Mugen driver Nojiri enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in his eighth year in Japan’s top single-seater series in 2021, winning three of the seven races to wrap up the title with a round to spare.
But the 32-year-old’s achievements still pale in comparison to those of three-time champion Yamamoto, now the championship’s most successful active driver by most metrics, as well as the most experienced.
Yamamoto made his debut in what was then known as Formula Nippon in 2010, scoring his first title in 2013 and adding further successes in 2018 and ’20.
On the other hand, Nojiri’s rookie campaign came in 2014, and all but one of his six race wins have come since he made the switch from Dandelion Racing to Mugen in 2019 – incidentally, in a direct swap with Yamamoto.
“He’s only a year older than me, but he’s always been a target for me,” said Nojiri of Yamamoto in an interview with Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition. “We only competed in one go-kart race together, the…
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