Igor Fraga led a crop of 12 rookie drivers in the course of the ultimate day of the Tremendous System championship’s three-day winter check at Suzuka Circuit.
Two 90-minute periods have been scheduled for Friday, reserved for rookie drivers with three or fewer Tremendous System races on their file.
Fraga, the real-world and sim racing crossover star, set the quickest time of the day in the course of the morning session. In truth, his main time of 1m36.077s was his greatest time within the No. 64 Nakajima Racing Dallara/Honda all week — and fifth greatest out of all 30 drivers that participated throughout all three days. He adopted that up with a 1m36.848s within the afternoon session, and formally led all rookie candidates in all six periods that he participated in.
Second quickest was Seita Nonaka, a number one prospect from the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Problem (TGR-DC) academy, driving the No. 8 KCMG Toyota. Nonaka set a 1m36.383s within the morning, and a 1m36.999s within the afternoon.
Nonaka’s teammate for the day — new Haas System 1 racer Oliver Bearman — attracted crowds of native followers for his first real-world expertise round Suzuka. The 19-year-old British driver accomplished 43 laps immediately and set a prime time of 1m36.940s, good for third quickest on the day aboard the No. 7 KCMG Toyota.
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Bearman will return to Suzuka subsequent April for the System 1 Japanese Grand Prix, utilizing the real-world monitor data gained immediately in a check made doable by Haas’ strategic partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Reigning Tremendous System Lights champion and Honda-backed prospect Syun Koide was third quickest within the afternoon driving the No.50 B-Max Racing Honda, and fourth quickest immediately forward of Nissan manufacturing facility driver Mitsunori Takaboshi within the No. 20 Group Impul Toyota (1m37.545s).
The check additionally featured fellow British drivers Zak O’Sullivan and James Hedley for Kondo Racing, and younger Dane Oliver Rasmussen for Group Impul. From Japan, TGR-DC prospects Rikuto Kobayashi and Kazuhisa Urabe acquired their first checks; Kobayashi (no relation to Kamui) with TOM’S, and Urabe with Cerumo-INGING alongside Tremendous GT GT300 race winner Yuui Tsutsumi.
The check was additionally to have featured Honda Tremendous GT GT500 driver Riki Okusa within the No. 65 Nakajima Racing Honda. However on his out lap in the course of the morning session, Okusa misplaced the rear coming by the right-hand 200R bend on chilly tires, went into the obstacles on the left and did sufficient injury to the ground that his check was finished earlier than he even accomplished a lap.
Kondo’s British kids had their very own troubles: Williams Racing Academy member O’Sullivan went off within the gravel at Degner Curve, whereas GB3 Sequence race winner Hedley went off at Spoon Curve. Each drivers introduced out pink flags for his or her respective incidents however have been in a position to run with out a lot hassle afterwards.
On the very finish of the afternoon session, Tsutsumi caught a little bit of snap oversteer heading into the S-Curves, and hit the sponge obstacles off to the suitable. The 29-year-old, who had a short American cameo as a Mazda MX-5 Cup winner at Sebring in 2018, was in a position to stroll away unharmed.
The 2025 Tremendous System Championship begins on March 8-9 at Suzuka for the primary two rounds of a 12-round championship.
