Super Formula Autopolis: Hirakawa charges to victory from eighth

Hirakawa made a brilliant launch from the fourth row on the opening lap to slot himself in third behind polesitter Nojiri and Tadasuke Makino, aided by Ritomo Miyata making a poor getaway from second and nudging a fast-starting Ukyo Sasahara over the grass on the run down to Turn 1.

The safety car was deployed immediately afterwards to recover the stricken Nakajima Honda of Toshiki Oyu, who crashed into the barriers at the exit of Turn 3 in a desperate attempt to move up the pack after an engine change left him last on the grid.

When the safety car retreated into the pits at the end of lap three, Nojiri was able to pull away from the rest of the field but Makino was struggling to hold on to second position.

At the start of lap five, Makino covered the inside line into Turn 1, but Hirakawa was able to pull off a brilliant move around the outside of the Dandelion Honda driver to snatch second position.

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The race didn’t resume until the start of lap 10, with Nojiri leading the way from Hirakawa as a struggling Makino pitted at the end of that lap to fit a fresh set of tyres.

Nojiri was the next of the frontrunners to pit on lap 16, with Hirakawa staying out in a bid to overcut his chief title rival.

This was where the race shifted in Hirakawa’s favour, with the Toyota Hypercar driver setting a series of fastest laps as Nojiri struggled for performance even with fresh tyres on his Mugen Honda.

When Hirakawa finally dived into the pits at the end of lap 20, he was able to emerge from the pits comfortably in the net lead, even as his stop was fractionally slower at 8.5s.

With Nojiri having no pace to mount a fightback, Hirakawa was able to cruise to the chequered flag, scoring his fourth career victory with a comfortable