Japanese F4: Miki Onaga enjoys strong F4 debut at Fuji
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
At the season-opening Fuji round of the Japanese F4 season, Miki Onaga finished 13th on her single-seater debut, ahead of experienced teammate Kenta Kumagai. Rio Shimono and Ai Miura stayed out of trouble to take top-20 finishes across the three races.
2022 Kyojo Cup champion Miki Onaga, driving for OTG Motor Sports, raced in the Fuji round of the Japanese F4 Championship to make her F4 debut and was on pace with the top 10 throughout the weekend, taking a best result of 13th in the three races.
Fellow Kyojo Cup driver Rio Shimono also competed in the same round for Dr Dry Racing Team, taking a best result of 16th after her strong weekend at Motegi in both F110 Cup and MEC. Also in the field was 2020 Kyojo Cup champion, Ai Miura, who competed for Bionic Jack Racing and scored a best result of 17th.
In race one, Kageyama Racing's Ryo Shirasaki started on pole alongside teammate Itsuki Sato, but stalled at the start, leaving Tokiya Suzuki to take advantage of it and recover from fourth to first in the first sector. Behind them, Kenta Kumagai and Kotaro Shimbara made contact at turn 3 but both cars carried on and thus the race remained green.
On lap two, Masaki Murata and Ryota Horachi began exchanging positions while battling for seventh, before getting passed by Fuki Tanaka who started gapping the pair as Horachi completed the pass on Murata just before the lap was over. However, Tanaka wasn't able to pull away from Horachi, who overtook the Drago Corse driver around the outside of the first corner a few laps later to get seventh.
Behind them, Takahiro Kikuchi spun at turn 13 and was hit by Shouma Arimura, bringing out the safety car. Just before the safety car was called, Kiyoshi Umegaki took the lead from Suzuki at the first corner in a daring move down the inside of the hairpin.
The race restarted on lap nine and the top three all went side-by-side going down to turn one, but Umegaki remained on top throughout the lap, until Tokiya Suzuki took back the lead the following lap at the same spot. Behind the TGR-DC duo, Ryo Shirasaki climbed up to eighth after falling to last by overtaking Megumu Suzuki with a handful of laps remaining.
Half a lap later, the safety car was called out on track as Fuji Kishi collided with "Dragon" at the first corner, putting the latter out of the race and ending the race under safety car conditions. Tokiya Suzuki won the first race of the season ahead of Kiyoshi Umegaki and Itsuki Sato. Miki Onaga, who ran as high as 11th, finished 13th on debut, while Rio Shimono took 17th and Ai Miura finished 19th on her return to F4 competition. Behind them, "Kentaro" won the Independent's class ahead of Nobuhiro Imada and Isao Nakashima.
For the second consecutive race, Ryo Shirasaki was on pole alongside Itsuki Sato, however, Shirasaki kept the lead at the start as the field navigated the opening sector without incidents. On the following lap, Miki Onaga, who started 18th, crashed with Keito Matsui at the first corner, putting both cars out of the race and bringing out the safety car.
Following a lengthy safety car period, the race restarted and Shirasaki kept the lead from Sato as Syo Momose collided with one of the TGR-DC cars and sustained wing damage which would lead to him pitting at the end of the lap. On the same lap, at turn 11, Fuki Tanaka spun Yuzuki Miura and collected Masaki Murata, putting both the Drago Corse and the Zap Speed drivers out of the race as Miura continued.
As the race remained green, Kotaro Shimbara overtook Ryota Horachi for fifth and was followed by Kiyoshi Umegaki, who also overtook the Ponos Racing driver in the closing stages. In the end, Ryo Shirasaki took his maiden win in F4 competition ahead of Itsuki Sato and Tokiya Suzuki. Ai Miura was the sole finishing female driver of the race in 17th as Onaga retired and Shimono didn't take the start. Meanwhile, the Independent's class was won by "Dragon", ahead of Isao Nakashima and "Kentaro".
In race three, Itsuki Sato started on pole alongside teammate Ryo Shirasaki as Miki Onaga, Ai Miura and Rio Shimono started 14th, 23rd and 24th respectively. At the start, Shirasaki took the lead from his teammate and held it throughout the opening lap.
Behind Shirasaki, a four-car pileup formed at turn 3, along with Nobuhiro Imada crashing on the exit of the final corner, bringing out the first safety car of the race.
On the restart, Itsuki Sato attempted to take the lead back from Shirasaki but his aggressive move on the inside of turn one didn't pay off as Shirasaki kept the lead as at the same corner, Fuki Tanaka and Yuzuki Miura collided, bringing out yet another safety car.
During the safety car period, with two laps to go, Ryo Shirasaki and Ryota Horachi both came to a halt due to mechanical problems and retired from the race.
With the final race ending under safety car conditions, Itsuki Sato took his maiden series win ahead of Tosei Moriyama and Tokiya Suzuki. Rio Shimono was the highest-finishing female driver in 16th, ahead of Ai Miura in 19th and Miki Onaga in 20th. Behind them, in the Independent's class, "Kentaro" won ahead of "Ken Alex" and Isao Nakashima.
The first round of the 2025 F4 Japanese season was a promising one for Kyojo Cup champion Miki Onaga who defied expectations and was constantly knocking for points, while Rio Shimono and Ai Miura both had clean weekends, taking top 20-results during the weekend while avoiding crashes.