Oyu was finally confirmed as one of TGM’s two drivers on the eve of Saturday’s shakedown at Suzuka, joining Cem Bolukbasi at the Servus Japan-run squad.
It follows Oyu splitting from Nakajima Racing after three seasons with the former title-winning outfit, a spell that yielded a single race win and pole position as well as a best championship position of fifth in 2021.
The Hokkaido native had identified what used to be known as Team Goh as his destination of choice over the winter. But the squad’s loss of Red Bull backing threw its future in the series into doubt, forcing Oyu to raise sponsorship to secure his drive.
He is even thought to have turned down a drive at Dandelion Racing, a title-winning team as recently as 2019 with Naoki Yamamoto, in favour of the less proven TGM squad.
Explaining why he chose to join TGM, Oyu praised the high technical abilities of the Servus organisation that runs the rebranded team, and laid out his intentions to threaten the dominance of defending teams’ champion Mugen.
“Currently, Super Formula is being dominated by Team Mugen, but [wanting to join Servus] all started from wanting to strike a blow against them,” Oyu told Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition.
“It’s not a coincidence that Mugen is so strong. It’s because they have a strong ability to analyse that they are able to get such good results.
“This year the aero and the tyres have changed, so I expect Mugen to be strong again. In fact, there’s a chance they might have an even bigger advantage.
“To what extent we can understand those new parts is important, but Mugen’s ability to understand these things is impressive. I want to strike a blow against that.”
Setting out his targets for the season, Oyu said he wants to win a race and fight for the top positions in the championship, even if he concedes a full title tilt may still be premature.
“I am aiming for the championship, but speaking realistically I want to finish in the top three,” said the 24-year-old. “Also, I have to win at least one race. Even if we are not able to win the championship for the time being, I want to be part of the title battle.
“This year I’m in the position where I have to lead the team, but in some ways I think it makes things easier, and the technical knowledge of the staff at Servus is high, so I think we can do well.”
Author’s view: Did Oyu make the right move?
In December, it looked as if snubbing Dandelion could be a decision that Oyu could live to regret. But by the middle of January, he appeared on track to raise the money needed to land a drive at what used to be known as Team Goh.
By saying he thinks the technical level with the Servus organisation that runs TGM is good enough to allow him to challenge at the front of the field, the clear implication is that he felt that Nakajima and Dandelion, despite their title-winning pedigree, do not.
It’s fair to say that leaving Nakajima was the right move. The team is said to have become something of a personal fiefdom of three-time champion Naoki Yamamoto, hardly the ideal environment for a talented but somewhat unconventional youngster like Oyu to flourish.
But was he correct to turn down what we have to assume was the berth in the #6 Dandelion car alongside Tadasuke Makino? That’s a trickier one to answer.
Dandelion won the title as recently as 2019 with Yamamoto, and once the three-time champion departed, Nirei Fukuzumi picked up the mantle and was Tomoki Nojiri’s nearest challenger in 2021.
But the team appeared to struggle more than most in getting on top of the new Yokohama rear tyre last year. Lead driver Tadasuke Makino was missing the final percent of speed to really contend for wins, despite his consistency.
On top of that, Dandelion’s second car has tended to struggle in recent years, and being the number two to the already established Makino perhaps didn’t appeal. By contrast, at TGM Oyu is the undisputed number one, and will have the freedom to do things his own way.
Equally, Servus did a fairly solid job in first season entrusted with running a two-car Super Formula operation last year, taking its rookie drivers Ren Sato and Atsushi Miyake to a podium finish apiece. An experienced race-winning driver to guide the team could be the missing piece it needs to leap up the order and challenge at the front.
It was certainly a bold play by Oyu to turn down Honda backing to move to Dandelion in favour of raising the money himself to go racing with the team he felt was the best fit. Now he’s landed the drive, it could be a move that pays spectacular dividends.
