2026 Super Formula Lights

The 2026 Super Formula Lights Championship is the seventh Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It started on 28 March at Fuji Speedway and is scheduled to be run over 18 races across six race weekends.

Teams and drivers

As the championship is a spec series, all teams compete with an identical Dallara 324 chassis with a Toyota GR Yaris three-cylinder 1.6-litre turbo engine. All teams compete with tyres supplied by Kumho Tire.[1][2]

Team No. Driver Status Rounds Ref.
B-Max Racing Team 1 Evan Giltaire 1–4 [3]
50 Kotaro Shimbara 1–4 [4]
Delightworks Racing 2 Kazuhisa Urabe 1–4 [5]
3 Yusuke Mitsui 1–4 [5]
JMS Racing Team 4 Nobuhiro Imada M 1 [3]
Buzz Racing 6 "Ken Alex" M 1–4 [3]
Art Taste Racing 8 Yasuhiro Shimizu M 1–3 [3]
B-Max Engineering 26 Rintaro Sato 1–3 [3]
30 "Dragon" M 1–4 [3]
TOM'S 35 Kiyoshi Umegaki 1–4 [6]
36 Oscar Wurz 1–4 [6]
37 Akshay Bohra 1–4 [7]
38 Tokiya Suzuki 1, 3–4 [6][8]
Yuzuki Miura 2
LM corsa 60 Kenta Kumagai 1–3 [9]
Icon Class
M Masters' Cup

Team changes

Buzz Racing made their full-season debut in the series after entering the last round in 2025, with B-Max Racing Team operating the team.[3]

B-Max Racing Team revived the B-Max Engineering entry after a four-year absence, and rebranded its one-car GNSY Racing offshoot to Art Taste Racing.[3][10]

Driver changes

Teams' Champion B-Max Racing Team only entered two cars under its main guise, three less than in 2025. The team have an all-new lineup as Kazuhisa Urabe moved to Delightworks Racing, team owner "Dragon" entered the 2026 season under the returning B-Max Engineering banner, reigning Drivers' Champion Yuto Nomura graduated to the team's Super Formula outfit, Kaylen Frederick moved to IMSA SportsCar GTP with JDC–Miller MotorSports and Zachary David left the championship.[5][3][11][12] B-Max promoted Kotaro Shimbara from their Japanese F4 outfit, where he finished fourth in 2025, and signed 2025 Formula Regional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire, who finished fifth in 2025 Formula Regional Europe with ART Grand Prix.[4][3]

TOM'S also fully renewed their four-car lineup after Rikuto Kobayashi stepped up to Super Formula with TGMGP, Esteban Masson returned to FIA WEC LMGT3 with Akkodis ASP Team, Yuki Sano moved to Formula Regional Europe with R-ace GP, and Yuga Furutani joined Maple Hiroshima Racing Team in Super Taikyu's ST-5R class.[6][13][14] The team signed reigning Formula Regional Japan champion Kiyoshi Umegaki, reigning F4 Japan champion Tokiya Suzuki, 2024 Euro 4 champion Akshay Bohra, who finished sixth in the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship with R-ace GP, and 2024 Formula 4 CEZ champion Oscar Wurz, who finished 18th in the 2025 Eurocup-3 with Drivex.[6][7]

Delightworks Racing saw none of the three part-time drivers of their No. 2 car return for 2026. The team hired Kazuhisa Urabe, who moved over from B-Max Racing after finishing his debut Super Formula Lights season in tenth.[5]

Reimei Ito left the series to move back to Porsche Carrera Cup Japan with Bingo Racing. To replace him, LM corsa promoted Kenta Kumagai from its outfit in F4 Japan, where he finished ninth in 2025.[9]

Nobuhiro Imada continued to race for JMS Racing Team, but reduced his efforts to a part-time schedule alongside his Ferrari Challenge Europe campaign.[3]

Ken Watanabe, who races under the pseudonym "Ken Alex", rejoined new entrant Buzz Racing for his and the team's full-season debut after finishing fifth in F4 Japan's Independent Class in 2025 and already driving for the team in the final round of 2025.[3]

The returning B-Max Engineering outfit entered one full-season car for team owner "Dragon" and one car for the first half of the season, piloted by Rintaro Sato after he came ninth in the 2025 French F4 Championship.[3]

Mid-season

Tokiya Suzuki missed the second round at Autopolis after his car license was suspended.[15] He was replaced by series debutant Yuzuki Miura at TOM'S.[8]

LM corsa did not attend the fourth round at Okayama as their driver Kenta Kumagai elected to prioritise his clashing F4 Japan campaign. Art Taste Racing's Yasuhiro Shimizu was also absent.[16]

Race calendar

The calendar for the 2026 season was announced on 13 November 2025. It will once again consist of eighteen races held over six weekends at six circuits. Two of the events will support the parent Super Formula Championship.[17]

Round Circuit Date Supporting Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 28 March Fuji Champion Race Series
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
BMW Mini Challenge Japan
Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup
R2 29 March
R3
2 R4 Autopolis, Hita 25 April Super Formula Championship
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R5 26 April
R6
3 R7 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 23 May Super Formula Championship
Formula Regional Japanese Championship
R8 24 May
R9
4 R10 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 13 June F4 Japanese Championship
Okayama Challenge Cup
R11 14 June
R12
5 R13 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 29–30 August Formula Regional Japanese Championship
SUGO Champion Cup Race
R14
R15
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 12–13 September Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Cup - Tohoku
R17
R18

Race results

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters winner
1 R1 Fuji Speedway Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing "Ken Alex"
R2 Kiyoshi Umegaki Tokiya Suzuki Evan Giltaire B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
R3 Kiyoshi Umegaki Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing Nobuhiro Imada
2 R4 Autopolis Kotaro Shimbara Kotaro Shimbara Kotaro Shimbara B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
R5 Kotaro Shimbara Evan Giltaire Evan Giltaire B-Max Racing Team "Dragon"
R6 Kotaro Shimbara Evan Giltaire B-Max Racing Team Yasuhiro Shimizu
3 R7 Suzuka International Racing Course Kiyoshi Umegaki Yusuke Mitsui Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM'S "Ken Alex"
R8 Kiyoshi Umegaki Kiyoshi Umegaki Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM'S "Ken Alex"
R9 Kiyoshi Umegaki Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM'S "Ken Alex"
4 R10 Okayama International Circuit Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing "Ken Alex"
R11 Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing "Ken Alex"
R12 Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing "Ken Alex"
5 R13 Sportsland Sugo
R14
R15
6 R16 Mobility Resort Motegi
R17
R18

Season report

The first round of the 2026 Super Formula Lights season was held at Fuji Speedway, and Delightworks Racing's Yusuke Mitsui and TOM'S driver Kiyoshi Umegaki shared pole positions in qualifying. Mitsui led Umegaki throughout the opening race, with B-Max Racing's Evan Giltaire dropping down to seventh from third. The Frenchman spent the race working his way back up to third as Mitsui claimed victory. The second race saw Giltaire take the lead into the first corner despite initially dropping to third after a slow getaway. He converted his lead into victory, with TOM'S driver Tokiya Suzuki finishing second before dropping to fourth after a penalty that promoted Mitsui and Umegaki onto the podium. Mitsui had pole position again for race three and converted it into another lights-to-flag win to lead the championship, with Umegaki and Giltaire coming behind once again.[18]

Round two at Autopolis saw B-Max driver Kotaro Shimbara claim double pole positions in qualifying. He maintained his lead from pole position as Mitsui climbed to second past Giltaire. Shimbara held on to take his maiden series victory. The second race was held in wet conditions, and Giltaire was the fastest driver on track, overtaking Mitsui for second at the start before taking the lead off Shimbara on lap 4. Giltaire managed the rest of the race to take victory as Shimbara dropped off the podium behind Umegaki. Race three saw the drivers start on slick tires. A collision between Giltaire and B-Max driver Rintaro Sato turned into a red flag as the rain then intensified. Drivers restarted on wet tyres and Giltaire was once again the fastest driver from then on. He moved past Mitsui and Shimbara to take another victory and close up to two points behind Mitsui in the standings.[19]

Umegaki took both pole positions for round three at Suzuka. The first race began with him losing out to Mitsui at the start, but he regained the lead on lap seven, before Giltaire also got past. Mitsui was then hit by TOM'S driver Oscar Wurz and retired, handing third to Shimbara. Race two saw Umegaki hold his lead as Shimbara and Mitsui fought for second behind him. Suzuki also entered the battle and got past both of them, before Mitsui got spun by TOM'S driver Akshay Bohra and Umegaki dropped down the order. Wurz took the final podium spot after passing Sato. Umegaki also had pole position for race three, and he was able to drive away as Shimbara and Giltaire contested second. The pair eventually collided, taking both out and handing podium spots to Bohra and Suzuki. Umegaki's perfect weekend saw him take an eight-point lead over Giltaire in the standings.[20]

Championship standings

Points are awarded as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 PP
10 7 5 3 2 1 1

Drivers' championship

Overall

Pos Driver FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Yusuke Mitsui 1 2 1 2 2 3 Ret 9 6 1 1 1 80
2 Kiyoshi Umegaki 2 3 2 6 3 5 1 1 1 2 3 2 79
3 Evan Giltaire 3 1 3 3 1 1 2 7 Ret 3 6 3 63
4 Kotaro Shimbara 10 6 7 1 5 2 3 8 Ret 7 4 6 31
5 Kazuhisa Urabe 4 5 5 8 8 7 6 5 Ret 5 2 4 22
6 Tokiya Suzuki 9 4 6 8 2 3 8 5 5 20
7 Oscar Wurz 5 8 4 5 7 11 11 3 4 4 Ret 9 18
8 Rintaro Sato 6 10 8 4 4 Ret 5 4 5 14
9 Akshay Bohra 8 7 10 7 Ret 6 4 10 2 6 7 10 12
10 Yuzuki Miura 9 6 4 4
11 Kenta Kumagai 7 9 9 10 9 10 7 6 7 1
12 "Ken Alex" 11 Ret 14 12 12 9 9 11 8 9 8 7 0
13 "Dragon" 13 12 12 13 10 12 11 12 9 10 9 8 0
14 Yasuhiro Shimizu 14 11 13 11 11 8 10 13 DNS 0
15 Nobuhiro Imada 12 13 11 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Other points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formatting Meaning
Bold Pole position
Italics Fastest lap

Notes:

  • † – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Masters' Class

Pos Driver FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 "Ken Alex" 1 Ret 4 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 96
2 "Dragon" 3 2 2 3 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 80
3 Yasuhiro Shimizu 4 1 3 1 2 1 2 3 DNS 60
4 Nobuhiro Imada 2 3 1 22
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT

Teams' standings

Only a teams' best finishing driver is eligible to score Teams' Championship points.

Pos Driver FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT Points
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18
1 Delightworks Racing 1 2 1 2 2 3 6 5 6 1 1 1 80
2 TOM'S 2 3 2 5 3 4 1 1 1 2 3 2 78
3 B-Max Racing Team 3 1 3 1 1 1 2 7 Ret 3 4 3 70
4 B-Max Engineering 6 10 8 4 4 12 5 4 5 10 9 8 14
5 LM corsa 7 9 9 10 9 10 7 6 7 1
6 Buzz Racing 11 Ret 14 12 12 9 9 11 8 9 8 7 0
7 Art Taste Racing 14 11 13 11 11 8 10 13 DNS 0
8 JMS Racing Team 12 13 11 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 Points
FUJ AUT SUZ OKA SUG MOT

References

  1. ^ "Super Formula Lights to become a spec-engine series in 2024". formulascout.com. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. ^ Muschlien, Finjo (16 May 2024). "Super Formula Lights: 2024 season guide". Feeder Series. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "2026 SFライツ参戦体制". B-Max Racing Team (in Japanese). 27 February 2026. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Honda 2026 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d "DELiGHTWORKS RACING 全日本スーパーフォーミュラ・ライツ選手権 2026 参戦体制のお知らせ". DELiGHTWORKS Motorsports. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2026 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b Wood, Ida (9 March 2026). "Bohra and Giltaire's Super Formula Lights moves made official". Formula Scout. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  8. ^ a b "ROUND 4/5/6 AUTOPOLIS". Super Formula Lights. 24 April 2026. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  9. ^ a b "OTG Motor SportsとLM corsaが2026年体制を発表。脇阪薫一がレースアドバイザーに就任". Auto Sport Web. 13 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  10. ^ "富士チャンピオンレースシリーズ第1戦 Entry List" [Fuji Champion Race Series Round 1 Entry List] (PDF). Fuji Speedway. 2026-03-19. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  11. ^ Dagys, John (January 8, 2026). "Pino Joins JDC-Miller for Full Season; Frederick for Enduros". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  12. ^ Klein, Jamie (23 December 2025). "Honda reveals 2026 Super Formula roster as Iwasa returns". Autosport. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  13. ^ Klein, Jamie (8 December 2025). "Akkodis ASP Announces First Drivers, Sticks to RC F GT3". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  14. ^ "第1戦 もてぎスーパー耐久". Super Taikyu Series (in Japanese). 7 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  15. ^ Klein, Jamie (25 April 2026). "Toyota protege Tokiya Suzuki benched after licence suspension". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  16. ^ "ROUND 10/11/12 OKAYAMA". Super Formula Lights. 8 June 2026. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  17. ^ "2026 年全日本レース選手権カレンダー一覧" (PDF). Japan Automobile Federation.
  18. ^ "Feeder Series weekend review, results and standings: 26–29 March 2026". Feeder Series. 2026-03-29. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  19. ^ "Feeder Series weekend review, results and standings: 24–26 April 2026". Feeder Series. 2026-04-27. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  20. ^ "Feeder Series weekend review, results and standings: 21–25 May 2026". Feeder Series. 2026-05-25. Retrieved 2026-06-12.
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