Yuji Kunimoto is the 2016 Japanese Super Formula Champion

Yuji Kunimoto is the 2016 Japanese Super Formula champion! The 26-year-old driver of the #2 P.MU/Cerumo Inging’s Toyota has won the Race 1 of the season’s finale at Suzuka Circuit and finished sixth in the Race 2, securing enough points for his maiden championship title in the Japanese premier open-wheel racing series.

Andre Lotterer (Vantelin Team TOM’s) is second in the championship standings, three points behind Kunimoto. The German driver missed the title for 0.726 seconds, what was his gap behind the race winner Stoffel Vandoorne in the Race 2. If Lotterer won the race, he would be a champion.

Yuhi Sekiguchi (Itochu Enex Team Impul), who was the championship leader before Suzuka’s finale, was only 13th in the qualifying and he had two bad races, finishing 18th and 8th, so he lost the title despite a big points advantage before the JAF Grand Prix. At the end, he finished third in the points.

In the first race, Kunimoto was the winner ahead of Lotterer and pole-sitter Hiroaki Ishiura (P.MU/Cerumo Inging). In the second race, Stoffel Vandoorne (Docomo Dandelion) scored his second victory of the season, ahead of Lotterer and Ishiura.