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Syun Koide seals SFL title with lights-to-flag victory
Syun Koide（HFDP WITH B-MAX RACING）
Following three practice sessions the 2024 Japanese Super Formula Lights’ final event had two qualifyings and one race at Mobility Resort Motegi on Saturday.
True to his word that “I didn’t want to have any regrets, Syun Koide in HFDP WITH B-MAX RACING) steadily improved his times to 1m43.085 and then to 1m42.779 in the qualifying that started at 9:55am, and even though Rikuto Kobayashi (Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320 TGR-DC) briefly topped the times, he snatched back the top spot to take pole position for Rd 1.
Rin Arakawa driving the #13 TEAM DRAGON 324 in place of Makoto Fujiwara qualified third with 1m43.346. Keeping up his strong pace in practice sessions Souta Arao (HFDP WITH TODA RACING) took fourth ahead of Togo Suganami driving #4 JMS RACING TEAM in place of Nobuhiro Imada.
Heading into this weekend after slashing Koide’s championship lead to nine points in Rd 18 Seita Nonaka (PONOS Racing TOM’S 320 TGR-DC) unexpectedly suffered electric failures. He managed to do attacks, but settled for 11th with performance far from what he had displayed in the qualifying sessions.
Start of Round.1■Nonaka fails to line up on the grid
TOM’S’ repairs to fix troubles that occurred to Nonaka’s machine during the qualifying was not completed in time, and the formation lap started at 1:25pm without Nonaka for the longest 20 laps of the Motegi event.
Both Koide and Kobayashi got good starts from the front row to leap into turn one in the grid order. Arakawa and Arao followed the lead two.
Suganami lost several positions from fifth just after the start.
Up front, Koide attempted to pull away, setting a fastest lap of 1m44.826 on lap two, but Kobayashi closely followed him within a second in the opening stages.
At the halfway stage close battles were fought by a pack of Arakawa, Arao and Jin Nakamura (Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320 TGR-DC), and a pair of Kaylen Frederick (Pilot ONE Racing with B-MAX) running sixth and Yuga Furutani (Deloitte. HTP TOM’S 320).
However, the race entered the closing stages with no one being able to seize the opportunity to improve their positions on this difficult-to overtake Motegi track.
Seita Nonaka（PONOS Racing TOM'S 320 TGR-DC）
■Koide retains his lead all the way to the chequered flag
As he recalled ‘it was a tough race’, Koide was put under pressure from Kobayashi throughout the race, but retained his lead all the way, taking the chequered flag 1.146 secs clear of the TOM’S driver. His seventh win of the season sealed the 2024 SFL title as his championship rival Nonaka only able to run just a lap.
Arakawa won a close battle to finish third. Arakawa, Nakamura and Frederick rounded out the points in fourth, seventh and sixth respectively.
DRAON (TEAM DRAGON 324) overtook master class pole-sitter Yasuhiro Shimizu (GNSY 324) on the opening lap, the two continuing to fight a close battle, going side-by-side on lap 17.
The fight came down to the very final lap with DRAGON fending off Shimizu by .0427 secs to secure master class champion with his seventh win of the season.
