Winners and losers from Super Formula's Fuji round

A look back at who was up and who was down following last weekend's second Super Formula race of the season at Fuji Speedway... (All Photos: JRP)

WINNER: Toshiki Oyu

After finishing second behind Sho Tsuboi at Fuji, Oyu was asked by Emily the pit lane reporter whether he was happy or frustrated. ‘Frustrated’, came the reply. But looking at the bigger picture, Oyu has every reason to be delighted with a runner-up finish and a first trip to the podium in nearly a year. While he didn’t have the pace to live with Tsuboi in the second stint, and probably would have finished behind Nirei Fukuzumi without the KCMG driver’s awful pit stop, he came out on top in a straight fight with Tomoki Nojiri, and generally turned in his most convincing performance since he was taken out of contention by the Mugen driver at Suzuka last year.

More importantly, Oyu proved his improved turn of speed at Sugo, which can be something of an outlier, was no fluke. In fact, after a woeful start to the season at Suzuka, the 2024 campaign has been one of steady progression for the Hokkaido-born 25-year-old, who has been boosted by Shintaro Okajima (performance engineer for Sena Sakaguchi) lending some much-needed set-up assistance to the #39 side of the Inging garage. If he can keep up this form next time out at Motegi, then the battle for intra-team supremacy against Sakaguchi will surely continue to go in his direction.