Liam Lawson has started his 2023 Super Formula campaign in phenominal fashion, charging to a commanding win in this evening’s season-opener at Fuji.
The race pace shown by the Kiwi was a level above the field, Lawson taking the lead on Lap 23 and putting a massive gap over his teammate Tomoki Nojiri in the laps that followed.
A late Safety Car did make for some tense moments, however, but the race finished under yellow flag conditions, with dirt and debris scattered across the first turn.
As a result, Lawson becomes the first rookie to win on debut in the premier Japanese series in nearly 50 years, and now leads the championship from his teammate ahead of tomorrow’s Round 2.
It was a superb result for Team Mugen, a one-two finish to open the season the best possible result for the outfit.
Ultimately, it was boxing Lawson first that allowed him through for the lead, a lack of tyre warmers in Super Formula seeing Nojiri quickly picked off four corners after he exited the lane with the net race lead.
The Japanese driver had led for the first half of the race off pole, and had built a gap of nearly three seconds over the Kiwi as he went about battling Toshiki Oyu for second spot.
Once he did gain that position, Lawson was able to reduce the gap significantly to his teammate, allowing for such a successful undercut to take place.
Right from the start Lawson got his campaign underway well, slotting comfortably into third, behind Nojiri and Oyu, at Turn 1, as the front three quickly put a small gap over the trailing field.
A frantic first lap saw four stallers on the start line and contact between mid-field cars at multiple points. It was Lap 2, however, when a Safety Car was called for following a spectacular Turn 1 incident.
Lap 8 was when the race restarted, now four cars down after just one full lap of running.
Nojiri led the field off the restart, Lawson getting an excellent slipstream on Toshiki Oyu – who was second – into Turn 1, briefly locking up as he took the position. The two ran side-by-side into Turn 2, with Lawson holding the inside line into the left-hander. Both ran wide at the exit, Oyu losing out and sliding through the escape road, rejoining several spots down.
Nojiri had pulled a gap at the front while this unfolded, Lawson now sitting second and 2.5 seconds behind the leader.
He slightly brought this down over the following few laps and pulled clear of the third-placed Naoki Yamamoto in doing so.
After 14 laps Lawson had reduced the gap to the lead by one second, Nojiri now only 1.4 seconds ahead as the Team Mugen duo built a gap of four seconds over the pack.
The Kiwi came in for his compulsory stop at the end of Lap 21, a quick 6-second tyre change putting the Kiwi right in contention with the race leader who followed for his stop the very next lap.
Nojiri emerged from the lane with the net race lead, but on colder rubber. A fast-charging Lawson was able to make a move at the Turn 4 hairpin by going around the outside of his teammate.
He was able to quickly build a gap with some incredible flying laps to take the overall lead once everyone had made their stops.
The two-time defending champion had no answers for the Kiwi’s pace, Lawson leading by 5 seconds until a late crash at Turn 1 brought out a Safety Car and brought the field back together.
The race was never able to restart, however, Lawson taking the win over Nojiri and Ryo Hirakawa.
Super Formula returns tomorrow, beginning with qualifying at 12.00 pm with the race following at 5.30 pm.
Super Formula is available to watch on motorsport.tv but does require paid premium access. It will also be streamed live on the SF go App, which is also a paid service.
