Fuji Super Formula: Kunimoto scores maiden pole
Reigning Super Formula champion Yuji Kunimoto claimed pole for the Fuji round of Japan’s premier single-seater championship, leading an Inging 1-2.
Team TOM’S driver Kazuki Nakajima had the early benchmark with a 1m23.265s before a flurry of late laps shuffled the former F1 driver down the pack.
Kunimoto was one of the last to cross the flag, lapping the Fuji International Speedway in 1m23.044s to secure his first pole position of the season.
2015 champion Hiroaki Ishiura locked the front row for Inging, just 0.063s shy of his teammate.
Team Impul’s Yuhi Sekiguchi was another tenth behind in third, while Nakajima eventually dropped to fourth by the time the chequered flag fell.
Naoki Yamamoto was once again the top Honda driver in fifth, albeit half a second slower than Kunimoto’s chart-topping time.
Kondo Racing duo Kenta Yamashita and Nick Cassidy qualified sixth and seventh respectively, the latter sharing the fourth row with Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly.
Earlier in Q2, Le Mans 24 Hours pole record holder Kamui Kobayashi spun on track, bringing out a red flag.
The intervention proved particularly costly for championship leader Andre Lotterer, who was left with little tyre grip towards the end of the session to progress into Q3.
Lotterer will start Sunday’s race from 12th, two positions ahead of Kobayashi.
Qualifying results:
| Pos. | Driver | Team / Engine | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yuji Kunimoto |
Inging/Toyota | 1'23.044 | - |
| 2 | Hiroaki Ishiura |
Inging/Toyota | 1'23.107 | 0.063 |
| 3 | Yuhi Sekiguchi |
Impul/Toyota | 1'23.193 | 0.149 |
| 4 | Kazuki Nakajima |
TOM'S/Toyota | 1'23.265 | 0.221 |
| 5 | Naoki Yamamoto |
Mugen/Honda | 1'23.478 | 0.434 |
| 6 | Kenta Yamashita |
Kondo/Toyota | 1'23.516 | 0.472 |
| 7 |  Nick Cassidy |
Kondo/Toyota | 1'23.785 | 0.741 |
| 8 |  Pierre Gasly |
Mugen/Honda | 1'23.902 | 0.858 |
| 9 |  Jann Mardenborough |
Impul/Toyota | 1'24.081 | 1.037 |
| 10 |  Felix Rosenqvist |
LeMans/Toyota | 1'24.093 | 1.049 |
| 11 | Tomoki Nojiri |
Dandelion/Honda | 1'24.173 | 1.129 |
| 12 |  Andre Lotterer |
TOM'S/Toyota | 1'24.202 | 1.158 |
| 13 | Takuya Izawa |
Dandelion/Honda | 1'24.308 | 1.264 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi |
KCMG/Toyota | 1'27.969 | 4.925 |
| 15 | Daisuke Nakajima |
Nakajima/Honda |
1'24.612 | 1.568 |
| 16 |  Narain Karthikeyan |
Nakajima/Honda | 1'24.781 | 1.737 |
| 17 | Koudai Tsukakoshi |
Real Racing/Honda | 1'24.802 | 1.758 |
| 18 | Takashi Kogure |
B-Max/Honda | 1'24.821 | 1.777 |
| 19 | Kazuya Oshima |
LeMans/Toyota | 1'24.855 | 1.811 |
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