Ayumu Iwasa, a member of Team Mugen, is featured in a photograph taken during the first round of the Super Formula series at Suzuka Circuit on March 8, 2024. Red Bull Junior driver Ayumu Iwasa will have the opportunity to participate in a Formula 1 race weekend for the first time. He will take over Daniel Ricciardo’s RB car during the FP1 session at the Japanese Grand Prix. The FIA has implemented a regulation since 2022 that requires each of the 20 drivers on the grid to give up an FP1 session for a rookie driver who has participated in fewer than two grand prix races. While most teams chose to fulfill this obligation in the later stages of the previous season, RB has decided to complete one of its two duties in the fourth round. During the first practice hour at Suzuka, RB will have an all-Japanese driver lineup, with Yuki Tsunoda remaining in the VCARB 01 cockpit. Iwasa expressed his happiness and excitement about participating in an official F1 session in his home country, and he sees this as the first step towards achieving his dream of winning races and becoming the world champion in F1, the most prestigious motorsport series globally. Iwasa had his first experience testing an F1 car during the post-season test in Abu Dhabi last year with the team known as AlphaTauri at that time. RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised Iwasa’s performance in the Abu Dhabi test and highlighted the valuable work he has been doing since then, including providing live race support in the simulator. Mekies believes that this on-track experience will be crucial for Iwasa’s development as a young driver and will provide useful real-track data for the team’s engineers. Iwasa competed in Formula 2 last season with DAMS and achieved three victories, finishing fourth in the championship. He has now transitioned to the Japanese Super Formula with Mugen, where he finished ninth in his debut race at Suzuka.
The 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting was a tribute to the original period of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, commonly known as Can-Am. A total of 24 Group 7 sportscars...
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