Cassidy ignites title bid as Sette Camara crashes
Reigning Super Formula champion
Nick Cassidy claimed his first win of the season at Sugo with a pair of bold overtakes on his two nearest rivals.
TOM’S Toyota racer Cassidy ran third behind Ryo Hirakawa and Naoki Yamamoto when a safety car period was triggered by a crash for debutant Sergio Sette Camara.
Having missed the opening two rounds due to travel restrictions, Sette Camara bagged a surprise pole for the B-max team, but lost the lead at the start to front-row rival Hirakawa into Turn 1. Sette Camara initially kept up with Hirakawa, but later faded to the point where he was passed by both Yamamoto and Cassidy on the same lap before pitting on lap 18 of 53. The Brazilian then locked up on his out-lap, piling into the barriers at Turn 4 and prompting a caution that cost Hirakawa a four-second lead, with the top three all pitting together.
After the restart on lap 28, Cassidy got a superior run through the final corner and passed Yamamoto along the start/ finish straight. Two laps later, he pulled off a similar move on Hirakawa to take a lead he wouldn’t lose. With second, Impul driver Hirakawa now leads the championship by 15 points from Cassidy, while Yamamoto hung on for his first podium of 2020 for Dandelion Racing.
After qualifying third, Sacha Fenestraz was eliminated at the first corner by Cassidy’s TOM’S team-mate Kazuki Nakajima, who ended up 15th as a result of an extra stop and a penalty.