Nyck de Vries will make a surprise Super Formula debut at Motegi later this month, the first of two appearances in the Japanese single-seater series.
The former Formula 1 driver with Williams and AlphaTauri, who finished 18th in his debut season in Formula E with Mahindra, will become the third non-Japanese driver to race in the series this season and will be among the likes of his World Endurance Championship partner in the #7 Toyota Hypercar, Kamui Kobayashi, in the Toyota ranks at Motegi.
It will be his second participation in the Fuji double race on the October weekend.
De Vries will drive the #7 Impol, the same car that Theo Bourchier drove at the season-opening round before moving to McLaren IndyCar, and which was also taken over by Ben Barnicott for the second round at Autopolis in May.
Super Taikyu Series champion Hibiki Taira raced the car in the next two rounds in Sugo and Fuji.
Since Barnicott’s sole appearance, the field has been made up exclusively of local drivers, marking the first time in several years that there has been no non-Japanese international driver on the Super Formula grid.
It is believed that this was part of the catalyst behind the offer to de Vries, possibly via an introduction from Kobayashi.
The Impol team, founded and run by Japanese racing legend Kazuyoshi Hoshino, has had a poor start to 2024 with lead driver Yuji Kunimoto taking just seven points from the first four races. He is currently 40 points behind the leader, Honda-powered Mugen driver Tomoko Nojiri.
More regular possibility?
De Vries has long-term contracts with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship and Mahindra in Formula E that will allow him to stay until at least the end of 2025 and possibly beyond.
It is possible to have two races in Fuji Super Formula twice, as it takes place in mid-October, when there is a gap in the WEC schedule and the Formula E pre-season has not yet started.
But de Vries will not be able to take part in the Super Formula final at Suzuka in November due to the Valencia Formula E test which runs until Friday 8 November.
It is highly unlikely that de Vries would pull off an ambitious triple-header of adding Super Formula to the World Endurance Championship and Formula E, given the likely number of events next season and the logistical challenges of travelling to the Far East.
As it stands, next year there will be three clashes between Super Formula and WEC and two with Formula E.
Super Formula announced a provisional schedule last week that includes a clash between round three at Autopolis and the second Tokyo E-Prix, now a double, in mid-May.
Al-Sabaq learned that Formula E Operations, the organizer of the electric racing world championship, was not aware that Super Formula would announce the date of the conflict last week.
