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It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, really. Igor Fraga, the man who beat Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto on the way to the 2020 Toyota Racing Series title, secured a podium in only his third Super Formula race.
Super Formula is second only to Formula 1 in terms of car speed and has long been a proving ground for future F1 talent, counting the likes of Eddie Irvine, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Kamui Kobayashi, Stoffel Vandoorne and the aforementioned Lawson among its alumni.
After qualifying a superb third at Motegi, Fraga held his nerve at the start to briefly lead towards Turn 1. He ran wide on exit but settled back into second position for the first few laps. However, when the pit window opened, Fraga was gazumped by the early-stopping Kakunoshin Ohta and demoted to third, where he remained to the chequered flag.
To his credit, Fraga chased Ohta hard to the end, finishing a few tenths off P2 and only around four seconds from victory, in what is already turning out to be an impressive debut season.
He followed up this rostrum with a subdued ninth in the second race, but a GT300 podium in Super GT at Okayama the previous weekend means Fraga is very much finding his form at the very top level of motorsport.
Gran Turismo lifeline
The Brazilian has dovetailed his motorsport ambitions with a virtual racing career too, winning the inaugural Gran Turismo Nations Cup championship in 2018, followed by further success in Polyphony Digital-sanctioned series in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Although progress faltered after an ill-starred Formula 3 campaign, which was followed by his removal from Red Bull’s junior ranks and a loss of funding, Fraga used esports to keep himself sharp as COVID-19 hit.
Once borders began opening up again, Fraga moved to Japan permanently in 2022. He then secured a Super GT drive for 2023 alongside a Super Formula Lights seat, thanks to the backing of Gran Turismo and personal sponsor Fanatec (notably, Fraga is one of the few esports athletes it retained throughout its recent financial troubles).
For 2024, however, Japan-born Fraga claimed a reserve driver role with the Ponos Nakajima Racing in Super Formula, finishing as the quickest driver in the season-ending rookie test. His impressive pace and the retirement of three-time champion Naoki Yamamoto led to a 2025 race seat opportunity, with Fraga lying sixth in the Drivers’ championship after four races.
The Ishikawa driver has enjoyed patronage from Gran Turismo for the majority of his career, which, like most ‘sim-to-real’ drivers, contains significant grassroots racing experience, including several karting titles and the 2017 Formula 3 Brasil Academy Class title.
Given his early success in 2025, you wouldn’t bet against him becoming a regular Super Formula frontrunner.
And at 26, there may still be time to dream about joining the likes of Lawson and Tsunoda in F1…
Images courtesy of Igor Fraga
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