Both Pourchaire and Barnicoat have been named on the entry list for the post-season test at Suzuka that will run from December 6-8 and feature one day of running dedicated exclusively to rookies.
Sauber junior Pourchaire, who is widely expected to move to Super Formula next year after winning this year’s F2 title with ART, will drive for Toyota squad Impul on the opening two days of the test.
He will share the #19 SF23 with Danish driver Oliver Rasmussen, who was recently named as the first driver for Jota’s expansion to a second customer Porsche 963 in the World Endurance Championship.
Impul, which won the teams’ title in 2021, could have as many as two slots available next year, with Ryo Hirakawa leaving Super Formula to focus on his WEC and Formula 1 commitments with Toyota and McLaren respectively, and Yuhi Sekiguchi expected to leave the team after a miserable 2023 season.
Sekiguchi will be testing at Suzuka for SF minnow KCMG, with his place in the team to be taken over by 2016 champion Yuji Kunimoto in a direct swap between the two drivers.
Elsewhere, Lexus driver Barnicoat will follow his maiden run in an LMH car in last month’s Bahrain rookie test with a first appearance in single-seaters since his cameo in Euroformila Open in 2020.
Barnicoat will get to drive for TOM’S, one of Toyota’s top teams in Japan, on the final day of Suzuka testing on December 8.
Source: Autosport