Four more junior single-seater championships came to an end for 2026, with three new drivers’ champions crowned. Feeder Series reviews the action from Formula Regional Japan, E4, British F4, Spanish F4, French F4, F4 Saudi Arabia and the Kyojo Cup.

By Feeder Series

As one could expect in a weekend of late-season contests, drivers upped the ante with championships – and career prospects – on the line. French F4’s final round settled the positions from second place downwards, while the season finales in FRegional Japan, British F4 and E4 brought new champions, with a tiebreaker determining the ultimate prize in the last of those.

Kenzo Craigie and Luka Sammalisto proved that every point and victory counted in their E4 championship duel, and that lesson was learnt in other series too. Regarding victories, Spanish F4’s Kasper Schormans took three at Navarra, turning a slim seven-point lead into a gargantuan 53-point one to put the championship title within reach. A tiebreaker is more likely to factor in the Kyojo Cup, with six drivers still mathematically eligible entering the final round in three weeks’ time. F4 Saudi Arabia’s mid-week round at Jeddah completes our in-depth weekend coverage.

Over in the world of karting, almost 250 drivers fought over the OK-N and OK-NJ FIA Karting World Cup titles in Viterbo, Italy. Last year’s OK-N winner Manuel Scognamiglio had to settle for second this year to Brazil’s Yuri Morelli, who topped qualifying and won all of his races. Mercedes junior Niccolò Perico won in OK-NJ with victories in all five of his races too, becoming the youngest driver to take an FIA world title at 11 years, nine months and 26 days.

FRegional Japan: Horachi and Ponos crowned champions in Fuji title decider

Ryota Horachi has become the 2026 Formula Regional Japan champion after the final round of the season at Fuji. After taking his third victory of the season in race one, he clinched the title in the second race when he completed a Ponos Racing 1-2 finish behind Kento Omiya – which also secured the teams’ championship for his team. 

Horachi entered the round 11.5 points behind TOM’S Yuzuki Miura, but having been first and second in the qualifying sessions while Miura only came fourth and sixth, he was on the front foot. In the first qualifying, Suzuki was second behind Horachi, with Omiya in third, while the same trio was up front but in a different order in the second qualifying with Suzuki in first, Horachi in second and Omiya in third.

Suzuki led at the start of race one as Horachi’s bad launch cost him. He fought with Omiya over second and stayed ahead by taking the outside line at Turn 3. 

Horachi recovered and briefly re-took the lead on lap six, closing in on Suzuki in the slipstream and passing him on the inside of Turn 1, but Suzuki re-passed him on the inside of Turn 3.

Horachi launched his next attack at Turn 1 on lap eight, but he only passed Suzuki two laps later at Turn 13. Suzuki fought back and briefly got ahead at the final corner, but Horachi won the battle down to Turn 1 and the race four laps later. Suzuki and Miura completed the podium.

Going into the final race, Miura led the championship on 215.5 points, 1.5 ahead of Horachi and 19 ahead of Omiya. 

Suzuki held on to his lead, but Horachi was swallowed by the fast-starting Omiya from third. 

And Omiya wasn’t done there. He attacked Suzuki for the lead several times at Turn 1, first on lap two, then on lap three and a third time on lap five. It never worked. 

He then attacked Suzuki at Turn 10 later on the fifth lap and finally got ahead. On the run down to Turn 1, he fended off Suzuki’s counterattack before Horachi passed Suzuki around the outside of Turn 3 for second. Suzuki also lost third to Miura moments later but regained the place at Turn 8. 

On the 15th and final lap, Horachi attacked Omiya for the lead. He got ahead at Turn 1 and the pair ran side by side into Turn 3, where Omiya reclaimed to the lead. Omiya went on to win, with Horachi second – enough to take the title, as Miura finished only fifth behind Suzuki and Rn-sports’ Tosei Moriyama.

Yutaka Toriba became the masters’ class champion by winning both races. He entered the round half a point behind Masayuki Ueda, who ultimately finished third behind Hideaki Irie, second in both races.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Ryota Horachi, 1:36.349	Tokiya Suzuki, +0.254s	Kento Omiya, +0.321s
Qualifying 2	Tokiya Suzuki, 1:36.183	Ryota Horachi, +0.248s	Kento Omiya, +0.428s
Race 1 (15 laps)	Ryota Horachi, 24:28.334	Tokiya Suzuki, +2.822s	Yuzuki Miura, +3.637s
Race 2 (15 laps)	Kento Omiya, 24:36.650	Ryota Horachi, +0.162s	Tokiya Suzuki, +4.512s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Masters
P1	Ryota Horachi, 232	Ponos Racing, 292.5	Yutaka Toriba, 232
P2	Yuzuki Miura, 225.5	TOM’S, 264.5	Hideaki Irie, 211.5
P3	Kento Omiya, 221.5	Rn-sports, 133	Masayuki Ueda, 209.5
P4	Rio Shimono, 120	Dr. Dry Racing Team, 120	“Akita”, 172
P5	Masana Muto, 109	Ragno Motor Sports, 90	“Yuki”, 121
P6	Lin Chenghua, 90	Aiwin, 33	Shoichiro Akamatsu, 103
P7	Tokiya Suzuki, 83	Abbey Racing, 31	Paul Wong, 79
P8	Hibiki Komatsu, 59	Team LeMans, 23	“Yugo”, 58
P9	Yu Oda, 34	Fujita Pharmacy Racing, 18	“Daisuke”, 46
P10	Yutaka Toriba, 33	Eagle Sports, 14	“Seimei”, 36

Read the previous round’s report here.

E4: Controversial move hands Craigie title on final lap

After nine exhilarating races, the 2026 E4 championship was only ever going to end one way: with a bang.

The drama had already begun before the weekend when the three-way drivers’ title battle was reduced to two. Alp Aksoy’s visa issues meant he was unable to travel to Monza, leaving Kenzo Craigie, who had a 14-point advantage, to fight off Luka Sammalisto, who had already beaten him to the Italian F4 title last month. 

Ary Bansal converted race one pole into the lead after seeing off Craigie through the first chicane, while behind, Augustus Toniolo was rear-ended by Lyuboslav Ruykov. Sammalisto ran sixth.

Bansal held his lead at the restart from Craigie and Kinsgley Zheng. Craigie then passed Bansal around the outside at Parabolica as Alex Ruta and Kingsley Zheng continued the fight for third. Contact between Andy Consani and Simon Reichenmacher saw another safety car, and Craigie kept his lead at the restart – and then for good after Bernardo Bernoldi’s late spin at Ascari caused the race to be neutralised to the finish.

Iacopo Martinese finished second on debut for US Racing, and Ruta came home third. Sammalisto ended up ninth, drawing Craigie’s advantage out to 34 points. 

Toniolo started race two on Sunday on a better foot, defending his pole position through the first lap. Craigie stormed from fourth to second, overtaking Sammalisto – who had started alongside the Brazilian – by the time they reached Curva Grande.

A failed move at the Roggia chicane on lap two dropped Craigie behind Bansal and Consani before the safety car was called for Vittorio Orsini, who stopped on track with suspension damage at Roggia.

Toniolo held his lead through the next two safety car restarts, with Craigie and Sammalisto third and fifth. On the third restart with two minutes remaining, however, Toniolo suffered a stroke of serious misfortune. With the field condensed at Roggia, Noah Killion rear-ended Craigie, who couldn’t slow for the chicane and veered onto the grass in an attempt to avoid any further collision, striking Toniolo in the process. Both were out on the spot, and the victory went to Bansal, with Sammalisto now within eight points of a historic double title.

Toniolo once again led the opening corners of race three after passing Andy Consani, with Craigie and Sammalisto fighting over fourth in the opening laps. Sammalisto this time would take advantage, passing both Consani and Ludovico Busso by the race’s midpoint to reach second. As things stood, the two would be tied on points, but Craigie would take the title having won four races to the Finn’s three. 

With seven minutes remaining, Sammalisto finally passed Toniolo for the lead and potentially the title, before Dean Pedersen’s slowing Cram Motorsport machine meant a safety car and a two-lap shootout. Sammalisto led, but all Craigie had to do was steal third and the title would be his. The Briton, however, failed to improve on his own, and entering Curva Grande for the final time, Andy Consani became the sacrificial lamb, allowing his R-ace GP teammate through into third. There was nothing more Sammalisto could do, and while he took his third win of the season, Craigie was crowned E4 champion. 

Aksoy’s absence meant Craigie was virtually unchallenged in his pursuit of the rookie title, while US Racing’s strong weekend all around meant that while the drivers’ crown had eluded them, the German squad took the teams’ title by some 79 points. 

Report by Thomas Groves

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Ary Bansal, 1:52.055	Kenzo Craigie, +0.003s	Andy Consani, +0.174s
Qualifying 2	Augustus Toniolo, 1:51.915	Luka Sammalisto, +0.143s	Ary Bansal, +0.228s
Race 1 (13 laps)	Kenzo Craigie, 37:03.380	Iacopo Martinese, +0.211s	Aleksander Ruta, +0.439s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Ary Bansal, 33:41.416	Luka Sammalisto, +0.271s	Iacopo Martinese, +0.437s
Race 3 (16 laps)	Luka Sammalisto, 32:03.513	Augustus Toniolo, +0.782s	Kenzo Craigie, +0.983s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Kenzo Craigie, 190	US Racing, 414	Kenzo Craigie, 202
P2	Luka Sammalisto, 190	R-ace GP, 335	Alp Aksoy, 152
P3	Andy Consani, 131	Prema Racing, 315	Christian Costoya, 140
P4	Alp Aksoy, 112	Van Amersfoort Racing, 121	Iacopo Martinese, 129
P5	Oleksandr Savinkov, 110	Trident, 55	Roman Kamyab, 116
P6	Ary Bansal, 103	CRAM Motorsport, 21	Augustus Toniolo, 97
P7	Aleksander Ruta, 81	PHM Racing, 20	Florentin Hattemer, 94
P8	Oleksandr Bondarev, 78	Real Racing, 18	Dominik Šimek, 90
P9	Noah Killion, 75	AKM Motorsport, 14	Kingsley Zheng, 85
P10	Christian Costoya, 75	Jenzer Motorsport, 8	Oscar Repetto, 78

Read the previous round’s report here.

British F4: Van Langendonck seals championship as Palmer dominates at Brands Hatch

Dries Van Langendonck wrapped up the 2026 British F4 championship with two races to go, concluding a dominant season that the Belgian driver led from start to finish – despite receiving a one-round ban. 

With 75 points on offer across the weekend, Van Langendonck effectively clinched the title in qualifying even with Hitech’s Theo Palmer taking his first pole position in the championship, 0.274 seconds ahead of the McLaren junior. Lewis Wherrell, 72 points behind Van Langendonck entering the weekend and the only driver who could stop him, only managed seventh. Without pole, he needed to win all three races, set all three fastest laps and gain at least nine positions in race two, though from sixth on the partially reversed grid, doing so would have been impossible unless Wherrell took a grid penalty or Van Langendonck was docked points.

Palmer and champion-elect Van Langendonck held position as the race got underway, with Ethan Lennon sliding into third after a poor start from George Proudford-Nalder from the second row of the grid. 

Despite drama further down the field involving several drivers, the race ran uninterrupted. Palmer stretched his legs in the lead, building a 3.9s lead over Van Langendonck, who himself had a 4.6s lead over Lennon. 

The trio took the chequered flag in the order they had held since the end of lap one, though Lennon received a penalty for improper positioning in his grid box, promoting Proudford-Nalder onto the podium.

“It was definitely a calm race, but I had loads of fun just being on the limit for the whole race,” said Palmer, whose win elevated him to second in the standings. “I was making sure I was getting no track limits and just keeping it clean.”

Between Palmer’s win and strong results for Adam Al Azhari and Scott Kin Lindblom, Hitech were also able to clinch the teams’ championship title with two races to go, retaking the mantle from Rodin – to whom they had lost out last year by just 1.5 points.

As race two got underway, a slow start from Jaber Al Sabah in pole position opened the door for Joseph Smith and Jarrett Clark to take a Virtuosi one-two. Heading through lap two, however, several incidents through the field brought out the safety car, preventing the duo from creating a gap. 

With only six minutes left on the clock as the safety car peeled back into the pits, neither Clark nor Al Sabah were able to mount a challenge on eventual winner Smith, though the trio pulled away from Wherrell in fourth. 

Speaking to Feeder Series about his mindset as he prepared for the safety car restart, Smith explained, “It was difficult because I had such a big gap and I was thinking Jarrett is right behind me. But I knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid, so I just kept my head down, got a good restart and won the race.”

George Proudford-Nalder made a strong getaway from third on the grid at the start of race three, getting the nose of his Virtuosi alongside Van Langendonck’s Rodin in second. But turning into Paddock Hill Bend, the pair made contact, sending Van Langendonck wide into the gravel trap and dropping the champion down to seventh. 

The drama behind helped Palmer build an early gap over the rest of the field, ending lap one 1.2s ahead of Proudford-Nalder in second. While several drivers battled further down the field, the leading trio once again began to pull away. 

Though nine drivers received penalties for track limits, those at the front of the field, under less pressure from those around them, kept four wheels inside the limits. The top three held station as they crossed the line, with Palmer 4.4s ahead of Proudford-Nalder, who had roughly the same gap over Lennon. 

Report by Gavin Guthrie

Interviews by Seb Tirado

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Theo Palmer, 1:24.417	Dries Van Langendonck, +0.274s	George Proudford-Nalder, +0.468s
Race 1 (13 laps)	Theo Palmer, 20:00.628	Dries Van Langendonck, +3.944s	George Proudford-Nalder, +11.776
Race 2 (12 laps)	Joseph Smith, 21:07.187	Jarrett Clark, +1.191s	Jaber Al Sabah, +2.461s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Theo Palmer, 25:46.949	George Proudford-Nalder, +4.396s	Ethan Lennon, +8.835s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Dries Van Langendonck, 344	Hitech, 601.5	Dries Van Langendonck, 415
P2	Theo Palmer, 295.5	Rodin Motorsport, 476	Lewis Wherrell, 390.5
P3	Lewis Wherrell, 267	Virtuosi Racing, 409.5	Jaber Al Sabah, 278
P4	George Proudford-Nalder, 199.5	JHR Developments, 331.5	Cameron Nelson, 233.5
P5	Ethan Jeff-Hall, 181.5	Argenti Motorsport, 182.5	Mate Kobakhidze, 184
P6	Ethan Lennon, 173	Xcel Motorsport, 131	León Hedfors, 172
P7	Scott Kin Lindblom, 151	Chris Dittmann Racing, 127	Jackson Wolny, 117
P8	Adam Al Azhari, 131	Fortec Motorsport, 101	Timo Jüngling, 116
P9	Tommy Harfield, 131		Piotr Orzechowski, 94
P10	Jarrett Clark, 128		Haarni Sadiq, 72

Read the previous round’s report here.

Spanish F4: Schormans puts one hand on the trophy with near-perfect Navarra weekend

Kasper Schormans was unbeatable in Spanish F4’s trip to Navarra, winning all three races from pole and taking all but one fastest lap to come up just short of the maximum possible score. He heads into Barcelona with a substantial 53-point lead over Noah Monteiro.

The MP Motorsport racer’s dominant form began on Saturday morning, when he took pole for the first two races. Schormans held off Elliot Kacynski at the start of race one, which started with two laps behind the safety car because of a fault with the starting lights system. Teammate Borys Łyżeń, who started fourth, made contact with Vivek Kanthan on the first green-flag lap and retired after suffering a rear-right puncture.

From there, Schormans led all 18 laps to score his second win of the season ahead of Kaczynski and Rocco Coronel. Second-placed Kaczynski was then given a five-second penalty for track limits, dropping him to fourth and promoting Drivex teammate Nathan Tye, who started eighth, up to third behind Coronel.

Race two also started with two laps behind the safety car, with Schormans leading on the first proper lap of racing. Shortly before the lap ended, a collision between Tye and Griffin Core by Campos’ Ty Fisher at Turn 9 triggered a safety car deployment, which later turned into a red flag.

 Fourteen minutes later, the race resumed, and Schormans led the last five minutes of racing to take a dominant second win of the season. Coronel and Kanthan completed the podium, as Campos’ Daniel Kelleher matched his then-best result of fourth ahead of Łyżeń.

Heading into Sunday, Schormans continued his dominant form by qualifying on pole for race three in the morning. When the lights went out – for the first time over the weekend after the starting lights issues were resolved – Schormans held off Monteiro in the opening corners to maintain the lead. Behind them, Łyżeń and Coronel collided at Turn 4, sending the Dutchman into a spin and down the order.

Whilst Schormans was leading, yellow flags waved with two laps to go after Nacho Tuñón and Jacob Micallef collided while battling for eighth, leaving the Spaniard beached in the gravel while the Maltese driver continued. But that didn’t stop Schormans, his crushing dominance earning him his third win of the season ahead of Monteiro and Kelleher, who took his first podium of the season. Behind them, Coronel fought back from his early-race spin to finish eighth.

After scoring all but one points at Navarra, Schormans heads into Barcelona with a 53-point lead over Campos’ Monteiro. MP teammate Coronel remains in mathematical contention, albeit 75 back, meaning he must score maximum points and Schormans none in Barcelona. MP also extended their lead in the teams’ championship to 148 points over Griffin Core.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Kasper Schormans, 1:46.315	Elliot Kaczynski, +0.107s	Rocco Coronel, +0.184s
Race 1 (18 laps)	Kasper Schormans, 33:23.565	Rocco Coronel, +6.545s	Nathan Tye, +7.469s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Kasper Schormans, 38:59.062	Rocco Coronel, +0.635s	Vivek Kanthan, +1.158s
Qualifying 2	Kasper Schormans, 1:46.276	Noah Monteiro, +0.040s	Rocco Coronel, +0.144s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Kasper Schormans, 32:24.997	Noah Monteiro, +0.568s	Daniel Kelleher, +1.703s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Kasper Schormans, 256	MP Motorsport, 431	Kasper Schormans, 256
P2	Noah Monteiro, 203	Griffin Core by Campos, 283	Rocco Coronel, 181
P3	Rocco Coronel, 181	T-Code, 246	Borys Łyżeń, 170
P4	Borys Łyżeń, 170	KCL by MP, 202	Elliot Kaczynski, 91
P5	Andrej Petrović, 152	Drivex, 189	Daniel Kelleher, 72
P6	Vivek Kanthan, 118	Campos Racing, 98	Aleix Piñera, 70
P7	Nathan Tye, 101	Tecnicar, 70	Jacob Micallef, 38
P8	Nacho Tuñón, 98	Monlau Motorsport, 21	Jensen Burnett, 34
P9	Elliot Kaczynski, 91	TC Racing, 12	Miki Blascos, 19
P10	Daniel Kelleher, 72	DX Racing Team, 10	Max Radeck, 10

Read the previous round’s report here.

French F4: Tsuchihashi finishes runner-up as Dauvergne and Dussol impress

Kota Tsuchihashi secured second place in the French F4 standings at the Le Castellet finale with two poles and two podiums, including victory in the final race.

The top three in qualifying were within one hundredth of one another, with Tsuchihashi carrying on his form from Lédenon and scoring another double pole position in front of Matthéo Dauvergne and Lewis Francis.

The opening race began relatively calmly with Thibaut Ramaekers – ineligible to score points this weekend because of his FR Europe testing on the circuit before the round – overtaking Francis for third place on the fourth lap in the final sector. Despite a strong start, Tsuchihashi had Dauvergne closing behind him, and the Frenchman ultimately made the move on the final turn on the seventh lap after Tsuchihashi erred earlier in the lap.

On lap 11, Lilian Soares and Guillaume Bouzar, both fighting for fifth, retired after making contact. Out front, Dauvergne took his second win of the season after his opening-round victory in Nogaro, with Tsuchihashi in second gaining crucial points for the runner-up battle and Francis finishing third.

At the start of the reverse-grid race, Hugo Herrouin, starting from second, collided with Yuval Rosen at the opening chicane. Both continued, but Bouzar took advantage and jumped from fifth to second. Nicolas Pasquier and Arthur Eschalier then collided at Signes, bringing out the first safety car appearance of the weekend. 

Race leader Tom Dussol had a smooth restart, while Maverick McKenna overtook Bouzar one lap later with an impressive move around the outside at the first chicane. The safety car returned later that lap after an incident between Autumn Fisher and Angelina Proenca, the latter receiving a 10-place grid drop for the next race.

At the second restart, Dauvergne overtook Francis and Soares to move up to fourth. The points-paying positions remained unchanged for the final three laps, with Dussol taking his maiden win in front of McKenna and Bouzar.

Tsuchihashi started race three from pole in front of Soares and Francis, who overtook Soares at the start. A few corners later at the Mistral chicane, Dauvergne’s final race ended with a suspension broken after an incident with Rosen, bringing out the safety car.

Saturday’s winners faced misfortune on Sunday as Dussol also broke his suspension on the restart lap while running in ninth and fighting with Wojciech Woda. After another safety car, Ramaekers overtook Soares for third at the restart, but the Belgian did not enjoy the position for long as he cut the Mistral chicane, ceding a place to McKenna, who had passed Soares too.

Ramaekers seemingly lost grip as Soares and Bouzar overtook him in the following corners, though he re-passed Bouzar for fifth after a spirited battle for nearly the entire seventh lap. 

On lap 10, Clara Stiebleichinger and Anabelle Brian collided at the Mistral chicane, triggering the safety car appearance that ended the race. Tsuchihashi took his third win of the year to finish 48 points behind Bouzar, who came home sixth.Francis and McKenna completed the final podium of the season. Starting 28th, Shane Chandaria finished 10th.

Even if Ramaekers had taken home the 24 points he would have scored this weekend as a regular driver, Tsuchihashi would still have finished runner-up with a gap in excess of 30 points. 

Report by Perceval Wolff-Taffus

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Kota Tsuchihashi, 2:07.587	Matthéo Dauvergne, +0.009s	Lewis Francis, +0.010s
Race 1 (14 laps)	Matthéo Dauvergne, 30:04.629	Kota Tsuchihashi, +4.233s	Lewis Francis, +5.739s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Tom Dussol, 31:31.632	Maverick McKenna, +0.669s	Guillaume Bouzar, +1.627s
Race 3 (11 laps)	Kota Tsuchihashi, 32:27.645	Lewis Francis, +0.385s	Maverick McKenna, +0.758s

Standings	Drivers
P1	Guillaume Bouzar, 240
P2	Kota Tsuchihashi, 192
P3	Thibaut Ramaekers, 161
P4	Lilian Soares, 143
P5	Hugo Herrouin, 119
P6	Matthéo Dauvergne, 117
P7	Lewis Francis, 82
P8	Tom Dussol, 82
P9	Maverick McKenna, 75
P10	Jack Iliffe, 63

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 Saudi Arabia: Bayer takes second win in two rounds, breaks tie to maintain points lead

After leaving the opening Jeddah round tied for the championship lead, Swiss-Austrian Marlon Bayer made a statement in the second round at the same venue by winning race one and leaving as the firm championship leader with a second place in race two.

In the first mid-week round of the season, Isaac Seah took a surprise pole on Wednesday by 0.556s over Bayer, but the Singaporean-British driver fell to third at the start after both Bayer and Abdullah Kamel overtook him in the opening set of corners. Kamel then began pestering Bayer for the lead on lap two, but the duel was put on hold on the following lap as Faris Organji was spun out of the race by Zakaria Doleh at Turn 4.

On the lap five restart, Bayer maintained the lead, but just as his battle with Kamel resumed, Seah and Harrison Mackie collided at the exit of Turn 2 on lap six putting both out of the race.

The race restarted on lap nine as the 25-minute time limit came into effect, leaving only two laps to be contested. Bayer was unchallenged in the closing stages as he took his second win of the season, with Kamel and Archie Owen joining him on the podium.

The Swiss-Austrian was back on top come Thursday, qualifying on pole and leading at the start of race two as Seah and Owen duked it out for second in the opening sector. As the frontrunners began to run away, returnee Rachel Robertson and Hamza Al Fayez began to battle for eighth behind them, with the Scotswoman fending off an attempt from the Jordanian at Turn 13 on lap three.

Following a safety car period after Jordyn Martin hit the wall at Turn 9 on lap four, Owen began attacking Bayer for the lead, which he took on lap eight, before leading the remaining three laps to secure his second win of the season, with Bayer and Seah trailing him. Behind them, Robertson followed up her eighth-place finish in race one with a ninth-place finish on her return to the series in which she raced full-time in last year.

After two rounds, Bayer leads the way on 83 points, three ahead of Owen, who has been the only other driver to finish on the podium across all four races. Harrison Mackie is 37 behind Bayer, with Amin Kara Osman remaining fourth on 44 points. With their career-best finishes, Seah and Kamel jumped to fifth and sixth in the overall standings on 33 and 26 points respectively.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Isaac Seah, 2:06.789	Marlon Bayer, +0.556s	Abdullah Kamel, +0.628s
Race 1 (10 laps)	Marlon Bayer, 26:45.836	Abdullah Kamel, +0.692s	Archie Owen, +0.958s
Qualifying 2	Marlon Bayer, 2:07.291	Isaac Seah, +0.002s	Archie Owen, +0.245s
Race 2 (11 laps)	Archie Owen, 26:06.750	Marlon Bayer, +0.592s	Isaac Seah, +1.639s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Marlon Bayer, 83	Marlon Bayer, 83
P2	Archie Owen, 80	Archie Owen, 80
P3	Harrison Mackie, 46	Amin Kara Osman, 44
P4	Amin Kara Osman, 44	Isaac Seah, 33
P5	Isaac Seah, 33	Devin Walz, 16
P6	Abdullah Kamel, 26	Veer Chopra, 13
P7	Lucas Nanji, 22	Hamza Al Fayez, 10
P8	Devin Walz, 16	Georges Nassar, 9
P9	Veer Chopra, 13	Eva Dorrestijn, 1
P10	Zakaria Doleh, 12

Read the previous round’s report here.

Kyojo Cup: Onaga and Sato take first wins of the season as Tomishita extends points lead

Round four of the Kyojo Cup shook up the standings in preparation for a wide-open title fight at the finale, with both Miki Onaga and Kokoro Sato taking their first race wins of the season and Riona Tomishita extending her narrow points lead. 

Onaga, the 2022 champion, took pole ahead of teammate Rami Sasaki and Sato, holding position through the opening stages of the sprint as Sato overtook Sasaki heading into the first corner. Sasaki stuck close to her competition throughout lap one, her teammate Joanne Ciconte drawing close but losing time defending from Ai Miura.

On lap two, Sasaki ran wide on the exit of Turn 3 giving Ciconte an in to attack for third. The Australian took the position at Turn 6 as Sasaki began to drop, falling behind Miura at Turn 8, Aimi Saito at Turn 13, and both Tomishita and Sara Matsui on the main straight. Sasaki then took back seventh from Matsui around the outside of Turn 3 just afterwards.

Lap six saw Paige Raddatz and Hana Burton collide, sending Raddatz spinning off at Turn 3and ending her race prematurely. Her teammate Rina Ito also retired on lap seven with a loose front wing.

Onaga took the chequered flag ahead of Sato and Ciconte, sealing her first win of the season. Miura slotted into fourth despite sustained pressure from Saito, with championship leader Tomishita in sixth ahead of Matsui and Sasaki.

Onaga started the final race on pole ahead of Sato and Ciconte. Saito passed Miura at Turn 10 but sustained minor front wing damage, and Rio Shimono attacked Tomishita for seventh. A wide run for Saito at Turn 1 on the following lap dropped her to seventh behind Miura, Matsui and Shimono, but she gained two spots back when Miura collided with Matsui at Turn 6, ending both of their races. 

The race resumed on lap six following a safety car period, and Sato capitalised on a wide run from Onaga to take the lead at Turn 3. Onaga’s futile efforts to retake first enabled Ciconte to pass her on lap seven as Sato extended her advantage. 

A mistake from Saito on lap nine sent her into both Tomishita and the Turn 1 barriers. The championship leader escaped without serious damage, but Saito retired – a serious hit to her title aspirations with just one round left. 

Shimono took fourth from Kilei Kanemoto on lap 10. Tomishita continuously attacked Kanemoto for fifth to the flag, but the Mihara Racing Team driver held her off. 

Sato took her first Kyojo Cup victory ahead of Ciconte, who slotted into second in the standings by withstanding Onaga’s late-race lunges. Shimono finished fourth ahead of Kanemoto and the hard-charging Tomishita. Seventh went to Itsumo Shiraishi and eighth to returnee Mako Hirakawa ahead of Raddatz and Sasaki.

Heading into the finale, Tomishita sits on 75 points, Ciconte on 70, and Saito close behind on 69. Sato sits fourth on 64 points and Onaga rounds out the top five on 59.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Miki Onaga, 1:44.155	Rami Sasaki, +0.031s	Kokoro Sato, +0.167s
Sprint race (10 laps)	Miki Onaga, 17:35.729	Kokoro Sato, +2.004s	Joanne Ciconte, +4.028s
Final race (15 laps)	Kokoro Sato, 29:58.647	Joanne Ciconte, +0.614s	Miki Onaga, +1.100s

Standings	Drivers
P1	Riona Tomishita, 75
P2	Joanne Ciconte, 70
P3	Aimi Saito, 69
P4	Kokoro Sato, 64
P5	Miki Onaga, 59
P6	Rio Shimono, 49
P7	Ai Miura, 25
P8	Sara Matsui, 15
P9	Rami Sasaki, 14
P10	Paige Raddatz, 12

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Filippo Perotti