Jack Doohan Crashes in Super Formula Third Time
Jack Doohan experienced a challenging three days at Suzuka during Super Formula’s post-season test, with incidents on each day restricting his overall mileage. The Kondo Racing driver went off again at Degner Curve on Friday morning but rejoined the session for the final half hour to record a best lap of 1m38.350s. He finished ninth among the 14 rookies running on Friday and 26th in the combined classification.
Jack Doohan se estrelló por tercera vez en 3 días, casi en el mismo lugar cada vez.
— Alpine Club (@alpineclub_esp) December 12, 2025
La experiencia japonesa se convierte en una pesadilla para el australiano. pic.twitter.com/Gl8kn9zDJt
The former Alpine F1 driver found himself in the same corner three times in a row over three days, which then led to online abuse under his Instagram posts. Doohan replaced his profile picture with a black one.
His team-mate Luke Browning completed a more consistent programme. The Williams junior placed fifth among the rookies on Friday and 13th overall as he continued his adaptation to Super Formula machinery.
Ugochukwu Dominates Rookie Sessions
The fastest time of the week went to Ugo Ugochukwu, who delivered a dominant performance in the two rookies-only sessions on Friday. Driving the TOM’S car usually raced by Sho Tsuboi, he produced a 1m36.682s in the afternoon session. That left him almost half a second clear of the next quickest rookie and ahead of Igor Fraga’s leading time from the opening day.
Clear skies, low temperatures and a strong tailwind along the main straight contributed to quicker laps on Friday, with three rookies placing inside the overall top ten.
Fraga, Fukuzumi and Leading Contenders Follow Behind
Fraga remained second overall with his 1m37.158s, followed by Nirei Fukuzumi whose best lap of 1m37.221s for Rookie Racing placed him third. Ren Sato and Tadasuke Makino completed the top five for Nakajima Racing and Dandelion Racing.
Toyota junior Tokiya Suzuki impressed with sixth overall for KCMG after being granted an additional day of running due to Kalle Rovanpera’s withdrawal through illness. Rikuto Kobayashi also made the top ten for TGM Grand Prix.
Formula Regional European champion Freddie Slater was fourth of the rookies on Friday and 11th overall in the second TOM’S car. Team Impul’s Zak O’Sullivan ended Thursday in tenth among rookies and 17th overall. Charlie Wurz placed tenth in Friday’s rookie group for Team Goh, ahead of Nobuharu Matsushita who was testing for the new Delightworks Racing entry.
Times throughout the week were slower than last year’s post-season test because of the introduction of E10 fuel and a stricter fuel flow limit that has reduced the maximum from 90 to 88kg/h. Makino’s benchmark of 1m35.597s from 2024 therefore remained unbeaten.
Testing for the 2026 Super Formula season resumes at Suzuka on February 25-26.
Kursiv also reports that earlier in Formula 1 season Helmut Marko has alleged that Kimi Antonelli deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him in the final laps of the Qatar Grand Prix.
