Hiroki Otsu was trying to make a move on Ukyo Sasahara for 17th place on lap 4 when the two came to blows at 130R, with both spinning heavily into the barriers.
While Otsu’s Nakajima car had a normal impact with the barriers, Sasahara’s TOM'S machine appeared to fly up into the catch fencing, with subsequent photo evidence indicating the chassis finally came to rest near Degner Curve, on the underside of Suzuka's famous crossover.
Otsu was seen walking away from the car in the aftermath of the crash, while Sasahara was reported as conscious and taken to the medical centre for checks.
A safety car was immediately deployed to neutralise the field, before a decision was taken to stop the race altogether, with all remaining cars taking to the grid.
Marshals began work on repairing the barriers, but the scale of the task quickly became clear to the organisers.
After a wait of 30 minutes, it was announced at 3:30pm local time that the race won’t be resumed, with only half points awarded to the top 10 finishers.
With results taken from the end of lap 3 of 31, Nojiri was declared the winner of the race, claiming his third success of the season after previous triumphs at the Fuji opener and Motegi.
Sasahara’s team-mate and championship leader Ritomo Miyata finished second after repassing the Dandelion entry of Kakunoshin Ota at the start of the second lap, having previously slipped behind him with a poor getaway from the front row.
Despite being overtaken by Miyata, third-place for Ota marked his first career podium in Super Formula - and only his second-ever points finish following a sixth-place result at Fuji in July.
Tadasuke Makino was classified fourth in the other Dandelion entry, ahead of Inging rival Sho Tsuboi.
Source: Autosport