2026 Super Formula Lights

The 2026 Super Formula Lights Championship is scheduled to be the seventh Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season.

Teams and drivers

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

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

Team changes

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

B-Max Racing Team revived the B-Max Engineering entry after a four-year absence.[3]

Driver changes

Teams' Champion B-Max Racing Team saw reigning Drivers' Champion Yuto Nomura graduate to the team's Super Formula outfit, while Kaylen Frederick moved to IMSA SportsCar GTP with JDC–Miller MotorSports.[8][9] The team promoted Kotaro Shimbara from their Japanese F4 outfit, where he finished fourth in 2025.[4] The team also signed 2025 Formula Regional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire, who finished fifth in 2025 Formula Regional Europe with ART Grand Prix.[3]

Rikuto Kobayashi, Esteban Masson, Yuki Sano, and Yuga Furutani left the series, as Kobayashi steps up to Super Formula with TGMGP, Masson returns to race in FIA WEC LMGT3 with Akkodis ASP Team, Sano moves to Formula Regional Europe with R-ace GP, and Furutani moves to Super Taikyu ST-5R class with Maple Hiroshima Racing Team.[5][10][11] TOM'S signed reigning Formula Regional Japan champion Kiyoshi Umegaki, reigning F4 Japan champion Tokiya Suzuki, 2024 Euro 4 champion Akshay Bohra, who finished sixth in 2025 Formula Regional Europe with R-ace GP, and 2024 Formula 4 CEZ champion Oscar Wurz, who finished 18th in the 2025 Eurocup-3 with Drivex.[5][6]

Souta Arao left Delightworks Racing and the series after his single-round appearance in 2025 to compete in Super GT GT300 class with Team Mach.[12]

Reimei Ito left the series, as he moves back to Porsche Carrera Cup Japan with Showa Auto. LM corsa promoted Kenta Kumagai from its outfit in F4 Japan, where he finished ninth in 2025.[7]

Ken Watanabe, who races under the pseudonym "Ken Alex", will make his full season debut in the Masters' Cup with new entrant Buzz Racing, after finishing fifth in F4 Japan's Independent Class in 2025.[3]

After finishing ninth in 2025 French F4 Championship, Rintaro Sato will compete with B-Max Engineering for the first half of the season.[3]

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.[13]

Round Circuit Date Supporting Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 28–29 March Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R2
R3
2 R4 Autopolis, Hita 25–26 April Super Formula Championship
Honda N-One Owner's Cup
R5
R6
3 R7 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 23–24 May Super Formula Championship
Formula Regional Japanese Championship
R8
R9
4 R10 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 13–14 June F4 Japanese Championship
R11
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

Championship standings

Points will be awarded as follows:

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

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 "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 e "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2026 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b Wood, Ida (9 March 2026). "Bohra and Giltaire's Super Formula Lights moves made official". Formula Scout. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Klein, Jamie (23 December 2025). "Honda reveals 2026 Super Formula roster as Iwasa returns". Autosport. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  9. ^ Dagys, John (January 8, 2026). "Pino Joins JDC-Miller for Full Season; Frederick for Enduros". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  10. ^ Klein, Jamie (8 December 2025). "Akkodis ASP Announces First Drivers, Sticks to RC F GT3". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  11. ^ @maplehiroshima_racingteam; (3 February 2026). "メイプル広島レーシングチームは、未来のプロフェッショナルドライバーを育成することを目的に活動しています。". Retrieved 3 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  12. ^ Klein, Jamie (23 February 2026). "Team Mach Signs Former Honda Junior Arao". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  13. ^ "2026 年全日本レース選手権カレンダー一覧" (PDF). Japan Automobile Federation.
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