Kids com Team KCMG made a solid start to the 2025 Super Formula campaign, picking up points in both races at the season-opening double header.
Travelling to Suzuka International Racing Course looking to build on its best-ever finish of fourth in the 2024 Teams’ Championship, Kamui Kobayashi crossed the line inside the top-10 in the two events to secure eight points for the squad.
In Race 1, Nirei Fukuzumi qualified strongly to line up fifth on the grid. An excellent getaway from Kobayashi saw him improve from 11th to eighth on the opening lap before the Safety Car was called out for an incident. At the restart, Kobayashi moved ahead of his team-mate and the pair were sitting inside the points-paying positions when a second Safety Car intervention was called.
This triggered the entire field to enter the pitlane for new tyres, with Fukuzumi losing time during the double-stack stop. Kobayashi continued his strong charge to eventually take fifth, while contact in the mid-pack ended Fukuzumi’s race early.
On Sunday, Fukuzumi again had a positive qualifying session to take seventh, with Kobayashi 15th. A handful of drivers opted to take their pit-stop at the end of Lap 1, including Fukuzumi, although the work on the number 8 car was slow, dropping him down the order. Kobayashi showed positive pace in the sister car, but had difficulty moving further through the field, having to settle for ninth.
Super Formula returns next month at Mobility Resort Motegi for Rounds 3 and 4, with Seita Nonaka set to replace the unavailable Kobayashi for the event on 18-20 April.
#7 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
“Overall it was a solid weekend for us, although we still have improvements to make in qualifying. The pace on Saturday was really good, I think we maximised our result, but on Sunday I found it more difficult to make overtakes. If we had pitted a bit earlier, then maybe we would’ve had a chance to be closer to the front. It’s a shame that I won’t be able to race at Motegi, but I’m confident Seita Nonaka is capable of performing to a high level and score points in my absence.”
#8 NIREI FUKUZUMI
“Saturday was an unfortunate race for me. After a good qualifying, it just didn’t go our way. I was passed on the restart and lost a few places there, and then I lost a lot of time behind Kamui in the double-stack pit stop, which was unavoidable. From then, I tried to recover, but contact ended my race early. In Race 2 we opted to pit at the end of Lap 1, but a slow stop made it difficult to recover during the rest of the race. We know there is more performance in the car, and will do our best to rebound and be back in the points at Motegi next month.”
RYUJI DOI KCMG HEAD OF MOTORSPORT
“We’re pleased to have scored points in both races, even if we were not as competitive as we hoped for. Kamui performed well to twice finish in the top-10, but unfortunately some bad luck and challenging moments prevented Nirei from scoring. We need to take the good moments from each car forward with us to Motegi, and avoid any mistakes so we can fight at the front again. Next time out, Seita Nonaka will fill in for the unavailable Kamui, and we are confident that he has the ability to continue Kamui’s good work and score points in car 7.”
Media enquires: Cristina Villar
Email address: cristina@kcmg.com.hk
For more information about KCMG please visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of all the latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow on Twitter and Instagram.
Who is KCMG?
KC Motorgroup Ltd (KCMG) is an international motorsport services group established in 2007 by Paul Ip. The group, with its headquarters located in Hong Kong, has operations reaching across the Asia Pacific region. KCMG operates closely with many partner companies and racing organisations around the world to provide unrivalled motorsport services, equipment, team management and quality distribution in the automotive industry. This includes the FIA Motorsport Games, where KCMG is the official supplier of hybrid F4 cars, and the KCMG Driver Development Project. For more information on all of the team’s activities please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.com.hk.
