Super Formula Round 5

Round 5 of the 2025 Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship took place at Autopolis on Sunday, May 18 following the cancellation of all running on Saturday due to severe weather. VANTELIN TEAM TOM'S driver Sho Tsuboi scored his first win of the season after starting from fifth on the grid.

May 21, 2025

Autopolis

Thriller in Autopolis: Sho Tsuboi takes first win of the season

SUPER FORMULA Media Pool

The fifth round of the Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship took place at Autopolis in Oita Prefecture on Sunday, May 18. Reigning champion Sho Tsuboi (VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S) claimed his first victory of the season after starting from P5 on the grid. Coming from fifth on the grid, Tsuboi had a lightning start, gaining three positions to climb up to P2 behind polesitter Nojiri, who defended his lead heading into the first corner. Similarly, Ayumu Iwasa zoomed past the competition as the lights went out, taking four positions to climb up to P3, putting Tsuboi into a TEAM MUGEN sandwich.

Despite Nojiri’s best efforts to reduce the gap, the reigning champion managed the situation flawlessly, crossing the finish line with an advantage of 1.1 seconds to take his first win of the season, ending DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING’s dominance of four consecutive victories in 2025. Tsuboi’s 6th career win was also the first for a Toyota-powered driver since Round 7 at Fuji Speedway in 2024. Nojiri celebrated his best finish of the season in second, while Yamashita took his first podium finish since Motegi last year. Following a string of bad luck at the previous two rounds, Sato saw the checkered flag in 4th. Sakaguchi completed the top 5 after passing Makino in the final laps of the race. The latter took over the championship lead finishing in 6th, as teammate Ohta saw the checkered flag outside the points in P13. Best of the rookie drivers was Fraga in 8th – sandwiched in the middle of the two Kids com TEAM KCMG drivers Kobayashi (P7) and Fukuzumi (P9), who recovered greatly following a spin in the early stages of the race. Toshiki Oyu (SANKI VERTEX PARTNERS CERUMO・INGING) took the final points position after overtaking Takaboshi on the final lap of the race. Takaboshi’s teammate Oliver Rasmussen (ITOCHU ENEX WECARS TEAM IMPUL), who made his comeback after being sidelined for two months due to a broken thoracic vertebra, finished his very first SUPER FORMULA race on a strong 14th position.

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