P.1 Nobuharu Matsushita(B-Max Racing Team)

The 2022 Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship Round 3 Final Race was held on Sunday 24 April at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, with Nobuharu Matsushita (B-Max Racing Team) taking his first win and also the first win for the B-Max Racing Team.

After the dry conditions of the previous day, Sunday’s rain began in the morning, and by 14:30, when the race was due to start, the weather was slightly wetter than usual at Suzuka Circuit. One hour before the start, Race Control declared a wet race, implying also no required tire changes. The race was contested over 31 laps at the 5.807 km Suzuka Circuit course, a distance of approximately 180 km.

P.2 Tomoki Nojiri(TEAM MUGEN)

The race started with Nojiri in the lead at the first corner. Sascha Fenestraz (KONDO RACING), who started from the third grid, failed to accelerate at the start and dropped back to the sixth position. Kenta Yamashita (KONDO RACING), who started from P2, also dropped down and made an emergency pit-in on the 12th lap, The tire changes did not go smooth and Yamashita fell far back into the points standings. The second position was taken by Tadasuke Makino (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING), with Nobuharu Matsushita (B-Max Racing Team) in third place. The two drivers kept a fierce battle from start to finish. On the 27th lap, Matsushita caught Makino at the final corner and the positions changed.

The rainfall on the race track gradually increased as the race continued to unfold with aggressive changes in position at various places until Matsushita caught up with Nojiri, who had been solo racing from the start, and overtook two laps to the end. Matsushita took the checkered flag marking a great comeback. The defending champion Nojiri finished the race in 2nd place, with Makino in 3rd.

The next round will be Round 4 at Autopolis in Oita Prefecture on 21 (Sat) and 22 (Sun) May.