Iwasa takes second straight pole, with Nojiri and Nomura in top three
Suzuka CircuitOn Saturday 23 May 2026, qualifying for Round 4 of the Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship (SF) was held at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, where the Honda/M-TEC runners locked out the top three positions.
Round 4 Qualifying
Although rain had fallen in the morning, the track was almost dry by the start of qualifying, and all cars headed out on dry tyres.
In Q1, Ayumu Iwasa (TEAM MUGEN AUTOBACS) set the fastest time in Group A, while Kakunoshin Ohta (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING) topped Group B, with both progressing to Q2. A total of seven Honda/M-TEC drivers advanced to Q2.
In Q2, Iwasa claimed pole position. His team-mate Tomoki Nojiri (TEAM MUGEN AUTOBACS) finished a close P2, while SF rookie Yuto Nomura (San-Ei Gen with B-Max) took P3, giving the Honda/M-TEC drivers the top three positions on the starting grid.
Elsewhere, Ren Sato (PONOS NAKAJIMA RACING) qualified P6, Igor Omura Fraga (PONOS NAKAJIMA RACING) P7 and Syun Koide (ThreeBond Racing) P8, with Honda/M-TEC drivers filling the upper positions. Meanwhile, points leader Ohta had a disrupted attack lap and will start the race from P12.
