Photo: Sho Tamura / Red Bull content pool
Ukyo Sasahara will stay with Team Mugen for the third Super Formula round of the season at Sportsland SUGO and will continue to replace Juri Vips.
Red Bull Junior Vips was slated to race alongside Tomoki Nojiri in Mugen this year, but the travel restrictions imposed by Japanese immigration authorities as a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19 have so far denied him the opportunity to race.
Instead, he ran part-time in the Formula Regional European Championship and in Formula 2, the latter as a replacement for the injured Sean Gelael at DAMS for four laps in order to achieve the FIA super license points that he needs for the Formula 1 race.
He will likely return to the FREC paddock in Monza this weekend with KIC Motorsport.
Sasahara, who is also supported by Red Bull as one of the energy drink brand’s official athletes, was the Asian Formula 3 champion last year and has finished 11th and 13th in his first SF races since joining Vips’ place was called.
He also competes in the Super GT with Mugen, as he also belongs to Honda, and is currently 10th in points with a podium in his rookie season.
A source in the SF paddock has told Formula Scout that they don’t expect the current quarantine situation in Japan to change before the season ends, making it difficult for Vips and ThreeBond Racing with Drago Corse’s Tatiana Calderon to race from overseas get.
However, B-MAX Racing with Motopark’s Sergio Sette Camara, who is also Red Bull Racing’s F1 reserve driver, has traveled to Japan and is expected to make his category debut at Sugo.
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