Iori Kimura (pictured in 2022) took the Drivers' Championship title driving for B-Max Racing Team.

The 2023 Super Formula Lights Championship was the fourth Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It featured drivers competing in Dallara 320 chassis and with engines made by three different manufacturers, a similar regulation format to the Euroformula Open Championship.

Honda junior Iori Kimura won the Drivers' Championship, while his team, B-Max Racing, won the Teams' Championship. His teammate Nobuhiro Imada won the Masters' Class title, while Spiess won the Engine Manufacturer's Championship.

Teams and drivers

Team Engine No. Driver Status Rounds
TOM'S TOM'S 1 Japan Hibiki Taira[1] All
35 Japan Seita Nonaka[1] All
36 Japan Yuga Furutani[2] All
37 Italy Enzo Trulli[2] All
Toda Racing Siegfried Spiess Motorenbau GmbH 2 Japan Syun Koide[3] All
B-Max Racing Team Siegfried Spiess Motorenbau GmbH 4 Japan Nobuhiro Imada[4] M 1–2, 4–6
Japan Togo Suganami[5] 3
50 Japan Iori Kimura[3] All
51 Spain David Vidales[6] All
52 Brazil Igor Fraga[4] All
53 Japan Takashi Hata[7] M 1–3, 5
Japan Togo Suganami[8] 4, 6
TOMEI Engine 30 Japan "Dragon"[4] M 1–2, 4–6
3
Rn-sports Siegfried Spiess Motorenbau GmbH 10 Japan Yuui Tsutsumi[7] 1–4
Japan Sota Ogawa[9] 6

Team changes

HELM Motorsport, who made their debut in the championship in 2022, left Super Formula Lights after already missing the final two rounds of 2022.

Driver changes

TOM'S signed 2021 Formula 4 UAE champion Enzo Trulli, who moved over to Japan to replace the reigning champion Kazuto Kotaka. Kotaka graduated to Super Formula with Kondō Racing.[1]

Toda Racing promoted reigning Japanese F4 champion Syun Koide to replace Kakunoshin Ohta at Toda Racing, as Ohta was promoted to Dandelion Racing in Super Formula.[3]

B-Max Racing's owner "Dragon" switched from using Spiess engines like the rest of his team to using a TOMEI engine for his car. The team signed two international drivers in David Vidales and Igor Fraga, both graduating from Formula 3, where the former came 16th in 2022 and the latter came 24th in 2020.[4][6] Gentleman driver Takashi Hata rejoined the team after not competing in 2022, while Togo Suganami and Roberto Merhi left the series.

HELM Motorsport's two drivers, Reiji and Yuya Hiraki, left the series when their team pulled out.

Rn-sports saw all three of their drivers, gentleman driver Masayuki Ueda, as well as Kouta Kawaai and Seiya Motojima, who shared a cockpit in 2022, leave the series. The team signed Yuui Tsutsumi, who has been competing in Super GT since 2020.[7]

Mid-season changes

Togo Suganami replaced Nobuhiro Imada in the No. 4 B-Max car for the Suzuka weekend.

Imada was back for the round at Fuji, with Suganami switching to the No. 53 car of the same team to replace Takashi Hata.

Both Hata and Imada returned for Okayama, so Suganami left the series. Yuui Tsutsumi and his team, Rn-sports, also did not attend round five.

Rn-sports returned to competition for the final round, albeit with Formula Regional Japanese title challenger Sota Ogawa piloting the No. 10 car instead of Tsutsumi. Suganami also returned to the series, again in place of Hata.

Race calendar

The calendar for the 2023 season was announced on 30 November 2022. With the first event being in late May, the season started six weeks later than usual.[10] Only three events were held supporting the parent Super Formula Championship, a significant reduction from previous years.

Round Circuit Date Supporting Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Autopolis, Hita 20 May Super Formula Championship
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R2 21 May
R3
2 R4 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 17 June Super Formula Championship
Legend Cars Japan
R5 18 June
R6
3 R7 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 1 July Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
VITA Race Suzuka
Suzuka - Okayama Challenge Cup
R8 2 July
R9
4 R10 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 15 July Super Formula Championship
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia
R11 16 July
R12
5 R13 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 9 September TGR 86/BRZ Race
SuperKart Okayama International Series
Yaris Cup West Japan Series
R14 10 September
R15
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 18 November Motegi Champion Cup
Mini Joy Endurance
Super FJ
R17 19 November
R18

Race results

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters winner
1 R1 Autopolis Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R2 Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan "Dragon"
R3 Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan "Dragon"
2 R4 Sportsland Sugo Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Hibiki Taira TOM'S Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R5 Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Iori Kimura Japan Hibiki Taira TOM'S Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R6 Japan Seita Nonaka Brazil Igor Fraga B-Max Racing Team Japan "Dragon"
3 R7 Suzuka International Racing Course Japan Hibiki Taira Brazil Igor Fraga Japan Togo Suganami B-Max Racing Team Japan Takashi Hata
R8 Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan Takashi Hata
R9 Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Hibiki Taira TOM'S Japan Takashi Hata
4 R10 Fuji Speedway Italy Enzo Trulli Italy Enzo Trulli Italy Enzo Trulli TOM'S Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R11 Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Syun Koide Toda Racing Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R12 Japan Iori Kimura Italy Enzo Trulli TOM'S Japan Nobuhiro Imada
5 R13 Okayama International Circuit Japan Syun Koide Japan Syun Koide Japan Syun Koide Toda Racing Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R14 Brazil Igor Fraga Japan Hibiki Taira Japan Syun Koide Toda Racing Japan "Dragon"
R15 Japan Syun Koide Japan Syun Koide Toda Racing Japan Nobuhiro Imada
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R17 Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura Japan Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Japan Nobuhiro Imada
R18 Japan Togo Suganami Japan Togo Suganami B-Max Racing Team Japan Nobuhiro Imada

Season report

The fourth Super Formula Lights Championship began at Autopolis in late May with B-Max Racing's Iori Kimura taking two pole positions. His teammate Igor Fraga qualified second, but started his campaign with a stall and retired a few laps later. This promoted the TOM'S pair of Hibiki Taira and Yuga Furutani onto the podium, where they stayed until the end of the race. Race two began with Toda Racing's Syun Koide challenging Kimura for the lead, but the latter prevailed and the former had to settle for second. Furutani completed the podium once again. The third race was another calm affair for Kimura to complete his clean sweep of the weekend, while Taira and Furutani battled out the podium places behind him. Taira evenutally established himself in second. The field left the first round with Kimura as the points leader, already 20 points ahead of Taira and Furutani.[11]

Sportsland Sugo played host for the second round, and this time Taira was the one to claim both pole positions. Multiple stalls and accidents at the start of the first race meant a lengthy safety car with Fraga and Kimura following Taira home when it was finally retracted. Race two saw another controlled effort by Taira to claim his second win. Kimura behind him stayed close, but was unable to mount an attack for the lead. Koide had a quiet race to finish third. The final race of the weekend looked set to grant Taira a triple win, before his car got stuck in fourth gear three laps from the end. This saw him drop down, before he spun around. Fraga inherited the lead and took the win, with his teammate Enzo Trulli and Koide completing the podium. Kimura did not score either in the third race, allowing Taira to shorten the points gap to ten points.[12]

Championship leaders Taira and Kimura shared pole positions for round three at Suzuka. The first race began in foggy conditions with Fraga running himself and two other cars off the road, before hitting Kimura when he rejoined. More chaos ensued when rain then started to fall, with B-Max Racing's Togo Suganami coming through to win the race ahead of Taira and his teammate Seita Nonaka. The second race was more straightforward: Kimura won from pole position, while Taira took second from Nonaka on the final straight to come home 0.185 seconds ahead. Suganami had pole position for the final race, but Taira was quicker off the line to take the lead. Nonaka started third and also finished there to make it three straight podiums. Taira won race three, taking the championship lead in the process as Kimura's non-score in the first race saw him drop two points behind.[13]

Fuji Speedway kicked off the second half of the championship with Trulli and Taira sharing pole positions. The Italian was unopposed at the start of the first race and managed his pace from then on to take his maiden win. Rn-sports driver Yuui Tsutsumi held second, until Taira started closing up to him late in the race, but he was unable to get past. Kimura and Taira had a heated battle all throughout the second race, with both drivers earning five-second penalties. This would have allowed Trulli to inherit the win, but he was disqualified for an underweight car and Koide claimed the win. Trulli bounced back from his disqualification to win race three lights-to-flag. Taira finished second after keeping Kimura behind, thereby extending his championship lead to six points. By now, the top pair had distanced themselves by over thirty points from the rest of the field.[14]

Okayama hosted the penultimate round of the season, where Koide and Fraga shared pole positions. The pair started the first race alongside each other, and Koide kept ahead of Fraga as both led Nonaka home. Kimura had a disastrous race and came home last. The second race began with Koide taking the lead from Fraga into the first turn, but panned out much the same afterwards, albeit with Kimura in third this time. The front row for the third race was the same once again, with Koide coming out ahead for the third time. Once again the leading pair remained the same until the end of the race, but third was hotly disputed before B-Max Racing's David Vidales came through to take his maiden podium. Taira had an anonymous weekend, but still grew his advantage to ten points after Kimuras race one non-score. Koide was now only six points further back.[15]

The season final at Motegi began with championship chaser Kimura taking two pole positions. He seemed to be on a mission from the get-go, winning the first race and claiming the fastest lap ahead of Suganami and Fraga. Taira came fourth, now only a single point ahead of Kimura. Race two was much the same, with Kimura again taking the maximum of twelve points. Taira, now relegated to second in the standings, could once again only manage fifth place. This time, Fraga came second and Koide rounded up the podium. Kimura's run slowed in the third race where he had to relinquish the victory to Suganami after the latter made a strong start. But with Taira once again finishing behind him in third, Kimura secured his title eleven points in the lead.[16]

Both Kimura and Taira looked on course to win the title during different stages of the season, with Taira the strongest during the middle part and Kimura clearly the fastest at the start and at the end. This led to an enjoyable battle throughout the season that could have been a three-way fight had Koide's sudden surge of pace come a bit earlier and held on for a bit longer. Three drivers switching from racing in Europe to Japan made for a renewed international spotlight on the series. Sadly, this did not translate into more cars competing, with the field still consisting of around twelve regular entries, as it did in years past. The series will cease to be a multi-engine championship in 2024. It remains to be seen if this will prove effective in bringing down costs and thereby attracting more entries.

Championship standings

The points were awarded as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 PP FL
10 7 5 3 2 1 1 1

Drivers' championships

Overall

Pos Driver AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Japan Iori Kimura 1 1 1 3 2 8 11 1 5 6 2 3 11 3 6 1 1 2 113
2 Japan Hibiki Taira 2 6 2 1 1 12 2 2 1 3 3 2 5 4 4 4 5 3 102
3 Japan Syun Koide 5 2 5 4 3 3 4 5 6 4 1 7 1 1 1 7 3 8 81
4 Brazil Igor Fraga Ret 4 7 2 6 1 Ret 9 7 8 4 8 2 2 2 3 2 4 62
5 Italy Enzo Trulli 7 7 6 5 4 2 5 7 4 1 DSQ 1 7 Ret 5 8 6 6 44
6 Japan Togo Suganami 1 8 2 5 7 5 2 11 1 39
7 Japan Seita Nonaka 6 5 10 6 9 4 3 3 3 7 6 9 3 5 Ret 5 4 7 36
8 Japan Yuga Furutani 3 3 3 Ret 8 7 7 4 8 9 Ret 6 6 6 7 6 8 5 24
9 Spain David Vidales 4 Ret 4 11 5 6 6 6 10 Ret 10 10 4 7 3 DNS WD WD 19
10 Japan Yuui Tsutsumi 8 8 8 7 7 5 9 10 9 2 5 4 14
11 Japan Sota Ogawa 9 7 9 0
12 Japan Nobuhiro Imada 9 10 11 8 10 11 10 8 11 8 9 8 10 9 10 0
13 Japan "Dragon" 10 9 9 9 11 9 10 12 12 11 9 12 9 8 9 11 10 11 0
14 Japan Takashi Hata 11 DNS DNS 10 Ret 10 8 11 11 10 10 10 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT
Key
Colour Result
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenOther points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
PurpleNot classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formatting Meaning
Bold Pole position
Italics Fastest lap

Masters' Class

Pos Driver AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Japan Nobuhiro Imada 1 2 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 150
2 Japan "Dragon"[lower-alpha 1] 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 127
3 Japan Takashi Hata 3 DNS DNS 3 Ret 2 1 1 1 3 3 3 68
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT

Teams' standings

Only a teams' best finishing driver was eligible for points.

Pos Driver AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 B-Max Racing Team 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 146
2 TOM'S 2 3 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 1 3 4 4 4 4 3 117
3 Toda Racing 5 2 5 4 3 3 4 5 6 4 1 7 1 1 1 7 3 8 78
4 Rn-sports 8 8 8 7 7 5 9 10 10 2 5 4 9 7 9 14
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT

Engine manufacturer standings

Only an engine manufacturers' best finishing driver was eligible for points.

Pos Driver AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Siegfried Spiess Motorenbau GmbH 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 163
2 TOM'S 2 3 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 1 3 4 4 4 4 3 117
3 TOMEI Engine 10 9 9 9 11 9 9 12 12 11 9 12 9 8 9 11 11 11 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
AUT SUG SUZ FUJ OKA MOT

References

  1. 1 2 3 "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing announced its 2023 motorsport team setups". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Enzo Trulli lands TOM'S Super Formula Lights drive". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  3. 1 2 3 "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Igor Fraga completes B-Max Super Formula Lights line-up". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  5. ↑ "Suzuka | 2023年 SFL シリーズカレンダー | superformula lights". superformula-lights.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  6. 1 2 "F3 winner Vidales secures B-Max Super Formula Lights drive". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Round1_2_3 | 2023年 SFL シリーズカレンダー | superformula lights en". superformula-lights.com. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  8. ↑ "FUJI | 2023年 SFL シリーズカレンダー | superformula lights". superformula-lights.com. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  9. ↑ "Round16_17_18 | 2023年 SFL シリーズカレンダー | superformula lights en". superformula-lights.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  10. ↑ Wood, Ida (2022-11-30). "Super Formula Lights revamps calendar for 2023". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  11. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-05-21). "Honda junior Kimura proves unbeatable in Super Formula Lights opener". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  12. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-06-18). "Gear issue denies Taira triple win in Super Formula Lights at Sugo". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  13. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-07-02). "Toyota junior Taira takes Super Formula Lights lead at Suzuka". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  14. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-07-16). "Enzo Trulli becomes a Super Formula Lights race-winner at Fuji". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  15. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-09-10). "Honda junior Koide takes three Super Formula Lights wins at Okayama". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  16. ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-11-19). "Honda junior Iori Kimura wins Super Formula Lights title in Motegi finale". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Dragon" entered round 3 as a normal competitor, but all other rounds as a Masters' Class competitor.
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