2026 Super Formula Lights

2026 Super Formula Lights Championship

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Parent series:
Super Formula

The 2026 Super Formula Lights Championship is the seventh Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It started on 28 March at Fuji Speedway and is scheduled to be run over 18 races across six race weekends.

Teams and drivers

As the championship is a spec series, all teams compete with an identical Dallara 324 chassis with a Toyota GR Yaris three-cylinder 1.6-litre turbo engine. All teams compete with tyres supplied by Kumho Tire. ^{[1] [2]}

Team No. Driver Status Rounds Ref. B-Max Racing Team 1 Evan Giltaire 1–2 [3] 50 Kotaro Shimbara 1–2 [4] Delightworks Racing 2 Kazuhisa Urabe 1–2 [5] 3 Yusuke Mitsui 1–2 [5] JMS Racing Team 4 Nobuhiro Imada M 1 [3] Buzz Racing 6 "Ken Alex" M 1–2 [3] Art Taste Racing 8 Yasuhiro Shimizu M 1–2 [3] B-Max Engineering 26 Rintaro Sato 1–2 [3] 30 "Dragon" M 1–2 [3] TOM'S 35 Kiyoshi Umegaki 1–2 [6] 36 Oscar Wurz 1–2 [6] 37 Akshay Bohra 1–2 [7] 38 Tokiya Suzuki 1–2 [a] [6] [8] Yuzuki Miura 2 LM corsa 60 Kenta Kumagai 1–2 [9]

Icon Class M Masters' Cup

Team changes

Buzz Racing made their full-season debut in the series after entering the last round in 2025, with B-Max Racing Team operating the team. ^[3]

B-Max Racing Team revived the B-Max Engineering entry after a four-year absence, and rebranded its one-car GNSY Racing offshoot to Art Taste Racing. ^{[3] [10]}

Driver changes

Teams' Champion B-Max Racing Team only entered two cars under its main guise, three less than in 2025. The team have an all-new lineup as Kazuhisa Urabe moved to Delightworks Racing, team owner "Dragon" entered the 2026 season under the returning B-Max Engineering banner, reigning Drivers' Champion Yuto Nomura graduated to the team's Super Formula outfit, Kaylen Frederick moved to IMSA SportsCar GTP with JDC–Miller MotorSports and Zachary David left the championship. ^{[5] [3] [11] [12]} B-Max promoted Kotaro Shimbara from their Japanese F4 outfit, where he finished fourth in 2025, and signed 2025 Formula Regional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire, who finished fifth in 2025 Formula Regional Europe with ART Grand Prix. ^{[4] [3]}

TOM'S also fully renewed their four-car lineup after Rikuto Kobayashi stepped up to Super Formula with TGMGP, Esteban Masson returned to FIA WEC LMGT3 with Akkodis ASP Team, Yuki Sano moved to Formula Regional Europe with R-ace GP, and Yuga Furutani joined Maple Hiroshima Racing Team in Super Taikyu's ST-5R class. ^{[6] [13] [14]} The team signed reigning Formula Regional Japan champion Kiyoshi Umegaki, reigning F4 Japan champion Tokiya Suzuki, 2024 Euro 4 champion Akshay Bohra, who finished sixth in the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship with R-ace GP, and 2024 Formula 4 CEZ champion Oscar Wurz, who finished 18th in the 2025 Eurocup-3 with Drivex. ^{[6] [7]}

Delightworks Racing saw none of the three part-time drivers of their No. 2 car return for 2026. The team hired Kazuhisa Urabe, who moved over from B-Max Racing after finishing his debut Super Formula Lights season in tenth. ^[5]

Reimei Ito left the series to move back to Porsche Carrera Cup Japan with Bingo Racing. To replace him, LM corsa promoted Kenta Kumagai from its outfit in F4 Japan, where he finished ninth in 2025. ^[9]

Ken Watanabe, who races under the pseudonym "Ken Alex", rejoined new entrant Buzz Racing for his and the team's full-season debut after finishing fifth in F4 Japan's Independent Class in 2025 and already driving for the team in the final round of 2025. ^[3]

The returning B-Max Engineering outfit entered one full-season car for team owner "Dragon" and one car for the first half of the season, piloted by Rintaro Sato after he came ninth in the 2025 French F4 Championship. ^[3]

Mid-season

Yuzuki Miura will make his series debut with TOM'S, as he replaces Tokiya Suzuki for the second round at Autopolis. ^[8]

Race calendar

The calendar for the 2026 season was announced on 13 November 2025. It will once again consist of eighteen races held over six weekends at six circuits. Two of the events will support the parent Super Formula Championship. ^[15]

Round		Circuit	Date	Supporting	Map of circuit locations
1	R1	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	28 March	Fuji Champion Race Series Honda N-One Owner's Cup BMW Mini Challenge Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup	Fuji Suzuka Sugo Autopolis Motegi Okayama
	R2		29 March
	R3
2	R4	Autopolis, Hita	25 April	Super Formula Championship Honda N-One Owner's Cup
	R5		26 April
	R6
3	R7	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	23–24 May	Super Formula Championship Formula Regional Japanese Championship
	R8
	R9
4	R10	Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka	13–14 June	F4 Japanese Championship
	R11
	R12
5	R13	Sportsland Sugo, Murata	29–30 August	Formula Regional Japanese Championship SUGO Champion Cup Race
	R14
	R15
6	R16	Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi	12–13 September	Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Cup - Tohoku
	R17
	R18

Race results

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Masters winner
1	R1	Fuji Speedway	Yusuke Mitsui	Yusuke Mitsui	Yusuke Mitsui	Delightworks Racing	"Ken Alex"
	R2		Kiyoshi Umegaki	Tokiya Suzuki	Evan Giltaire	B-Max Racing Team	Yasuhiro Shimizu
	R3			Kiyoshi Umegaki	Yusuke Mitsui	Delightworks Racing	Nobuhiro Imada
2	R4	Autopolis
	R5
	R6
3	R7	Suzuka International Racing Course
	R8
	R9
4	R10	Okayama International Circuit
	R11
	R12
5	R13	Sportsland Sugo
	R14
	R15
6	R16	Mobility Resort Motegi
	R17
	R18

Season report

The first round of the 2026 Super Formula Lights season was held at Fuji Speedway, and Delightworks Racing's Yusuke Mitsui and TOM'S driver Kiyoshi Umegaki shared pole positions in qualifying. Mitsui led Umegaki throughout the opening race, with B-Max Racing's Evan Giltaire dropping down to seventh from third. The Frenchman spent the race working his way back up to third as Mitsui claimed victory. The second race saw Giltaire take the lead into the first corner despite initially dropping to third after a slow getaway. He converted his lead into victory, with TOM'S driver Tokiya Suzuki finishing second before dropping to fourth after a penalty that promoted Mitsui and Umegaki onto the podium. Mitsui had pole position again for race three and converted it into another lights-to-flag win to lead the championship, with Umegaki and Giltaire coming behind once again. ^[16]

Championship standings

Points are awarded as follows:

1	2	3	4	5	6	PP
10	7	5	3	2	1	1

Drivers' championship

Overall

Pos Driver FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 1 Yusuke Mitsui 1 2 1 28 2 Evan Giltaire 3 1 3 20 3 Kiyoshi Umegaki 2 3 2 20 4 Kazuhisa Urabe 4 5 5 7 5 Oscar Wurz 5 8 4 5 6 Tokiya Suzuki 9 4 6 WD WD WD 4 7 Kotaro Shimbara 10 6 7 1 8 Rintaro Sato 6 10 8 1 9 Akshay Bohra 8 7 10 0 10 Kenta Kumagai 7 9 9 0 11 Nobuhiro Imada 12 13 11 0 12 Yasuhiro Shimizu 14 11 13 0 13 "Ken Alex" 11 Ret 14 0 14 "Dragon" 13 12 12 0 Yuzuki Miura Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

Masters' Class

Pos	Driver	FUJ			AUT			SUZ			OKA			SUG			MOT			Points
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18
1	Nobuhiro Imada	2	3	1																22
2	"Dragon"	3	2	2																19
3	Yasuhiro Shimizu	4	1	3																18
4	"Ken Alex"	1	Ret	4																15
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	Points
		FUJ			AUT			SUZ			OKA			SUG			MOT

Teams' standings

Only a teams' best finishing driver is eligible to score Teams' Championship points.

Pos	Driver	FUJ			AUT			SUZ			OKA			SUG			MOT			Points
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18
1	Delightworks Racing	1	2	1																27
3	B-Max Racing Team	3	1	3																20
2	TOM'S	2	3	2																19
4	B-Max Engineering	6	10	8																1
5	LM corsa	7	9	9																0
6	JMS Racing Team	12	13	11																0
7	Art Taste Racing	14	11	13																0
8	Buzz Racing	11	Ret	14																0
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	Points
		FUJ			AUT			SUZ			OKA			SUG			MOT

Notes

1. Tokiya Suzuki was originally entered into the second round, but withdrew ahead of the round. He was replaced by Yuzuki Miura.

References

1. "Super Formula Lights to become a spec-engine series in 2024". formulascout.com. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
2. Muschlien, Finjo (16 May 2024). "Super Formula Lights: 2024 season guide". Feeder Series. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
3. "2026 SFライツ参戦体制". B-Max Racing Team (in Japanese). 27 February 2026. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
4. "Honda 2026 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
5. "DELiGHTWORKS RACING 全日本スーパーフォーミュラ・ライツ選手権 2026 参戦体制のお知らせ". DELiGHTWORKS Motorsports. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
6. "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2026 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing . 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
7. Wood, Ida (9 March 2026). "Bohra and Giltaire's Super Formula Lights moves made official". Formula Scout. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
8. "【SUPER FORMULA LIGHTS】 Driver Change Announcement". x.com. 23 April 2026. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
9. "OTG Motor SportsとLM corsaが2026年体制を発表。脇阪薫一がレースアドバイザーに就任". Auto Sport Web. 13 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
10. "富士チャンピオンレースシリーズ第1戦 Entry List" [Fuji Champion Race Series Round 1 Entry List](PDF). Fuji Speedway . 2026-03-19. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
11. Dagys, John (January 8, 2026). "Pino Joins JDC-Miller for Full Season; Frederick for Enduros". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
12. Klein, Jamie (23 December 2025). "Honda reveals 2026 Super Formula roster as Iwasa returns". Autosport . Retrieved 23 December 2025.
13. Klein, Jamie (8 December 2025). "Akkodis ASP Announces First Drivers, Sticks to RC F GT3". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
14. "第1戦 もてぎスーパー耐久". Super Taikyu Series (in Japanese). 7 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
15. "2026 年全日本レース選手権カレンダー一覧" (PDF). Japan Automobile Federation .
16. "Feeder Series weekend review, results and standings: 26–29 March 2026". Feeder Series. 2026-03-29. Retrieved 2026-04-06.

External links

• Super Formula Lights official website – Japanese / English