Japanese teams and drivers return to Macau

The FIA FR World Cup hosts a unique grid of drivers and cars from the global junior racing scene

One of the historical features of the Macau Grand Prix makes a return this year, as teams and drivers from Japan return to the grid for the first time since 2018 to do battle with their counterparts from junior racing championships the world over.

The formation of the FIA FR World Cup means that from 14-17 November, two of the front-running teams from Japan’s domestic racing scene – TOM’S Formula and TGM Grand Prix (previously known as Sutekina Racing team / Team Goh) will field a total of four drivers from their domestic championship.

TOM’S Formula is a legendary name around the streets of Macau as the second most successful single-seater outfit of all time. They have won the coveted race on no fewer than five occasions, in 1992, 1998, 1992, 2007 and 2008.

(Above: Keisuke Kunimoto took TOM’S most recent Macau win)

(Above: Rickard Rydell was the first winner for TOM’S back in 1992)

With a sizeable timespan between that most recent victory and this year’s FR World Cup, TOM’S, who finished fourth in the teams standings of the 2024 FR Japanese Championship, have elected to bring two rising stars of Japanese motor sport to compete – Rikuto Kobayashi, who was the 2023 Japanese F4 champion, and Jin Nakamura who finished runner-up to Kobayashi in the same year.

The second team taking the relatively short journey from Japan to Macau this year is TGM Grand Prix – a relatively new moniker behind which sits one of the most experienced racing outfits in Japan.

The squad is backing one former FR champion and one up-and-coming challenger to thread their cars through the streets in Macau. Rintaro Sato steps up to the FIA FR World Cup from a season in Japanese F4, where he is a regular front-runner and narrowly missed out on a victory earlier in the season. Meanwhile Sato’s team-mate, Sota Ogawa, will undoubtedly be one to watch as the 2023 FR Japanese Champion will be hoping to capitalise on his experience of the Formula Regional machinery.

To find out who will emerge victorious in the truly international 2024 FIA FR World Cup, you can follow all the action from the weekend live on the FIA’s YouTube Channel.

Images © Japanese F4/Formula Regional Japanese Championship