Intense battle for the lead goes down to the final corner as Iwasa and Ohta finish on the podium in P2 and P3
Suzuka CircuitOn Sunday 24 May 2026, Round 5 of the Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship (SF) was held at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture. Among the Honda/M-TEC runners, Ayumu Iwasa (TEAM MUGEN AUTOBACS) finished P2, while Kakunoshin Ohta (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING) climbed from P9 on the grid to finish P3, with both drivers taking podium finishes.
The fine weather continued into the afternoon, and the 31-lap Round 5 race began at 2:45 p.m. in conditions of 25°C air temperature and 40°C track temperature. As Iwasa and Makino closely pursued pole-sitter Fukuzumi, Ohta made a strong start from P9 and moved up to P6 by the end of the opening lap. An incident involving cars further back at the chicane brought out the safety car (SC), and when the race resumed on lap 5, third-placed Makino used the overtake system (OTS) into Turn 1 to pass Iwasa for P2. Ohta also overtook Nomura to move up to P5.
Makino pitted as soon as the pit window opened on lap 8, attempting to undercut race leader Fukuzumi, but was unable to raise his pace. Sho Tsuboi (Toyota), who had been running ahead of Ohta, also pitted at the end of lap 11, leaving Fukuzumi, Iwasa, and Ohta as the top three on track.
After lap 20, the leading trio began to make their stops. Iwasa pitted at the end of lap 21, followed one lap later by Fukuzumi and Ohta. Fukuzumi rejoined while retaining the lead, while Ohta initially emerged ahead of Iwasa. However, Iwasa, who had returned to the track one lap earlier and built up speed while defending from Tsuboi, attacked Ohta while Ohta’s tyres were still not fully up to temperature and reclaimed P2 at the Reverse Bank. Fukuzumi, Iwasa, and Ohta then entered the closing stages separated by less than one second.
On lap 26, Iwasa used OTS to overtake Fukuzumi at 130R and took the lead, but on lap 28, while Iwasa was unable to use OTS on the main straight, Fukuzumi deployed it to move back ahead. With three laps remaining, Iwasa again used OTS to close in on Fukuzumi, but fell just short of making another move. Ohta, who still had more OTS available after watching the battle from behind, used it into Turn 1 with two laps remaining to close on Iwasa, but Iwasa defended his position. The three cars continued their intense fight on the final lap, each using their remaining OTS, but the order remained unchanged. Fukuzumi took victory, with Iwasa finishing P2 and Ohta P3. Makino finished P6, Omura Fraga P8, and Sato P9, all scoring championship points. In the drivers’ standings, Iwasa continues to follow championship leader Ohta.
The next event is scheduled for 18 – 19 July at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, featuring Rounds 6 and 7, as well as the rescheduled Round 3 race.
The decisive point was after the tyre change. Fukuzumi was running a lower-downforce setup, and I felt he was quite fast on the straights. The way he closed in when he got into the slipstream was different. Even when I got ahead, I pushed quite hard to try to open up a gap, but by the time we reached 130R, he was already right behind me. From my side, I don’t think I executed everything perfectly, and I feel there were some small areas where I could have had a slightly better race. I want to prepare properly in those areas and carry that forward.
The decisive point was after the tyre change. Fukuzumi was running a lower-downforce setup, and I felt he was quite fast on the straights. The way he closed in when he got into the slipstream was different. Even when I got ahead, I pushed quite hard to try to open up a gap, but by the time we reached 130R, he was already right behind me. From my side, I don’t think I executed everything perfectly, and I feel there were some small areas where I could have had a slightly better race. I want to prepare properly in those areas and carry that forward.
I’m satisfied with the result because we gave it everything. It feels almost as if we won, just like yesterday. Of course, I knew people expected me to overtake the two cars ahead, and that was my intention as well. I left a bit of a gap and watched the two cars in front, and I also saved quite a lot of OTS in case they ran out of it, or something happened. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t win, but at a circuit like Suzuka, where overtaking is difficult, it was a fun race to come from P9 to P3. I want to keep fighting for the championship while maintaining our strengths.
I’m satisfied with the result because we gave it everything. It feels almost as if we won, just like yesterday. Of course, I knew people expected me to overtake the two cars ahead, and that was my intention as well. I left a bit of a gap and watched the two cars in front, and I also saved quite a lot of OTS in case they ran out of it, or something happened. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t win, but at a circuit like Suzuka, where overtaking is difficult, it was a fun race to come from P9 to P3. I want to keep fighting for the championship while maintaining our strengths.
