2019 Super Formula season

There could be a new team from Germany: Motopark (currently Formula 3 European Championship). Possible drivers: Tom Dillmann and Lucas Auer. Dan Ticktum could also be in the mix.

https://www.italiara...id=236228&cat=6

Besides a possible return to ADAC F4, Motopark could do with something after being left out of the FIA F3 entry list.

So Motopark joins Super Formula, unfortunately just in partnership with B-Max. So the grid will be filled up by just one additional car...

https://www.autospor...er-formula-step

And their driver is going to be Dan Ticktum, I guess?

Lucas Auer is also rumoured. Perhaps both.

Some news about drivers:

https://www.autospor...o-super-formula

So champion Naoki Yamamoto is to move to Dandelion alongside Nirei Fukuzumi

His place at Mugen could be field with Tomoki Nojiri alongside Dan Ticktum.

Nakajima could run Tadasuke Makino and Bertrand Baguette

B-Max/Motopark is rumoured to race with Tom Dillmann and Lucas Auer.

No mention about Real Racing (2018 with Koudai Tsukakoshi)

Out would be Nobuharu Matsushita (wants to rejoin Formula 2)

Katsumasa Chiyo

Takuya Izawa

Narain Kartikeyan (would drive Super GT instead)

No mention about Toyota drivers/teams.

Some more news:

Alex Palou to test with Nakajima

Ralf Aron with Le Mans.

Ralf Aron with Le Mans.

Is he the sone of Pete Aron? </stalejoke>

More updates:

Kondo:
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi
Impul:
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Nick Cassidy, Kenta Yamashita
Le Mans:
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Bertrand Baguette
KCMG: Kamui Kivayashi, Ralf Aron
Real: (Koudai Tsukakoshi)?
B-Max: Tom Dillmann, Lucas Auer

Markelov set to move to Super Formula

So could be this:

Kondo:
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi
Impul:
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Nick Cassidy, Kenta Yamashita
Le Mans: Artem Markelov
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Bertrand Baguette
KCMG: Kamui Kivayashi, Ralf Aron
Real: (Koudai Tsukakoshi)?
B-Max/Motopark: Lucas Auer, Harrison Newey

Kondo: Nick Cassidy, Kenta Yamashita
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi, Hiroaki Ishiura
Impul:
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Kazuki Nakajima, Charles Milesi
Le Mans: Artem Markelov, Kazuya Oshima
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Bertrand Baguette
KCMG: Kamui Kivayashi, Ralf Aron
Real: (Koudai Tsukakoshi)?
B-Max/Motopark: Lucas Auer, Harrison Newey

Is there an european channel that shows this series?

Auer and Ticktum confirmed:

Kondo: Yuji Kunimoto, Kenta Yamashita
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi, Hiroaki Ishiura
Impul: Yuji Sekiguchi, Ryo Hirakawa
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Kazuki Nakajima, Nick Cassidy
Le Mans: Artem Markelov, Kazuya Oshima
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Alex Palou
KCMG: Kamui Kobayashi
Real: Tristan Charpentier
B-Max/Motopark: Lucas Auer, Harrison Newey

https://www.motorspo...huffle/4322123/

• Naoki Yamamoto will join Dandelion, where he will partner Formula 2 racer Nirei Fukuzumi
• Tomoki Nojiri will be at Mugen alongside the previously announced Red Bull Formula 1 junior Dan Ticktum.
• Harrison Newey will make his Super Formula debut with B-Max Racing
• Nakajima Racing will have two new drivers in 2019: Tadasuke Makino and Alex Palou
• Real will field 18-year-old Tristan Charpentier

Kondo: Yuji Kunimoto, Kenta Yamashita
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi, Hiroaki Ishiura
Impul: Yuji Sekiguchi, Ryo Hirakawa
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Kazuki Nakajima, Nick Cassidy
Le Mans: Artem Markelov, Kazuya Oshima
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Alex Palou
KCMG: Kamui Kobayashi
Real: Tristan Charpentier
B-Max/Motopark: Lucas Auer, Harrison Newey

Harrison Newey's inclusion is quite interesting, I kind of felt things had gone a bit quiet on his career.

I'd imagine there's a logical explanation, like the youngster finishing university or something.

Toyota drivers confirmed:

Kondo: Yuji Kunimoto, Kenta Yamashita
Mugen: Tomoki Nojiri, Dan Ticktum
Cerumo: Sho Tsuboi, Hiroaki Ishiura
Impul: Yuji Sekiguchi, Ryo Hirakawa
Dandelion: Naoki Yamamoto, Nirei Fukuzumi
TOM's: Kazuki Nakajima, Nick Cassidy
Le Mans: Artem Markelov, Kazuya Oshima
Nakajima: Tadasuke Makino, Alex Palou
KCMG: Kamui Kobayashi
Real: Tristan Charpentier
B-Max/Motopark: Lucas Auer, Harrison Newey

Wouldn't it be bitter irony if Newey jr beats Ticktum - the great white hope of Red Bull beaten by their own ace designer's brat.

the new season will be livestreamed on the Let's Go Racing youtube channel:

https://www.youtube....zL-MaCy-YUqPRoQ

Formerly known as NISMO TV

Great news! And since it's youtube it should be available to watch later as well 

Nice to have it live. AT the same time, they seem to havelost Super GT

This year GT Association sold Super GT's TV rights for overseas to Malaysia's Haro sports and entertainment company, that's why. Previous years NISMO TV was paying GT Association to stream SGT races in Europe. Let's Go Racing was NISMO TV, the operator of it has been changed so renamed.

Haro is planning to broadcast Super GT live from 2nd round, but whether you can watch it or not depends on how Haro make sales and deal with TV stations of each country/region. Those European drivers want NISMO TV replacement obviously and GTA want to promote SGT in Europe as well as globally as well so they are trying to find solution, hopefully stream will come back.

https://www.as-web.j...ergt/472291?all

https://www.as-web.j...ergt/428854?all

the new season will be livestreamed on the Let's Go Racing youtube channel:
 
https://www.youtube....zL-MaCy-YUqPRoQ
 
Formerly known as NISMO TV

Edited by ANF, 19 April 2019 - 20:43.

Super Formula offers a superb live timing at http://superformula.racelive.jp/

Qualifying results:

Edited by statman, 20 April 2019 - 10:40.

I wonder why the Japanese drivers are so good in Super Formula.

I wonder why the Japanese drivers are so good in Super Formula.

I wonder why the Japanese drivers are so good in Super Formula.

Because they are all very good, if not as good as few top junior categories drivers who would graduate to F1. I wonder why anyone would wonder about that.

Communication, would be one reason I'd guess. I've seen in interviews several European drivers say they have struggled at the start to communicate what the car needed to do etc.

Think of it in reverse, Japanese drivers going to Europe have to tackle with 1.acclimatizing to new/different car, 2.acclimatizing to unfamiliar tracks, 3.acclimatizing to different racing environment (NOT as in culture but as in the kind of difference between F2 and F3 etc), 4. acclimatizing to different living environment, 5.needing to communicate in English (which is one of many difficult languages to learn for Japanese). So for european drivers it's the same.  But communication is more like convenient excuse, generally speaking culture or communication is way way overrated and overfocused because it's just easy to see, many journos in autosports and guys like Buxton are always talking about culture culture culture when it comes to Honda which is highly annoying and disgusting and to be honest disrespectful, they are just being lazy, never even try to learn and understand, it's them who build a wall inside.

If you look at drivers like Gasly he never had any issue in communicating and mixing with Japanese engineers in SF, of course for him working with Japanese should be more difficult than working with French but same goes for working with [insert whatever non UK] is more difficult than working with fellow British for Brits, but it was often witnessed by jornos and captured by footage and pictures that he was always talking with Japanese staff a lot with no issue and working extensively til very late discussing setups and strategy with engineers and participating in briefing etc in race weekends. Team Mugen guys really liked him, praised him and rate him so high. Same goes for other drivers like Vandoorne, Lotterer, Duval, Treluyer etc. Unfortunately some drivers are bit too shy or dont know what to do or have some attitude issues and never able to mix, of course vice versa for Japanese, some Japanese are just too shy, scared etc and never want to work outside Japan. After all, communication/culture is convenient excuse for your own inability.

Edited by muramasa, 20 April 2019 - 19:29.

Communication, would be one reason I'd guess. I've seen in interviews several European drivers say they have struggled at the start to communicate what the car needed to do etc.

Very likely. It's a very different world for Europeans and English speakers.

Are there any European/American/Aussie teams in the series?

Qualifying results:

 

t was a wild first qualifying of the season that required a lot of patience by the drivers with 3 crashes, resulting in 3 red flags in Q1 alone. In the end Nakajima Racing confirmed their strength from the pre-season tests while some prominent names struggled.

Ticktum off to a flying start.  Or not.  Is the extra interest in this series this year just due to a salacious desire to see Red Bull's Great White Hope fall flat on his face? 

Not for me.

Any idea how we can watch this?  Never bothered before but might well this rear

Races are streamed on youtube, I do not know if they're region locked.

https://www.youtube....h?v=Y-jIVHgc7es

OK thanks seems ok

Edited by ANF, 21 April 2019 - 16:08.

Ticktum off to a flying start.  Or not.  Is the extra interest in this series this year just due to a salacious desire to see Red Bull's Great White Hope fall flat on his face? 

FWIW, Lucas Auer is now also a Red Bull Junior, and hasn't been talked about much as a possible superlicense points gatherer with an eye on a Toro Rosso cockpit, but if he happened to do really well here, he might be worth a consideration.  Not sure where he stands on current superlicense points, though.  Probably would need to win the title or close, to get anywhere near the required level?

Edit: actually by my math, even if he wins it all, he'll only have 33 points total, amirite?  Make that 36, with the Toyota Series points?

Edited by maximilian, 20 April 2019 - 23:44.

Nice one for Cassidy, Kobayashi not helped by all the SC periods. Should have pitted earlier.

Or Berger is talking directly to Dietrich. A bit like Webber was rumored to.

It was a bit weird, lots of strange accidents. And what on earth were they thinking with that strategy for Kobayashi? He should've pitted immediately when the last SC went out, it was a great clear opportunity. 

Edited by Anja, 21 April 2019 - 10:51.

It was a bit weird, lots of strange accidents. And what on earth were they thinking with that strategy for Kobayashi? He should've pitted immediately when the last SC went out, it was a great clear opportunity. 

Yeah. The incidents themselves weren't that entertaining. The race was certainly unrepresentative. Yamamoto looked good, and made the move of the race at the chicane which was somehow missed by the commentators.

Nakajima Racing did Haas, losing both cars by loose wheel, eventually ruining the race by causing SCs as well. Bit scrappy race overall but maybe coz this is the first race with the new chassis. I think they can do 2 races in one weekend, 7 races per season is too short, atm expanding to China Korea Malaysia Thailand etc is bit unrealistic prospect so make it 2 races per round for now (2 proper feature race, not sprint race like F2).

Nakajima Racing did Haas, losing both cars by loose wheel, eventually ruining the race by causing SCs as well. Bit scrappy race overall but maybe coz this is the first race with the new chassis. I think they can do 2 races in one weekend, 7 races per season is too short, atm expanding to China Korea Malaysia Thailand etc is bit unrealistic prospect so make it 2 races per round for now (2 proper feature race, not sprint race like F2).

Nakajima Racing did Haas, losing both cars by loose wheel, eventually ruining the race by causing SCs as well. Bit scrappy race overall but maybe coz this is the first race with the new chassis. I think they can do 2 races in one weekend, 7 races per season is too short, atm expanding to China Korea Malaysia Thailand etc is bit unrealistic prospect so make it 2 races per round for now (2 proper feature race, not sprint race like F2).