Honda star Tomoki Nojiri becomes the first driver to win back-to-back titles in Super Formula in more than a decade with a second-place finish at Suzuka. Full race report and results: sformula
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 teammate Nojiri. Once in the lead, Sasahara was never threatened again, building an advantage of 12 seconds en route to his second win of the season and his career.
Leaving his pitstop until lap 19, Sato was able to pick off Tadasuke Makino, Yuhi Sekiguchi and finally Oyu to take third and boost his chances of keeping a place on Honda's roster in 2023.