Miyata came into Sunday’s title-deciding round 5.5 points clear of Tomoki Nojiri and 12 clear of Red Bull junior Lawson after a fiercely competitive season that had seen the trio win all eight races up to that point between them.
With polesitter Lawson dropping a place to Ota at the start, Miyata only needed to finish inside the top six to put himself in a position to become Toyota’s first Super Formula champion since Nick Cassidy in 2019.
Having qualified fourth, Miyata made a crucial pass on Nojiri at Turn 2 after the two-time champion lost time behind team-mate Lawson at the start.
This put the TOM’S driver right behind Lawson and although he couldn’t pass him on track, third was more than enough for him to secure the title in his third full-season in Japan’s premier racing category.
When the 31-lap got underway, Lawson didn’t get the best of starts from pole position, with Dandelion’s Ota streaking past him to take the lead.
Nojiri also tried to find a way around his younger team-mate but backed out of the move, allowing Miyata to get around his outside of Turn 2 and demote him to fourth.
Ota immediately built an advantage of over a second over Lawson, who likewise put himself well clear of Miyata as the field began to settle down.
Source: Autosport