[Q&A] Kaylen Frederick: The American with an eye on Japanese stardom

Ex-FIA Formula 3 racer look back on his first year racing in Japan racing in Super Formula Lights and looks ahead to the future... (Photos: SFL Association)

Last year’s Super Formula Lights field was a bit thin on international drivers. In fact, there was just one the entire season: B-Max Racing rookie Kaylen Frederick.

The German-American racer scored a victory at Okayama and three other second-place finishes across the course of the 2024 season, but inconsistency elsewhere left him a distant fifth in the standings, far behind title-winning teammate Shun Koide in B-Max’s lead entry and only just ahead of Rin Arakawa, who skipped a round.

Frederick took the decision to move to Super Formula Lights following three seasons in FIA Formula 3, which never quite lived up to the promise he showed in his title-winning campaign in BRDC British F3 (now GB3) in 2020. One win in Lights matches what fellow international Igor Fraga managed for B-Max the previous year, although you could certainly debate which of the pair faced the stiffer opposition — and there’s no doubt that the 2024 grid was certainly the more rookie-heavy of the two.

Frederick drove for B-Max in last month’s post-season Lights test at Suzuka in a possible indication that he’ll stay in the Super Formula support class in 2025.

In this conversation, we look back on Frederick’s mixed debut season in Lights, why a planned outing in the Super Formula rookie test at Suzuka didn’t materialise and his future goals, which he says include the possibility of racing in SUPER GT.