Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Following news that McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne is to test a Japanese Super Formula car, a raft of highly regarded European drivers are confirmed to be participating in the off season test at Suzuka this week.
IndyCar driver Stefano Coletti, GP2 race winner Richie Stanaway and FR3.5's Jazeman Jaafar will be among the drivers running in the upcoming Suzuka test on Wednesday and Thursday this week, joining 20 other hopefuls including Japanese F3 champion Nick Cassidy and GT driver (and former Super Formula regular) Loic Duval.
The test at Suzuka will top off a busy few days for Stanaway, who has recently completed the WEC rookie test in Bahrain driving for the ultra successful Audi Sport LMP1 team. The 24 year old New Zealander currently sits in 10th position in the GP2 standings with two wins for the Status Grand Prix team. It is expected that Stanaway will line up with Team Mugen at Suzuka alongside 2013 champion Naoki Yamamoto.
Another former GP2 driver and now IndyCar regular Stefano Coletti will be hoping for better fortune behind the wheel of a Super Formula machine after enduring a difficult debut season in the Verzion IndyCar series. A disappointing showing in 2015 rewarded Coletti with only one fastest lap to his name and a final season position of 19th in the championship standings, following on from his sixth place GP2 championship finish in 2014. Coletti has not yet officially confirmed his team for the test on Wednesday but sources suggest he will be driving alongside Stoffel Vandoorne in the 2015 podium winning Docomo Team Dandelion team.
23 year old Malaysian Jazeman Jaafar will be coming into the test in high spirits after a strong season in the Renault 3.5 series where he has secured eight position in the season standings with a victory and three podium finishes in his most accomplished year in the championship so far.
Jaafar will also be in the driving seat for Docomo Team Dandelion alongside fellow rookie's Vandoorne and Coletti. This will be a good opportunity to measure himself against established drivers and prove his obvious potential to teams and sponsors for the coming season.
Other participants well known to knowledgeable racing fans include former Grand Prix driver (and son of Lotus protégé Satoru Nakajima) Kazuki Nakajima, Japanese Grand Prix podium finisher and former Sauber and Cateram driver Kamui Kobayashi, BAR Honda tester James Rossiter, former Renault 3.5 Champion Bertrand Baguette and Audi Le Mans 25 Hour winner and WEC Champion Andre Lotterer.
With a lineup of increasing strong quality it seems as if the Japanese Super Formula is once again closing up to the highs experienced back in its peak during the 1990's when the series was known as Formula Nippon.
Now all we need is some TV coverage with English commentary...
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