Super Formula: Lawson Chokes, Nojiri wins at Motegi

Liam Lawson choked and spun triggering a first-lap pile-up and red flag, while Tomoki Nojiri took victory in the Motegi Super Formula race.

Lawson span on the exit of Turn 1 and 2 when trying to overtake teammate Nojiri.

Tadasuke Makino and Yuhi Sekiguchi then collided with Lawson’s car, and were sent airborne.

The race was red flagged.

The fact Team Mugen managed to fix Liam Lawson’s car after this airplane crash is absolutely phenomenal , glad everyone is ok , well done Mugen’s Mechanics 👏 #SUPERFORMULA pic.twitter.com/roSRAcio4o

— ahmed baokbah 🇸🇦🏎✈️ (@ahmed_baokbah) August 20, 2023

Lawson eventually finished the race down in 13th, while Nojiri was relatively unchallenged out front, beating nearest rival Ryo Hirakawa by 7.4 seconds.

Liam Lawson #15 Team Mugen, during round seven of the Japanese Super Formula Championship at Twin Ring Motegi, on August 18-20, 2023. // Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool

The result gives Ritomo Miyata, who finished fourth, an eight-point lead over Lawson in the standings, with Nojiri a further two points adrift in third heading into the final races at Suzuka in October.

Race Results:

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Behind
1	1	Tomoki Nojiri	Mugen	0.000s
2	20	Ryo Hirakawa	Impul	7.439s
3	53	Toshiki Oyu	TGM	15.456s
4	37	Ritomo Miyata	TOM’S	15.933s
5	39	Sena Sakaguchi	Inging	32.873s
6	4	Kazuto Kotaka	Kondo	36.302s
7	7	Kamui Kobayashi	KCMG	36.772s
8	14	Kazuya Oshima	Rookie	38.148s
9	3	Kenta Yamashita	Kondo	38.752s
10	18	Yuji Kunimoto	KCMG	40.229s
11	55	Cem Bölükbaşi	TGM	41.653s
12	36	Ukyo Sasahara	TOM’S	1’01.366
13	15	Liam Lawson	Mugen	1’04.340
14	12	Nirei Fukuzumi	ThreeBond	1’05.577
15	51	Raoul Hyman	B-Max	1’19.994
16	65	Ren Sato	Nakajima	2 laps /1’12.361
	64	Naoki Yamamoto	Nakajima	Retirement
	6	Kakunoshin Ota	Dandelion	Retirement
	38	Sho Tsuboi	Inging	Retirement
	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Impul	Retirement
	5	Tadasuke Makino	Dandelion	Retirement
	50	N.Matsushita	B-Max	Retirement