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The 'skipped' Honda protege determined to make his mark

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Super Formula Interview

The 'skipped' Honda protege determined to make his mark

By:

Jamie Klein

Nov 12, 2021, 1:10 PM

By rights, Toshiki Oyu should have been the next Honda junior driver sent to Europe to prepare for a Formula 1 future after Yuki Tsunoda. It didn't work out that way - but Oyu still has his sights set on big things after emerging as one of Super Formula's brightest young stars.

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A little over two years ago, when a certain Yuki Tsunoda was unavailable for a round of the Euroformula Open series at Silverstone owing to a clash with his primary FIA Formula 3 programme, Honda called upon another of its junior drivers to fill the breach at the Motopark squad. The replacement proceeded to blow the field away with two poles and two victories.

Unfortunately, those two races were the first and only ones that Toshiki Oyu contested in Europe. After returning to his main duties in the All-Japan F3 series, Oyu was handed an unexpected chance to step up to Super Formula in 2020, and last month at Suzuka, he completed an accomplished second season in Japan’s premier single-seater series that has marked him out as perhaps the brightest young talent on Honda’s domestic roster.

Jamie Klein

Jamie Klein is one of Motorsport.com’s Global News Editors, reporting primarily on the FIA World Endurance Championship, Super Formula and SUPER GT. He took his first steps into motorsport journalism in 2013 as a freelancer before joining Motorsport Network full-time in 2015 as UK Editor. In 2016, he moved into a more wide-ranging role as he became a regular in the paddocks of the WEC and MotoGP. After a two-month trip to Japan in late 2018 gave him his first taste of reporting live on Super Formula and SUPER GT, he made the move to Tokyo permanently in 2019, and has been a regular presence in both paddocks since 2020. Away from motorsport, he is studying the Japanese language and can often be found relaxing in an ‘onsen’ (hot spring) or gorging on ramen, occasionally at the same time. He can be found on Twitter at @JamieKlein_.