The Latest Breaking News from Kenta Yamashita

Capitalising on the absence of Mugen team-mate and reigning champion Tomoki Nojiri, Lawson recovered from a poor start to clinch victory by 1.2 seconds in the fourth round of the season, despite a late safety car putting him at a disadvantage to his immediate rivals.

TOM'S driver Miyata came from 12th on the grid to pass Tsuboi around the outside of Turn 1 on the penultimate lap of the 31-lap race to seal his first win in the Japanese single-seater category.

Having already topped his Q1 group, Oyu found a huge chunk of time in the final segment of qualifying as he successfully broke the 1m36s barrier, securing pole position with a best effort of 1m35.792s.

Super Formula may have entered a new era on track with the new SF23 car this year, but behind the scenes there has been another change at least as significant when it comes to determining the future direction of the series.

After two seasons as a ‘super-sub’ in the Honda Super Formula stable, 2022 was supposed to mark the year that Sasahara became part of the furniture at the Sakura brand. Handed the chance to join Tomoki Nojiri at Team Mugen, Sasahara finally had the platform he had so desperately craved…

The French tyre firm, which supplies just the two NISMO-run Nissan Zs in the 15-car GT500 field, revealed a new specification of wet tyre for the 2022 season designed to maximise performance in mixed conditions.

The #14 Rookie Racing Toyota concluded the final official test with the fastest time of 1m39.293s, set by the returning Kenta Yamashita during a phase of slightly lighter rain during the two-hour afternoon session.

Mitsunori Takaboshi set the day's benchmark time of 1m36.400s aboard the #3 NDDP Racing-branded Nissan Z he shares with Katsumasa Chiyo in the two-hour afternoon session, when conditions were at their best.

Reigning Super Formula champion Tomoki Nojiri topped the opening day of official pre-season testing at Suzuka, as the series' updated SF23 car proved immediately on the pace of its predecessor.

Toyota’s Kenta Yamashita is set to miss next week’s sole Super Formula pre-season test as he continues his recovery from injuries sustained in SUPER GT testing last month.

Toyota has mostly opted for stability in its Super Formula line-up this season, but it has elected to promote one junior driver who arrives in the series with a point to prove.