Super Formula to hold extra test session at Motegi

The test, which will run from 1pm until 3pm on Friday August 28, will be the first running for the series since the official pre-season test at Fuji Speedway in late March.

It will be followed by practice on Saturday, with both qualifying and the shortened 35-lap race being held on Sunday. A detailed timetable has not yet been released, but it was previously revealed that qualifying would take place at 10am on Sunday and the race at 2.15pm.

The Fuji test was due to be one of two official pre-season tests, but the second of these scheduled at Suzuka was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the start of the 2020 campaign being pushed back to August's Motegi round.

Five more rounds are due to be held after that, with the season currently planned to come to an end at Fuji in late December.

Super Formula is also facing the prospect of being without no fewer than seven of its 20 regular drivers as a result of travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the global health crisis.

Toyota LMP1 stars Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakajima, along with Kenta Yamashita, will be absent from the Motegi round because they will be forced to serve a 14-day quarantine upon their return to Japan from the Spa round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Juri Vips, Tatiana Calderon, Sergio Sette Camara and Charles Milesi meanwhile are all based in Europe with little prospect of being granted entry to Japan in time.

It leaves six teams scrambling to finalise replacement drivers, and the two-hour test on Friday is likely to prove critical to bedding in newcomers.

Ukyo Sasahara (Mugen), Yuichi Nakayama (KCMG) and Ritomo Miyata (TOM'S) are among the leading candidates to fill the vacated seats at Motegi.