Why WEC exile Oliver Rasmussen has gone all in on Japan
Catching up with Super Formula's new 'Great Dane' as he begins a Japanese adventure that also includes a crack at SUPER GT GT300 honours... (Photos: JRP, Toyota)
There’s a long-established tradition of Scandinavians plying their trade with success in Japanese motorsport. Starting with Eje Elgh becoming a mainstay of All-Japan F2/F3000 and JSPC through the 1980s and early 1990s, there’s Tom Kristensen’s race-winning All-Japan F3000 campaign in 1995 that followed a title in F3, John Nielsen’s 1996 JGTC triumph, and more recently Felix Rosenqvist’s two-year foray in Japan in 2017-18 that came closer to yielding the Super Formula title than most remember.
Oliver Rasmussen is the latest Nordic hopeful to head East, and after driving for Team Impul in last December’s post-season Super Formula test, he was named as one of the Kazuyoshi Hoshino-owned team’s regular drivers for 2025. More surprising was his inclusion in Toyota’s announcement of its SUPER GT GT300 lineups last month, with Rasmussen landing a plum berth in the #31 apr Lexus LC500h next to Miki Koyama.
By making the switch to Japan from the FIA World Endurance Championship, Rasmussen is embarking on a highly unusual path; drivers going from Super Formula and/or SUPER GT to the WEC has been much more common over the years. But as Rasmussen admits speaking to Japan Racing Insider, the fact he was unable to remain with JOTA Sport, his home of the past three seasons, and a lack of other opportunities to stay on the WEC grid forced him to “think outside the box” for his 2025 plans.
“Actually, I initially didn’t ask Toyota about Super Formula, because I was coming from WEC,” says Rasmussen. “I was focused on trying to find a seat in GT500 because the cars are amazing and the series also. I started with that in mind, and they wanted me to do a double programme, and as things went along, it ended up like this.
“It came a little bit out of the blue. I always thought it would be cool, but I was never sure if it was really possible. It was a great surprise in that sense, that Toyota was so helpful in putting things together. I’m excited and looking forward to it.”