Teams and drivers
After being a multi-engine championship throughout all of its history, dating back to 1979, this changed in 2024 with the introduction of a spec Toyota engine developed by TOM'S and based on the Toyota GR Yaris three cylinder 1.6-litre turbo engine. [1] This change coincided with the introduction of a new chassis, the Dallara 324, after four years of using the Dallara 320, and with a change of tyre supplier from Yokohama to Kumho. [2] [3]
Team changes
B-Max Racing Team saw its six-car operation split up into four different entries: The No. 4 and No. 8 cars were run under the "JMS Racing Team" and "GNSY Racing" banners respectively, the No. 13 and No. 30 cars were fielded under the "Team Dragon" guise and the No. 1 and No. 50 remained under the B-Max Racing Team name.
Rn-sports left the championship after having competed in every Super Formula Lights season.
Mid-season
Super GT GT300 team LM corsa made their series debut at Okayama and Motegi. [6]
ALBIREX Racing Team returned to Super Formula Lights for the final two rounds after last competing in 2021. [7]
Driver changes
Reigning Teams' Champion B-Max Racing Team signed two new drivers in its core program under the B-Max name. 2023 champion Iori Kimura stepped up to the teams' Super Formula outfit, with his seat in the No. 50 car filled by Syun Koide, who departed Toda Racing after coming third in his debut season with the team. [8] [5] The No. 1 car was driven by Kaylen Frederick, who made his debut in Japan after coming 21st with ART Grand Prix in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship, while Igor Fraga and David Vidales left the championship after coming fourth and ninth in 2023, respectively. Fraga focused on his reserve driver duties for PONOS Nakajima Racing in Super Formula and his Super GT program with Arnage Racing, while Vidales joined AF Corse for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. [9] [10] [11] Togo Suganami and Takashi Hata, who did three and four rounds with the team in 2023 respectively, did not return. [9]
The two cars under the Team Dragon banner were piloted by B-Max Team Owner "Dragon" and Rin Arakawa, who embarked on a part-time campaign after coming sixth in the previous year's F4 Japanese Championship. [9] Arakawa shared the car with Masters' Class driver Makoto Fujiwara, the 2023 F4 Japanese Championship Independent Cup champion. In B-Max Racings two other satellite entries, Nobuhiro Imada continued to pilot the No. 4 car, albeit under the JMS Racing Team name, and Yasuhiro Shimizu, who last raced in the Super GT GT300 Class in 2011, joined GNSY Racing. [9]
TOM'S signed two Toyota juniors in 2023 F4 Japanese champion Rikuto Kobayashi and runner-up Jin Nakamura. Both rookies replaced last season's runner-up Hibiki Taira, who continued driving in the Super GT series' GT300 class with INGING, and Enzo Trulli, who joined Easy Race in the Italian GT Sprint Championship. [4] [5]
Souta Arao took over Syun Koide's former seat at Toda Racing, returning to Japan after a stint in GB3 with Hitech Pulse-Eight, where he came 17th. [12]
Mid-season
Makoto Fujiwara took over the No. 13 Dragon Racing car from round 2 onwards, and Rin Arakawa switched to B-Max Racing as the team entered a third car from that round on. [13]
Former Japanese F4 and Super GT driver Reimei Ito competed with Super GT team LM corsa at the rounds at Okayama and Motegi, with both driver and team making their series debut. [6]
Tsubasa Iriyama, who raced with ALBIREX Racing Team for 2020 and 2021, returned to the series for the final two rounds, while Rin Arakawa left B-Max Racing and the series ahead of the round at Suzuka. [7]
Togo Suganami returned to the series where he came sixth in a part-time campaign in 2023 to replace Nobuhiro Imada at JMS Racing Team for the final round. Rin Arakawa meanwhile returned to Team Dragon, the team he drove for at Autopolis at the start of the year, in place of Makoto Fujiwara. [14]
Season report
The 2024 Super Formula Lights season began at Autopolis after the original season opener was postponed, and Rikuto Kobayashi (TOM'S) and Syun Koide (B-Max Racing) shared pole positions in qualifying. Kobayashi initially led the first race despite a slow start, but his teammate Seita Nonaka overtook him on a safety car restart on lap three. He went on to win, while B-Max Racing’s Rin Arakawa came third. Race two saw Koide take a lights-to-flag victory as Kobayashi stalled his car at the start. The ensuing chaos promoted Nonaka from sixth to second, before Arakawa overtook him to claim the place later on. Nonaka started the third race from the front and remained there until the finish to leave Autopolis in the lead of the championship. B-Max Racing’s Kaylen Frederick leapt from fourth to second at the start and spent the rest of the race defending from Kobayashi. [19]
Koide and Frederick were fastest in the two qualifying sessions held at Sportsland Sugo. The former converted his pole position into victory in the first race. TOM’S driver Jin Nakamura took third at the start and pressured Frederick for second. The American then sustained a puncture, handing Nakamura second and promoting Arakawa onto the podium. Wet weather hit the track Sunday, prompting a safety car start for race two. Frederick then ran wide and lost the lead to Nakamura. He remained second until Koide tried to pass him and was shoved off track. That saw Toda Racing’s Souta Arao move through as Frederick was handed a penalty that handed Kobayashi third. Race three saw Nonaka claim the lead from third at the start. He led Koide and Nakamura until the safety car ended the race early due to fog, defending his championship lead in the process. [20]
Round three at Fuji Speedway began with Nakamura and Kobayashi setting the pace in qualifying. The former had a bad start to race one and was overtaken by Koide on the inside for the lead and Arakawa on the outside for second. TOM'S driver Yuga Furutani followed through to take third later on in lap one, and the order remained the same until the finish. Race two saw Kobayashi able to hold his lead at the start, with Nakamura establishing himself in second. Arao spent the race defending third from Arakawa and Koide, but was released when the latter dropped behind Nonaka and a fight for fourth broke out. Race three saw Koide turn his first place on the grid into the lead as Furutani and Arakawa fought over second. The latter won that battle, and Furutani then also dropped behind Nonaka, whose third place still saw him lose the championship lead to Koide. [21]
The second half of the season began at Okayama International Circuit with Koide taking both pole positions. He then delivered a faultless performance in the first race to take an unchallenged victory. Frederick was second all race, with Kobayashi in third shadowing him, but never coming close enough to attempt an overtake. Race two, held in the wet, saw Frederick overtake Koide on the first lap to claim the lead. He held on through two safety car restarts to claim his maiden SFL win by just over a second. Furutani came third, profiting from a collision further up the order. Race three mirrored race one as Koide sailed away at the front towards another victory and Frederick in second was unable to keep up with the leader, but had no major pressure from Kobayashi behind. Two wins for Koide, coupled with a retirement for Nonaka, saw the former open up a 33-point lead. [22]
Suzuka hosted the penultimate round, where Nonaka and Nakamura shared pole positions. The first race saw Nonaka lead Arao all race, with the latter closely following the leader to finish only 0.4 seconds behind. Third place was debated between Nakamura and Kobayashi, with the former falling to fourth after a slow start. He pressured Kobayashi, but was unable to find a way back into third. Race two saw Nakamura have another bad start as he dropped from first place behind Nonaka and Kobayashi. As the order stabilized behind him, Nonaka was handed a ten-second penalty for jumping the start. That saw Kobayashi inherit the win, with Nakamura classified second and Furutani third. Nonaka had pole position for race three and converted that into an unchallenged win ahead of Arao and Nakamura, shortening Koide’s championship lead to only nine points in the process. [23]
After spending the fifth round in the lower reaches of the top five, Koide was back in front for the final weekend at Motegi as he took both pole positions. Nonaka suffered an electrical issue that saw him complete only one lap of the first race, enabling Koide, who won ahead of Kobayashi and Arakawa, to win the championship title in the process. Race two saw Kobayashi overtake Koide to claim the lead at the start. He then distanced himself from the rest of the field to claim the win, with Nakamura coming third and Nonaka finishing outside the points. Race three, once again started side-by-side by Koide and Kobayashi, saw Koide hold his lead at the start to finish his season with another win. Furutani climbed from seventh to third, but could not take second from Kobayashi. Nonaka ended a difficult weekend in sixth, thereby losing second in the standings to Kobayashi. [24]
2024 champion Koide took eight wins and three further podiums en route to his title, with his closest challengers Kobayashi and Nonaka only claiming three and five wins respectively. Koide’s only weekend off the pace - and only weekend without a win - came at Suzuka, allowing Nonaka and Kobayashi back into contention, but clinical form at Motegi coupled with technical difficulties for Nonaka saw Koide end the title fight with two races to spare. Away from the championship fight, the series’ move to a spec Toyota engine did not bring the increase in regular entries the championship organizers hoped it would, with the car count not surpassing 13 entries at any point.
