Real Racing withdraws from 2020 Super Formula season

The team issued a brief statement confirming the move on Thursday, less than two weeks before the start of pre-season testing at Suzuka.

Real had been set to field a solo Honda-powered entry in the championship again this year after Koudai Tsukakoshi drove for the team for the majority of the 2019 campaign.

Tsukakoshi was drafted in after French driver Tristan Charpentier was dropped by the team after a single race and took a best finish of seventh in the Suzuka finale.

No driver had been confirmed for Real when Honda's 2020 roster was unveiled in January.

The team says it will focus on its Honda SUPER GT effort with Tsukakoshi and Bertrand Baguette this season with the aim of rejoining the Super Formula field in 2021.

Its statement read: "We are aiming to be back on the Super Formula stage next season. We would like to thank our fans, sponsors, and stakeholders, it was pleasure to have their support. Please wait momentarily until our Super Formula activity begins again.

"We will put 110 percent into SUPER GT and come together as a team to get victory this season. We truly thank you for your support."

Real's withdrawal means only the second TOM'S seat alongside Kazuki Nakajima, occupied last year by series champion Nick Cassidy, remains unconfirmed for 2020.

It also reduces the size of the Honda-powered contingent to nine cars, two less than the 11-strong Toyota stable, for a total of 20 cars on the grid.

2020 Super Formula line-up so far:

Manufacturer	Team	Drivers
Toyota	Inging	Sho Tsuboi  Hiroaki Ishiura  Kazuya Oshima
	KCMG	Yuji Kunimoto  Kamui Kobayashi
	TOM’S	Kazuki Nakajima TBA
	Impul	Yuhi Sekiguchi  Ryo Hirakawa
	Kondo	Kenta Yamashita  Sacha Fenestraz
Honda	Dandelion	Naoki Yamamoto  Nirei Fukuzumi
	Drago Corse	Tatiana Calderon
	Mugen	Juri Vips  Tomoki Nojiri
	B-Max with Motopark	Pietro Fittipaldi  Charles Milesi
	Nakajima Racing	Tadasuke Makino  Toshiki Oyu