Kids com Team KCMG took its first podium of the year with Nirei Fukuzumi during Round 8 of the 2025 Super Formula season at Sportsland SUGO last weekend in tricky wet conditions.
Fukuzumi enjoyed a solid Saturday Qualifying performance, managing a fifth place start, while Kamui Kobayashi lined up in 13th.
However, very different conditions greeted the drivers on Sunday, with wet weather meaning the event got underway with a rolling start. Fukuzumi showed great pace, battling against the cars ahead as he remained in the top five. The Japanese driver then elevated himself up to fourth, before an epic late overtake into Turn 1 snatched him the final place on the podium.
On the other side of the garage, Kobayashi made steady early progress as he moved into the top 10, before opting to gamble on dry tyres, which unfortunately didn’t pay off as the rain began to fall again, meaning he crossed the line in 19th.
Kids com Team KCMG’s first podium of the campaign at Sportsland SUGO has seen the squad move up to fifth in the Teams’ Championship, as it aims to match its best-ever finish of fourth from 2024.
Super Formula returns for a second double-header at Fuji Speedway on 11-12 October, which will be the penultimate weekend of action for the 2025 season.
#8 NIREI FUKUZUMI
“I’m delighted to take our first podium of 2025 this weekend at Sportsland SUGO! To secure fifth for the start was great. The race was tricky in the wet conditions, but we managed it well to come third and take a strong haul of points. I hope that a result like this can lift the team’s confidence as I feel we’re improving as the campaign goes on. I’m in a good rhythm, so my aim is to get us that maiden victory.”
#7 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
“It was a disappointing weekend from my side as we started well in Free Practice on Saturday, before making a set-up change that didn’t quite get us where we wanted to be in Qualifying. During the race, we knew there was going to be a cross over period between the two compounds of tyres, so I took a chance, but it started raining again. It was frustrating but sometimes that’s racing. Congratulations to Nirei and the team on the podium and I’ll look to bounce back next time out in Fuji.”
RYUJI DOI KCMG HEAD OF MOTORSPORT
“It’s great to secure our first podium of the 2025 season as we aim to build on this to move up in the Teams’ Championship. There was some great racing on Sunday in the wet conditions as Nirei came through to excellently take third place. Kamui’s gamble onto dry tyres unfortunately didn’t work, but overall, as a team we’ve narrowed the gap to our competitors. I would like to thank the whole crew for their hard work in helping us achieve this result. However, we believe that we’re only improving and now have our eyes set on taking our first victory soon.”
Media enquires: Cristina Villar
Email address: cristina@kcmg.com.hk
For more information about KCMG please visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of all the latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow on Twitter and Instagram.
Who is KCMG?
KC Motorgroup Ltd (KCMG) is an international motorsport services group established in 2007 by Paul Ip. The group, with its headquarters located in Hong Kong, has operations reaching across the Asia Pacific region. KCMG operates closely with many partner companies and racing organisations around the world to provide unrivalled motorsport services, equipment, team management and quality distribution in the automotive industry. This includes the FIA Motorsport Games, where KCMG is the official supplier of hybrid F4 cars, and the KCMG Driver Development Project. For more information on all of the team’s activities please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.com.hk.
