Tadasuke Makino completed a Dandelion Racing sweep of the opening weekend of the Super Formula season at Suzuka, but team-mate Kakunoshin Ohta was demoted out of the points by a penalty.
Makino led a 1-2 on the road for the Honda-powered squad ahead of Ohta, as the 31-lap race came to a conclusion behind the safety car following a crash for Kondo Racing rookie Zak O’Sullivan at Turn 2.
But Ohta had been handed a five-second penalty for an earlier incident with Ayumu Iwasa, with the Saturday race winner having cut the final chicane as he passed Iwasa following early pitstops for both drivers.
Makino on the other hand opted to stay out until lap 20 and, while he temporarily lost the advantage to Ohta after his stop on cold tyres, he was able to sweep back ahead of his Dandelion team-mate with the advantage of his fresh rubber on lap 24.
Ohta then looked to be in danger of dropping behind TOM’S driver Sho Tsuboi - who, like Makino, stopped on lap 20 - and was showing strong pace as the race moved towards its conclusion.
But with the safety car appearing following O’Sullivan’s crash, triggered by contact with Team Impul stand-in Seita Nonaka, the entire field was bunched together and Ohta was powerless to prevent himself dropping out of the points to 12th.
O'Sullivan endured a tricky debut weekend
Photo by: Super Formula
That promoted Tsuboi to second and Team Mugen’s Iwasa, who once again started second and led the opening lap, to the final spot on the podium.
Both Dandelion cars were placed under investigation for a potential violation of the safety car procedure, with Makino having appeared to pass the safety car as it peeled into the pits at the finish, but he was cleared and kept the victory after a lengthy investigation.
Tomoki Nojiri ended up fourth from pole following Ohta’s penalty, while Igor Fraga completed the top five in his first weekend for Nakajima Racing after an early stop.
His team-mate Ren Sato took the opposite approach and ended up sixth, also setting the fastest lap of the race.
Completing the scorers were Inging’s Toshiki Oyu, B-Max Racing rookie Shyn Koide, KCMG’s Kamui Kobayashi and Rookie Racing’s Kazuya Oshima.
Sacha Fenestraz could only manage 16th for TOM’S as he went for an early pitstop, only to get stuck behind the Inging machine of Sena Sakaguchi for the rest of the race.
Iwasa takes an early lead in the championship on 30 points, ahead of Tsuboi on 23 and Ohta on 22, while Makino sits fourth on 21 having kept his victory.
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Source: Autosport