Tomoki Nojiri clinches the Super Formula title with a race to spare after finishing second to Mugen team-mate Ukyo Sasahara at Suzuka 👑 Full race highlights, report and results ⬇️
Having scored three bonus points for pole position in qualifying earlier on Saturday, Nojiri only needed a top-three result to become Super Formula's first back-to-back champion since Tsugio Matsuda in 2008.
But the man on the move was Sasahara, who dispatched the Nakajima Racing machine of Oyu for second place at the start of lap four at Turn 1 before piling the pressure on his team-mate Nojiri. Nojiri initially emerged ahead but on colder tyres he was rapidly reeled in by Sasahara through the first sector, and didn't get in the way of his team-mate when he launched an attack heading into the hairpin.