Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title

Kakunoshin Ohta’s hopes of an early Super Formula title went up in smoke in Sunday’s second Fuji race amid contact with Igor Fraga, while Ayumu Iwasa ended his win drought.

Dandelion Racing’s Ohta went into the race with a chance of sealing the title with two races to go, but realistically needed to finish ahead of Saturday winner Fraga for that to happen.

It looked like in the opening stages of what descended into a chaotic 41-lap contest that Ohta would get the job done, as Iwasa passed polesitter Fraga for the lead on the opening lap, and then Ohta cleared the Nakajima Racing driver for second on lap four.

The lead order didn’t change after an early safety car period, caused by Yuto Nomura stopping after contact with Toshiki Oyu, but the race turned in the mandatory pitstops as Ohta pitted on lap 17 and was undercut by an early-stopping Oyu.

Ohta and Oyu came to blows at Turn 3, sending the Cerumo/Inging driver into a spin from which he continued, and while Ohta survived without damage, the time loss allowed Fraga to get the overcut on the championship leader after he pitted at the end of the following lap.

Knowing that he had to get back ahead of Fraga to seal the title, Ohta attempted an ambitious lunge at the downhill Turn 10 right-hander, running wide in the process.

Corners later, he made another bid to pass at the unorthodox location of Turn 15, but in the process he clattered into the side of Fraga, eliminating Ohta on the spot and leaving the Brazilian with significant left-side damage.

Kakunoshin Ohta, DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING

The subsequent safety car period saw a rush to pitlane for the remaining cars that had not yet completed their stops, leading to a blockage as Luke Browning was turned sideways.

Rookie Racing’s Nirei Fukuzumi was sent out into the path of Williams Formula 1 reserve driver Browning, who appeared to slow down in avoidance before being rear-ended by Syun Koide, which spun the Kondo Racing car and lodged it between Fukuzumi and Koide.

Rikuto Kobayashi also piled into the back of Koide in the mayhem, which resulted in an extended safety car period to clear up the mess.

When the race resumed on lap 25, Iwasa led from Nobuharu Matsushita – up from sixth before the stops – and Zak O’Sullivan, who started third but slipped to fifth in the early laps.

Almost immediately the safety car was called again as Sho Tsuboi ploughed into the back of fourth-placed Kenta Yamashita, his brakes seemingly not working.

Iwasa got a perfect launch when the race resumed for the final time on lap 32, the Team Mugen driver going on to take a first win of a difficult title defence, but the battle for the remaining podium spots when down to the final laps.

Zak O'Sullivan, TEAM IMPUL

O’Sullivan found himself demoted to fifth behind a resurgent Oyu and Tadasuke Makino at the restart, but within five laps, the Briton had managed to repass both Makino and Oyu, and then set about challenging Matsushita for second.

Team Impul's O'Sullivan seized the place with an aggressive move on the last lap at the Turn 13 right-hander, nudging Matsushita wide in the process but escaping any penalty.

O’Sullivan revealed post-race that the race was his last one in Super Formula as he moves on to Formula E, with pre-season testing commitments in the all-electric series effectively preventing him from contesting the Suzuka finale.

Matsushita scored Delightworks Racing’s second podium of its maiden season in third, while Oyu finishing fourth, and Sacha Fenestraz (TOM'S) demoted Makino (Dandelion) late on for fifth.

Completing the top 10 were Tomoki Nojiri (Mugen), Charlie Wurz (Team Goh), Giuliano Alesi (KCMG) – scoring his first points of the year – and Fukuzumi.

Iwasa takes over from Fraga as the nearest challenger to Ohta in the championship, but faces a 33.5-point deficit with 46 left to play for at Suzuka next month.

Super FormulaToyota-backed Sho Tsuboi to make switch from Super Formula to F2

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

- The Motorsport.com Team