Super Formula: Heavy crash ends first leg of Suzuka finale early

The first leg of the Super Formula season finale Suzuka ended after just three laps following a horrific crash involving Ukyo Sasahara and Hiroki Otsu. It was the next major accident across all three major racing series in Japan this year and further opens the question what can be done to improve the overall safety.

It certainly wasn’t the sight the fans were expecting. Almost an hour after the Saturday’s originally started, Super Formula chairman Masahiko Kondo stepped in front of the fans, took a deep bow, apologized and thanked everyone for their support, vowing to deliver an exciting season finale on Sunday. With this kind gesture, Kondo took a page out of SUPER GT boss Masaaki Bandoh. The reason: Saturday’s penultimate round of the championship ended after just three laps. Technically five, but not every car finished the fourth lap and a red flag always leads to the final results getting reverted to the previous lap.

What happened? Naoki Yamamoto stand-in Hiroki Otsu (Nakajima Racing) tried to overtake Ukyo Sasahara (TOM’S) on the inside of the fast 130R corner. It appeared that Sasahara didn’t see Otsu’s attack, as he turned into the corner while Otsu was right next to him, leading to a massive accident with both cars hitting the outside sponge barriers hard. Furthermore, Sasahara’s car got airborne due to the impact, with half of the chassis going over the fence and dropping down the crossover to the other side – the Degner curve. While Otsu was able to walk away from the accident without any major injuries, Sasahara was brought to a local hospital for further checks. There he got diagnosed with a concussion. On Sunday, he will receive another medical check to decide if he can get released the same day. It’s safe to say that the Halo device protected Sasahara from further injuries. Due to sheer impact, TOM’S confirmed that the #36 car is a total loss and unsprisingly retired it for the rest of the weekend. The same goes for Nakajima Racing, who retired Hiroki Otsu’s car because of the heavy damage it received.

Due to the extensive repair work needed and not enough time left before sunset, the officials made the decision to end the race with the red flag, awarding only half points. It meant that polesitter Tomoki Nojiri took his third win of the season. Championship leader Ritomo Miyata finished second, with his lead shrinking to now 6.5 points ahead of Nojiri. However, as long as Miyata qualifies in the first row, a second place in the race would be enough for him to win the championship on Sunday. Kakunoshin Ohta took his first career podium finish on P3. However, given the situation, he wasn’t much in a celebratory mood. But despite everything, he mentioned that while he was struggling at the beginning of the season, his current peformance is the result of constant improvements. The driver who lost out the most was Liam Lawson. After struggling in qualifying (P7), he didn’t have a chance to further improve his position in the race. P6 by the end meant that he lost ground on his two rivals, now trailing 15 points behind Ritomo Miyata. Given the deficit, his hopes of becoming the first rookie champion since Ralf Schumacher in 1996 seem slim. One title got clinched early, however: Team Mugen won their second consecutive team championship with one round to go.

The title fight wasn’t the only topic that got discussed after the race. Especially Ritomo Miyata looked emotionally affected, also because Sasahara is his teammate. Across all three major Japanese championships (Super Formula, SUPER GT and Super Taikyu), there have been multiple heavy accidents this season to the point that even SUPER GT race director Naoki Hattori pleaded to the drivers to be cautious. For Super Formula, it was the second race in a row, where the competition had to get red-flagged. At the previous round, Tadasuke Makino went airborne after colloding with Liam Lawson’s car, who spun following a duel with his teammate Tomoki Nojiri. The chain reaction caused Nobuharu Matsuhita and Yuhi Sekiguchi to crash hard as well. Thankfully, all drivers walked away from said accident uninjured. Even Tadasuke Makino was able to leave the hospital shortly afterwards.

While the cause for the majority of said accidents were unfortunate circumstances, Ritomo Miyata mentioned in today’s press conference that since the cars have become so fast, it’s important to not just review the safety of the tracks (after all, part of Sasahara’s did go over the catch fence), but of the racing itself as well. Asked about suggestions to improve the overall safety, Tomoki Nojiri went almost sociologically, pointing out that over the years there have been several different opinions by the drivers on this matter, which reflects the present society.

„The reaction of the drivers of the track really shows the diversity and the ways of thinking. Of course, we work in accordance with the regulations. But maybe we should think more about what is safe and what is not and give way when it becomes too dangerous. I think some drivers lack a bit of that. Of course, we give 100% every corner. But it’s not just about that. We also need to release in order for this type of thing not to happen.“

While Nojiri mentioned he didn’t want to go further into this topic during the press conference, it did show how much importance this topic holds to him. In an impromptu press conference, the Japan Race Promotion (JRP) confirmed that they’re going to look into the accident together with Suzuka Circuit to see what can be done in the future to further improve the overall safety. Including two crashes during SUPER GT GT500 testing by Kenta Yamashita and Kakunoshin Ohta, it was the fifth accident in the 130R this year. At the Super Taikyu season opener back in March, three-time GT300 champion Tetsuya Yamano crashed hard at the exit of the corner leading to the chicane due to contact with another car. Less than three months later, Tsugio Matsuda got hospitalized for over a month after a three-wide incident that saw his Nissan Z GT500 fly into the fence at the exit of the corner. Now, part of Sasahara’s chassis went over the fence in the middle of the corner.

Over the years, Suzuka Circuit had continuously improved the safety of the 130R, which can be done flat-out in both the SF23 and GT500 machines. While its location makes it tough to potentially increase the runoff area, it seems certain that future improvements will at least be evaluated.

Repair work in the broken catch fence was completed around 20:00 local time. Sunday’s season finale will once again see qualifying in the morning at 8:50 JST followed by the race at 14:30 JST.

Copyright Photos: Own archive, Japan Race Promotion (JRP)