How has the Kyojo Cup grid adapted to the series' new era?
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- Oct 8
- 13 min read
Three rounds into the open-wheel era of Kyojo Cup, three drivers have scored wins, four more achieved at least one podium and a further seven more have scored points in six races contested. With the Kyojo Cup paddock returning to action this weekend at Fuji after a two-month break, catch up with how all 21 drivers have fared thus far.
1- Rio Shimono (#86 Dr.Dry with Impul, 83 points)
A mainstay in open-wheel competition since 2019, Shimono used her experience in Super FJ and Japanese F4 to the fullest, winning both races of the season-opening round in May from pole to kick off the year. In the following round in July, Shimono battled with issues on her car's hybrid system in round two and ended both races in third. The following month, Shimono capitalized on Aimi Saito's late-race spin in the Sprint race to take her third win of the season before taking a lights-to-flag victory in race two to extend her points lead.
With two rounds left, Shimono is in prime position to take her first Kyojo Cup title in her fourth full-time season as she enters this weekend's round 26 points ahead of KCMG's Miki Onaga.
2- Miki Onaga (#7 KCMG, 57 points)
Onaga, who was the 2022 series champion, finished the first three races of the year in second, before passing Aimi Saito on lap four of race two, on her way to her first win of the season, enabling her to take the points lead from Shimono after two rounds.
However, the momentum didn't last long as one month later, Onaga failed to set a lap in qualifying and started from the back. Despite climbing back up to fifth by the end of the sprint, she was given a 30-second penalty for a false start and dropped to 16th in the final results. In the KYOJO Final, Onaga gained 10 positions to finish sixth, as well as taking the fastest lap.
Having lost a total of 28 points last time out, Onaga needs a spot-free round this weekend if she wants to remain in the title fight, which has swung in Shimono's favor for most of the season.
3- Aimi Saito (#1 TOM'S, 36 points)
Saito, the reigning series champion, has endured a rocky start to her title defense, uncharacteristically struggling for pace in the first round, in which she finished 14th and seventh in the first two races. However, fortunes turned around in time for the July round as she qualified on pole and won the Sprint race after a hard-fought battle with Shimono for her first win of the season, prior to finishing second in the Final behind Onaga.
In August, Saito once again took pole and led much of the Sprint race, but lost control of her car in damp conditions and crashed at the final corner as the race was red-flagged. Starting 19th for race two, Saito rose to tenth to maintain her third-place points position with two rounds left.
Currently 47 points behind Shimono, Saito will need to rediscover her form shown in July if she is to remain in the title fight for the finale in November.
4- Kokoro Sato (#38 Cerumo/INGING, 35 points)
One point behind the reigning series champion is the highest of the Cerumo/INGING entries, driven by 17-year-old Kokoro Sato.
In her first full-time season in Kyojo Cup, Sato kicked off the season by finishing fourth in the season-opener prior to scoring her maiden podium in race two by finishing third. Sato then finished no lower than sixth in the following four races, as she scored two more top-five finishes to maintain her fourth place in points.
As the highest-ranked rookie in points, Sato has impressed the paddock by constantly running in the top five and having the unique distinction of being only one of two drivers to have scored points in every race so far.
5- Mako Hirakawa (#4 ROOKIE Racing, 30 points)
2018 Kyojo Cup runner-up Mako Hirakawa started off the year with a superb third-place finish in the first Kyojo Sprint of the year ahead of Sato, before finishing directly behind her in race two.
Hirakawa then failed to score points in the following round, before rebounding in August with an excellent drive in the sprint race to climb from sixth to second for her second podium of the season. Starting on the front row for the Final, Hirakawa ran in the podium positions for much of the race, but was ultimately demoted to fourth after being overtaken by Rami Sasaki and Riona Tomishita.
Given her strong race pace, Hirakawa could be up to the task of challenging Shimono for race wins in the final two rounds of this season, as she aims to take what would be her second win in Kyojo Cup competition, having taken her only win in the 2018 season-finale.
6- Rami Sasaki (#8 KCMG, 26 points)
Sasaki, the second-highest KCMG entry, began the year by finishing seventh and sixth in the season-opening round in May, and fought for more points in July, but a ninth-place finish in the Sprint and a collision in the Final yielded no points for the Tokyo-born driver.
In August, Sasaki qualified and finished fifth in the Sprint race and then gained three positions in the Final to score her maiden Kyojo Cup podium by finishing second behind Shimono, enabling her to jump to sixth in points.
Three rounds into her third season in Kyojo Cup, Sasaki has been on an upwards trajectory since joining the series in 2023 and taking her maiden points last year. As she scored her first podium of her career, Sasaki was close to her teammate Onaga's pace, only being a tenth off her fastest lap and often lapping faster than eventual race winner Shimono on her way to second.
7- Riona Tomishita (#39 Cerumo/INGING, 25 points)
One point behind Sasaki is Riona Tomishita, whose start to the season was anything but straight-forward. After promising pace during pre-season tests and early parts of the season-opening weekend, Tomishita faced mechanical issues in the sessions that counted the most and was only able to muster ninth- and 11th-place finishes to start off the season.
Tomishita then scored her first points of the season in July by finishing seventh and fifth, before taking back-to-back third-place finishes the following month to jump from ninth to seventh in points.
Also in her third season of Kyojo Cup competition, Tomishita has shown raw speed many times in her career, taking pole on debut in 2023 and winning the Super Taikyu-supported non-championship race last year, but is yet to score that elusive first career win in a points-paying race.
8- Ayumu Nagai (#46 Dojo Racing, 18 points)
The highest among the non-Toyota affiliated entries, Nagai trails Tomishita by seven points with two rounds left.
Racing with series newcomers Dojo Racing, Nagai began the season on a high by finishing fifth in the season-opening KYOJO Sprint but then fell to eighth in the Final after attempting to take fourth in the early stages. In the following round in July, Nagai had a much better time, finishing sixth in the Sprint and fourth in the Final prior to a no-score in August, finishing no higher than 16th as she fell to eighth in points.
A mainstay in Kyojo Cup since 2021, Nagai has scored four podiums so far in her four-year tenure in the series but is too yet to achieve her maiden win. Nagai's pace has been solid throughout the first three races with the new car, which could lead to Dojo Racing's first podium of the season if she can replicate her early-season form.
9- Itsumo Shiraishi (#17 AiWin, 16 points)
Driving for last year's champions AiWin (formerly Team M), 19-year-old Itsumo Shiraishi currently sits ninth in points in what has been a turbulent season thus far for the Hyogo native.
After finishing sixth in the 2024 season finale, Shiraishi had a strong start to 2025 pace-wise, running as high as sixth before spinning out with two laps remaining and fell to 12th by the end of the Sprint. On the following day, Shiraishi gained two places to score her maiden points of the season in 10th.
In the following round, Shiraishi was able to show her pace by finishing the Sprint in fifth but losing two spots in the Final to end seventh. However, her highest moment of the year came the following month, as she qualified on the front row for the Sprint and finished fourth, but the weekend then ended on a sour note after spinning from sixth in the closing stages of the Final and dropping to 16th.
Despite only scoring 16 points in the first three rounds of the season, Shiraishi has demonstrated glimpses of strong pace, starting on the front row last time out and finishing close to the podium on pace. Heading into the final two rounds, Shiraishi is a strong contender for podiums if she is able to maintain her current form.
10- Kilei Kanemoto (#32 Mihara Racing Team, 12 points)
Kyojo Cup veteran Kilei Kanemoto closes out the top 10 on 12 points, matching her 2024 end of season tally with two rounds left.
Mihara Racing Team's only entrant scored points on the team's debut in the season-opening sprint by finishing eighth and then gaining three positions to take fifth in the first KYOJO Final of the season, scoring her and the team's best result to date. In round two, Kanemoto crossed the line 11th in the Sprint and ran in the top 10 in the Final but was spun on lap seven and fell to 15th by the end. Last time out, Kanemoto finished eighth in the Sprint despite spinning in damp conditions and was able to improve to seventh in the Final, helping her overtake Hana Burton for 10th in the standings.
In her fourth season of Kyojo Cup competition, the 25-year-old Osaka native has been a consistent presence in the mid-pack, and has shown marginal improvements year after year, which continues to be the case three rounds into 2025. This year, Kanemoto has been a constant presence in the lower end of the top 10, and has shown glimpses of strong pace earlier in the year, which could possibly lead to another top five if given the chance.
11- Hana Burton (#37 TOM'S, 11 points)
Much like Shiraishi, Burton's season has been a turbulent one too, but her results don't tell the full story and instead show that the 28-year-old Japanese-American has the speed to fight at the front of the pack.
Having never tested single-seater machinery prior to this season, Burton was competitive from the get-go in pre-season testing and qualified second for the first race of the season. However, she dropped to fifth on the opening lap, and fell as low as eighth during the race before crossing the line in sixth to open up the season. After finishing ninth in the Kyojo Final, Burton took extra points in the following round by lining up third for the sprint race, which quickly turned sour as she retired on the opening lap after picking up front wing damage. Starting 20th and last for the second Kyojo Final of the season, Burton overtook a staggering 12 cars to finish an impressive eighth to end the weekend on a stellar note.
Last time out however, Burton wasn't able to score points as she finished no higher than 12th and fell to 11th in points.
On raw pace alone, Burton is one of the fastest drivers on the grid, but hasn't been able to fully show what she's capable of in the races after excellent qualifying results, in which she was close to acclaimed teammate Saito.
12- Miku Ikejima (#53 TGM Grand Prix, 8 points)
Spearheading Kyojo Cup newcomers, Miku Ikejima came into this year after not competing in the series since 2019 as the only driver on the current grid to have competed in Kyojo Cup's first ever race back in 2017.
The 28-year-old Saitama native began the season by coming close to points, finishing 10th in the Sprint and 12th in the Final in May, prior to taking a season-best qualifying of eighth and finishing there in the second sprint race of the season. Ikejima then crossed the line in ninth in the Final and followed that up with seventh- and eighth-place finishes in the August round.
On her comeback season, Ikejima has been a consistent threat to top 10 finishes, and her experience provides a nice springboard for TGM Grand Prix to build upon and grow as a team as she takes points on a consistent basis.
13- Sitarvee Limnantharak (#59 INGING, 2 points)
Another driver who has been consistently knocking on the door of the top 10 is the only Thai driver on the grid, Sitarvee "Minnie" Limnantharak, the third INGING entry in the field.
On her debut, Limnantharak qualified 10th and finished 13th in the first three races of the season, prior to scoring a promising 11th in the second KYOJO Final in July. The next month, Limnantharak was set to score points in the Sprint but a post-race penalty dropped her to 10th, and followed that up by crossing the line in ninth in the Final to take her maiden points in Kyojo Cup.
The 20-year-old Thai has been a pleasant surprise this year, putting herself in contention for points on a consistent basis in her first ever year in single-seaters, following a successful career in touring cars in Thailand.
14- Marie Iwaoka (#33 Fukuda Racing, 1 point)
The only other driver to have scored points is Kyojo Cup veteran Marie Iwaoka, who is also the only driver on the grid to have raced in LMP3 machinery prior to this season.
A Kyojo Cup mainstay since 2019, Iwaoka has had a tough time getting to grips with the KC-MG01 as she spearheads Fukuda Racing's single-car operation. Taking an 11th-place finish in the season-opening Sprint, Iwaoka had to wait until the KYOJO Final of the following round in July for her first point of the season, finishing 10th ahead of Limnantharak.
Iwaoka has had a quiet but consistent season thus far, scoring one points finish to date but hasn't been able to break in the points as often as she did in the past, having been a consistent points scorer in the last two seasons.
NC- Reina Amaya/Flame Airikkala (#10 KCMG, 0 points)
The #10 KCMG entry was driven by Reina Amaya for the first two rounds of the year, taking a best result of 15th in the first KYOJO Final of the year. However, the 32-year-old Amaya was only a stand-in for Flame Airikkala, who participated in all the pre-season tests but missed the first two meetings due to school commitments.
On her series debut in August, Airikkala had a positive Sprint race by finishing ninth and very close to her maiden points-position of the year, but wasn't able to build on the promising result in the Final following an early-race spin that sent her down to 18th.
As a last-minute stand-in with only one previous Kyojo Cup appearance, Amaya stayed out of trouble in her first ever races in open-wheel racing to gain valuable experience. However, her four-race stint ended on a sour note after a collision with Ryu Yamamoto, which left Amaya with race-ending damage. Whereas, Airikkala competed part-time in GB4 while on the sidelines, which played a significant role in her ninth-place finish on debut as she looks to end the year on a high.
NC- Yuika Hosokawa (#12 Fujisan Shizuoka Racing, 0 points)
Returning to Kyojo Cup after a two-year hiatus, Yuika Hosokawa's return to the series started on a sour note after finishing last in the Sprint race following a collision with Maaya Orido. In the Final, Hosokawa gained four positions to end the weekend with a 16th-place finish.
Hosokawa then had a quiet second round of the season, in which she was able to improve her season-best result to 14th in the Final, prior to her breakthrough round a month later, further improving her best result to 11th in the Sprint and then subsequently finishing 12th in the Final.
The 33-year-old Tokyo native has been a consistent fixture near the top 15 since her return and has shown quick race pace, especially last time out when she qualified 17th and rose to 15th prior to post-race penalties promoting her to 11th.
NC- Maaya Orido (#55 TGM Grand prix, 0 points)
Currently in her fourth season of Kyojo Cup competition, Orido is yet to score points but her transition to open-wheel single-seaters has been promising despite early season struggles.
Following a difficult opening round of the season in which she finished no higher than 19th, Orido quietly finished 15th in the following round's sprint race before executing a brilliant recovery in the Final to go from the back of the field to finish 13th. In the third round of the season, Orido finished 15th in the Sprint race after an early-race spin, and followed that up with her best race of the season as she gained four places to finish just outside of the points in 11th.
While the start of the year wasn't the best, Orido was able to steadily get closer to her teammate Ikejima pace-wise in the first half of the season and narrowly missed out on her first-ever points in Kyojo Cup. If Orido will continue this strong run into the following two rounds, she could be a strong contender for the lower end of the top 10 and score her long-awaited first points in Kyojo Cup.
NC- Ryu Yamamoto (#87 Autolook Racing, 0 points)
The only driver to have competed in at least one race of every Kyojo Cup season, Ryu Yamamoto has endured an uncharacteristic slow start to the season, finishing 18th in both races of the season-opening round in May. In the following round, Yamamoto took her first top 15 result of the season by finishing 14th in the Sprint race, a feat she repeated in the next round's Final race in which she finished 15th.
The oldest driver in the field, at 51 years old at the time of writing, has been a consistent points scorer since 2018, but needs to rediscover her prowess displayed last year, which enabled her to finish seventh in points with a best result of fifth, to end the year on a high.
NC- Kelsey Pinkowski (#9 KCMG, 0 points)
New York-based Kelsey Pinkowski entered 2025 with limited car racing experience before joining the Kyojo Cup grid as one of two American-licenced drivers.
Initially finding difficulties in extracting the most out of the KC-MG01 and finishing 16th on debut, Pinkowski steadly improved her pace, the 22-year-old American had her strongest round to date in August, in which she finished a season-high 14th in the Sprint race.
Pinkowski is the only driver on the grid racing in two continents, as her part-time program in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship yielded three points finishes and valuable experience, which enabled her to close the gap to the front in Kyojo Cup. Given her recent improvements, Pinkowski will look to keep this momentum going in the final two rounds of the year.
NC- Zhao Yunqing (#57 Buzz Racing, 0 points)
The only driver on this year's grid coming straight out from karting, "Emily" Zhao Yunqing and Kyojo Cup newcomers Buzz Racing haven't had a smooth ride three rounds in.
Starting out the year on the backfoot, Zhao struggled for pace in the first two rounds of the year, but was able to take her season-best result of 15th on debut and came close to matching it the following round as she scored a 16th-place finish in the Kyojo Final. Despite drastically closing up the gap to the rest of the field the following month, Zhao wasn't able to set a new season-best result as she finished no higher than 18th across the weekend.
With two rounds left, the 17-year-old Chinese driver is on the path to close her deficit to the front even more and most likely improve her career-best result.
On-track action will begin on Wednesday as the first two three sessions will be held at 11:30, 15:10 and 16:30 local times (UTC+9) respectively. Three more practice sessions are scheduled for the following day at 11:30, 13:30 and 14:50, as Friday will also feature three practice sessions at at 9:40, 13:40 and 15:35.
Sessions on Saturday and Sunday will be streamed in both English and Japanese on the Inter Proto Series x Kyojo Cup YouTube channel beginning with qualifying at 8:30 on Saturday, followed by the Sprint race on the same day at 13:05 and the Final at 12:55 on Sunday.
