use the Suzuka test to try out potential replacements.
One of those looks set to be Russian driver Vlad Lomko, who races under a French licence and finished as runner-up in the Euroformula Open series that uses the same Dallara F320 chassis as Super Formula Lights.
Toyota-backed Formula Regional Japan champion Miki Koyama will also be bidding for a place in the TOM’S line-up alongside Seita Nonaka and Hibiki Taira, who are both expected to stay with the team for another season.
