2025 Super Formula Lights

The 2025 Super Formula Lights Championship was the sixth Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season.

Yuto Nomura won the Drivers' Championship with three races to spare, becoming the series' first rookie champion, while his team, B-Max Racing Team, won their second Teams' Championship and GNSY Racing's Yasuhiro Shimizu took the Masters' title.

Teams and drivers

As the championship is a spec series, all teams competed with an identical Dallara 324 chassis with a Toyota GR Yaris three cylinder 1.6-litre turbo engine, though LM Corsa entered the previous generation Dallara 320 for their single-car entry. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Kumho Tire.

Team No. Driver Status Rounds Ref.
B-Max Racing Team 1 Kazuhisa Urabe All [1]
30 "Dragon" M All[a] [1][2]
Takuya Otaki 5
50 Yuto Nomura All [1]
51 Zachary David All [1]
58 Kaylen Frederick 1–5 [1][3]
Keito Matsui 6
Delightworks Racing 2 Souta Arao 1 [4][5][6]
Yugo Iwasawa 2–3
Hiyu Yamakoshi 6
3 Yusuke Mitsui All [4]
JMS Racing Team 4 Nobuhiro Imada M All[b] [1][7]
Tosei Moriyama 1
Buzz Racing 6 "Ken Alex" M 6 [3]
GNSY Racing 8 Yasuhiro Shimizu M All [1]
TOM'S 35 Yuki Sano All [8]
36 Esteban Masson All[b] [8][7]
Seita Nonaka 1[c]
37 Yuga Furutani All [7]
38 Rikuto Kobayashi All [8]
LM corsa 60 Reimei Ito All [7]
Icon Class
M Masters' Cup

Team changes

B-Max Racing Team stopped running the No. 30 car under the Team Dragon guise, instead entering it as a normal B-Max Racing Team entry.

LM corsa made their full-season debut in the series after entering two rounds in 2024.[9]

Delightworks Racing, a new team established by gaming company DELiGHTWORKS in 2024, where they competed in the last round of Formula Regional Japan, joined the series.[4][7] The team took over Toda Racing's entry as that team, a series mainstay ever since 1988, when the series was called Japanese Formula 3, did not continue their entry into 2025.[10]

Albirex Racing Team did not return to the championship after entering the final two rounds of the 2024 season.[10]

Mid-season

F4 Japan team Buzz Racing made their series debut for the final round at Motegi, with B-Max Racing operating the entry.[3]

Driver changes

Reigning Teams' Champion TOM'S saw Jin Nakamura and Seita Nonaka leave the series as Nakamura moved to Formula Regional Europe with R-ace GP and Nonaka focused on his continued Super GT GT300 efforts with Saitama Green Brave. The team signed 2023 Eurocup-3 champion Esteban Masson, who came 27th in the WEC's LMGT3 class with Akkodis ASP in 2024, and Yuki Sano, who finished fourth in the 2024 F4 Japanese Championship driving for the TGR-DC Racing School.[8][11]

B-Max Racing Team saw reigning Drivers' Champion Syun Koide graduate to the team's Super Formula outfit, while Rin Arakawa joined Tomei Sports in Super GT GT300 and Makoto Fujiwara also left the series.[12][13] B-Max promoted 2024 F4 Japanese champion Yuto Nomura from its outfit in that championship.[12] The team also signed Kazuhisa Urabe, who stepped up from Japanese F4 after finishing 11th in 2024 with TGR-DC Racing School. Zachary David completed the team's lineup, debuting in SFL alongside a sophomore FRECA campaign with CL Motorsport after finishing his rookie campaign there 13th driving for R-ace GP.[1][12]

Reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Japan champion Reimei Ito made his full-season debut with LM corsa after entering two rounds with the team in 2024 and finishing the season in ninth.[9][7]

New team Delightworks Racing contracted two former HFDP drivers for their SFL debut. They signed Souta Arao, who finished the 2024 season in seventh driving for Toda Racing, and 2022 F4 Japanese runner-up Yusuke Mitsui, who would make his rookie debut in the series after spending 2024 racing in Super Taikyu ST-2 with Team Spoon and Super GT - GT300 with Team UpGarage.[4][7]

Tsubasa Iriyama left the series along with Albirex Racing Team.[10]

Mid-season

Two drivers withdrew shortly ahead of the opening round: JMS Racing Team's Nobuhiro Imada suffered a hand injury ahead of the event and was replaced by Tosei Moriyama, who finished fifth in both Japanese F4 and the FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup.[7] TOM'S driver Esteban Masson was also unable to race due to an injury and was initially set to be replaced by Seita Nonaka, who would return to the No. 38 car he drove to third in the standings in 2024.[14] However, when Team Impul's Super Formula driver Oliver Rasmussen sustained an injury during free practice, Nonaka was called up to replace him and TOM'S opted against fielding the No. 36 car.[15][16]

Souta Arao parted ways with Delightworks Racing after round one.[17] Former Super GT GT300 driver Yugo Iwasawa replaced him for rounds two and three, making his debut in the series, before the team scaled back to a single entry for Mitsui for round four.[5][2]

Former Super GT GT300 driver Takuya Otaki was to make his Super Formula Lights debut in round five, replacing Dragon in the No. 30 B-Max Racing Team car, but he withdrew shortly before the weekend, with Dragon returning to his entry.[18]

Delightworks Racing ran two cars in the season finale, with Formula Regional European driver Hiyu Yamakoshi making his Super Formula Lights debut.[6] F4 Japan driver Keito Matsui also competed in the season finale, replacing Kaylen Frederick at B-Max Racing Team. Ken Watanabe, who races under the pseudonym "Ken Alex", made his SFL debut in the Masters' Cup with new entrant Buzz Racing.[3]

Race calendar

The calendar for the 2025 season was announced on 11 November 2024. It once again consisted of eighteen races held over six weekends at six circuits. Two of the events supported the parent Super Formula Championship.[19]

Round Circuit Date Supporting Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 8 March Super Formula Championship
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R2 9 March
R3
2 R4[d] Autopolis, Hita 17 May Super Formula Championship
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R5 18 May
R6[d]
3 R7 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 21 June Porsche Sprint Challenge Japan
Mini Challenge Japan
BMW M2 CS Racing Series
Roadster Party Race
R8 22 June
R9
4 R10 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 30 August Formula Regional Japanese Championship
SUGO Champion Cup Race Series
R11
R12 31 August
R6[e]
5 R13 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 6 September Fuji Champion Race Series
BMW M2 CS Racing Series
Mini Challenge Japan
Toyota Gazoo Racing 86/BRZ Race
R14 7 September
R15
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 29 November Motegi Champion Cup Race
R17 30 November
R18

Race results

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters winner
1 R1 Suzuka International Racing Course Yuki Sano Yuto Nomura Yuki Sano TOM'S Yasuhiro Shimizu
R2 Yuki Sano Yuki Sano Yuki Sano TOM'S Yasuhiro Shimizu
R3 Kazuhisa Urabe Yuki Sano TOM'S Yasuhiro Shimizu
2 R4 Autopolis Yuto Nomura[f] Yuki Sano Yuki Sano TOM'S Yasuhiro Shimizu
R5 Kaylen Frederick[f] Kaylen Frederick Kaylen Frederick B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada
R6 postponed due to adverse weather conditions[d]
3 R7 Okayama International Circuit Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
R8 Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team "Dragon"
R9 Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
4 R10 Sportsland SUGO Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada
R11 Yuto Nomura Yuki Sano Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada
R12 Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada
R6 Yuki Sano Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada
5 R13 Fuji Speedway Yuto Nomura Yuki Sano Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team "Dragon"
R14 Rikuto Kobayashi Rikuto Kobayashi Rikuto Kobayashi TOM'S Nobuhiro Imada
R15 Yuga Furutani Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
R17 Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team "Ken Alex"
R18 Rikuto Kobayashi Yuto Nomura B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu

Season report

The 2025 Super Formula Lights season began at Suzuka with TOM'S driver Yuki Sano claiming both pole positions in qualifying. He lost his lead to B-Max Racing's Yuto Nomura amidst multiple drivers stalling at the start of the opening race. The latter earned a penalty for a jump start that dropped him back to second after the flag, while Rikuto Kobayashi made it a TOM'S 1-3 on the podium. Race two saw Sano notch up an untroubled second win, leading the B-Max pair of Nomura and Kaylen Frederick as Kobayashi suffered a transmission failure and Delightworks Racing's Souta Arao ran off track from second place. Race three saw Sano initially drop to third behind Nomura and Kobayashi, but he repassed the former before the latter went off from the lead and dropped to third, allowing Sano to finish the weekend with a perfect score and take an eleven-point lead.[22]

Autopolis hosted the second round of the year, and the weekend was heavily disrupted by severe fog. Both qualifying sessions on Saturday were cancelled, with the starting grids for the two races held on Sunday formed by the results of the final practice session and the third race of the weekend postponed to round four. Nomura started the first race from pole position, but wheelspin cost him at the start. Sano and Frederick passed him right there, before he dropped further down, handing the final podium spot to TOM'S driver Esteban Masson as Sano took his fourth win in a row. Frederick won race two from pole position as Sano rose to second at the start. He spent the race defending from teammate Yuga Furutani, who had started fifth and battled his way up the order. Frederick's win saw him move past Nomura into second in the standings, 24 points behind Sano.[23]

Round three at Okayama saw Nomura bounce back from his two pointless races as he claimed both pole positions in qualifying. He kept teammate Zachary David behind him at the start, which started a fight for second and allowed him to gap the field. He claimed an unchallenged victory as Kobayashi got into second place after trying for multiple laps. Race two saw more of the same, with Nomura again establishing an early lead, leaving Masson and Kobayashi in second and third as the Frenchman got close to the lead in the latter stages, but did not make a move. The final race brought another victory for Nomura, who led lights-to-flag ahead of Kobayashi and Frederick. Pre-event points leader Sano closed a difficult weekend with seventh place - four points across the three races saw him now level in the standings with Nomura, only ahead courtesy of having one more win.[24]

Championship standings

Points were awarded as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 PP
10 7 5 3 2 1 1

Drivers' championships

Overall

Pos Driver SUZ AUT[d] OKA SUG FUJ MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Yuto Nomura 2 2 2 8 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 153
2 Yuki Sano 1 1 1 1 2 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 5 4 4 3 3 3 104
3 Rikuto Kobayashi 3 Ret 3 6 4 2 3 2 3 4 3 5 11 1 3 2 2 2 85
4 Yuga Furutani 10 4 11 4 3 8 8 8 9 3 7 3 3 6 2 6 Ret 6 36
5 Kaylen Frederick 9 3 5 2 1 4 7 3 6 7 6 10 9 9 6 35
6 Yusuke Mitsui 5 7 6 7 6 6 4 6 7 5 9 4 4 2 13 4 4 5 32
7 Esteban Masson WD WD WD 3 5 7 2 5 5 Ret 4 7 2 5 7 8 6 8 31
8 Zachary David 4 8 4 5 10 3 6 4 4 Ret 5 8 6 7 5 9 Ret DNS 25
9 Hiyu Yamakoshi 5 5 4 7
10 Kazuhisa Urabe 6 5 10 9 8 11 9 9 8 6 13 6 7 10 9 7 Ret 7 5
11 Reimei Ito 11 6 9 11 9 9 10 Ret 10 8 8 9 8 8 8 10 7 9 1
12 Tosei Moriyama 7 10 8 0
13 Souta Arao 8 11 7 0
14 "Ken Alex" 14 8 12 0
15 Nobuhiro Imada WD WD WD 13 11 WD WD WD 11 9 10 11 12 11 11 Ret 9 13 0
16 Yasuhiro Shimizu 12 9 12 12 13 12 Ret 11 12 11 11 12 Ret 13 10 12 Ret 10 0
17 Yugo Iwasawa 10 14 10 11 10 0
18 "Dragon" 13 Ret 13 14 12 13 12 12 13 10 12 13 10 12 12 13 Ret 11 0
19 Keito Matsui 11 Ret 14 0
— Seita Nonaka WD WD WD 0
— Takuya Otaki WD WD WD 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
SUZ AUT OKA SUG FUJ MOT
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Other points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formatting Meaning
Bold Pole position
Italics Fastest lap

Masters' Class

Pos Driver SUZ AUT[d] OKA SUG FUJ MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Yasuhiro Shimizu 1 1 1 1 3 1 Ret 1 2 3 2 2 Ret 3 1 1 Ret 1 133
2 "Dragon" 2 Ret 2 3 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 1 2 3 2 Ret 2 108
3 Nobuhiro Imada WD WD WD 2 1 WD WD WD 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 Ret 2 4 92
4 "Ken Alex" 3 1 3 22
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
SUZ AUT OKA SUG FUJ MOT

Teams' standings

Only a teams' best finishing driver was eligible to score Teams' Championship points.

Pos Driver SUZ AUT[d] OKA SUG FUJ MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 B-Max Racing Team 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 163
2 TOM'S 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 141
3 Delightworks Racing 5 7 6 7 6 6 4 6 7 5 9 4 4 2 13 4 4 4 33
4 LM corsa 11 6 9 11 9 9 10 Ret 10 8 8 9 8 8 8 10 7 9 1
5 JMS Racing Team 7 10 8 13 11 WD WD WD 11 9 10 11 12 11 11 Ret 9 13 0
6 Buzz Racing 14 8 12 0
7 GNSY Racing 12 9 12 12 13 12 Ret 11 12 11 11 12 Ret 13 10 12 Ret 10 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R6 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
SUZ AUT OKA SUG FUJ MOT

Notes

  1. ^ Takuya Otaki was originally entered in place of Dragon in the No. 30 car, but withdrew ahead of the round, with Dragon returning to his entry.
  2. ^ a b Nobuhiro Imada and Esteban Masson were both entered into the first round, but both withdrew ahead of the round. They were replaced by Tosei Moriyama and Seita Nonaka, respectively.
  3. ^ Seita Nonaka was initially entered into the opening round to replace Esteban Masson, but was later called up to replace Team Impul's Oliver Rasmussen in SFL's parent series Super Formula for that round.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Race 4 moved to 18 May due to adverse weather conditions, with race 6 postponed to another round.[20]
  5. ^ Race 6, which was postponed due to adverse weather conditions, was moved to the 4th round at Sugo.[21]
  6. ^ a b Qualifying for round 2 was canceled due to adverse weather conditions. The results of the final practice sessions formed the grid for race 4 and 5. Yuto Nomura and Kaylen Frederick each started a race on pole position, but no points were awarded for qualifying.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 SFライツ参戦体制". B-Max Racing Team. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b "全日本スーパーフォーミュラ・ライツ選手権 2025 第4大会（菅生） 参戦体制". Delightworks. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "ROUND 16/17/18". Super Formula Lights. 24 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d "＜DELiGHTWORKS RACING＞全日本スーパーフォーミュラ・ライツ選手権 2025に2台体制で参戦". DELiGHTWORKS Motorsports. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b "ROUND 4/5/6". Super Formula Lights. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b "ヨーロッパのレースシーンで活躍する山越陽悠選手がDELiGHTWORKS RACINGより 全日本スーパーフォーミュラ・ライツ選手権 2025 最終戦にスポット参戦". DELiGHTWORKS. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Wood, Ida (4 March 2025). "Super Formula Lights grid forms ahead of season opener". formulascout. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2025 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b O'Connell, RJ (7 February 2025). "Giancarlo Fisichella To Drive LM Corsa Ferrari At Suzuka 1000KM". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  10. ^ a b c "ROUND 1/2/3". Super Formula Lights. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  11. ^ "2025年　SUPER FORMULAおよびSUPER FORMULA LIGUTS選手権 TEAM TOM'S　参戦体制発表 あわせて2025年　「TOM'S Team Attendant」に　央川かこ　を起用". TOM'S. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "Honda 2025 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 10 January 2025. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  13. ^ Hirano, Ryuji (26 February 2025). "RUNUP SPORTSが2025年スーパーGT／ジャパンカップ参戦体制を発表。GT300は清水啓伸が加入". Auto Sport Web. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  14. ^ Klein, Klein (6 March 2025). "KCMG picks Seita Nonaka to replace Kobayashi for Motegi". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  15. ^ Hirano, Ryuji (7 March 2025). "クラッシュのラスムッセンはスーパーフォーミュラ開幕大会を欠場。野中誠太が代役出場へ". AutoSport Web. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  16. ^ Klein, Klein (7 March 2025). "Suzuka Super Formula: Practice day paddock notes". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  17. ^ "Feeder Series weekend preview and schedule: 16–18 May". Feeder Series. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  18. ^ "富士チャンピオンレースシリーズ第5戦 エントリーリスト" (PDF). Fuji Speedway. 26 August 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  19. ^ "2025 年全日本レース選手権カレンダー一覧" (PDF).
  20. ^ "Super Formula Lights on X: '公式通知No.26の通り、5月18日(日)のスケジュールが変更となりました。'". X. 17 May 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  21. ^ "About the replacement schedule of the 6th round of the All Japan Super Formula Rights Championship". Super Formula Lights. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  22. ^ Wood, Ida (2025-03-09). "Super start at Suzuka for Sano in Super Formula Lights". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  23. ^ Wood, Ida (2025-05-18). "Dense fog disrupts Super Formula Lights' second round at Autopolis". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  24. ^ Wood, Ida (2025-06-23). "Nomura goes unbeaten at Okayama to level SF Lights title race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
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