With Dandelion driver Kakunoshin Ota stalling on the grid after qualifying second, Lawson got on the offensive from third place and challenged his Mugen team-mate Nojiri for the lead in the opening sequence of corners.
The two drivers ran side-by-side into the Turn 2 right-hander but Lawson was left with little room and had to go over the kerbs at the exit of the corner.
This left him spinning back on track in an uncontrollable fashion, with both Tadasuke Makino and Yuhi Sekiguchi unable to avoid him and going airborne after the impact. Nobuharu Matsushita was also involved in the melee, prompting the race control to bring out red flags.
While Makino, Sekiguchi and Matsushita all retired on the spot, Lawson was incredibly able to get his car back into the pits, with Mugen mechanics successfully completing a full repair before the race resumed.
However, a drive-through penalty for violating Super Formula’s rules regarding working on the car under red flags put paid to any hopes of a strong recovery, with the Kiwi eventually finishing a distant 13th.
Source: Autosport