Mixed fortunes for Zak O'Sullivan after maiden sportscar pole position in Japan
Gloucestershire’s Zak O’Sullivan marked the latest chapter of his 2025 Japanese adventure with a mixed weekend that saw a maiden sportscar pole position followed by a much tougher race.
Zak, from Withington, near Cheltenham, proved the speed he showed in the last Super GT round at Suzuka was no fluke, securing a maiden pole position for the CarGuy MKS Racing team at Sugo.
Alongside team-mate Rikuto Kobayashi, the #7 Ferrari 296 GT3 proved a quick car around a circuit Zak has favourably compared with the parkland circuits he is used to from UK national racing.
Zak topped his qualifying segment by nearly 0.3 seconds in a packed 27-car field, before handing the car over to his team-mate for the second part of the session.
The Ferrari proved equally quick in the hands of Zak’s young Japanese team-mate Kobayashi, who secured pole position to follow up the team’s maiden win last time out.
Sadly, the race wasn’t to prove quite as fruitful, as Zak took the wheel of the opening stint but found himself battling against tyre graining throughout.
He dropped back several positions before handing the car over to Kobayashi, who eventually brought it home in eighth place for eight championship points.
The duo left Sugo fifth in the overall standings with two rounds left to run at Autopolis and Motegi.
Zak said: “It’s definitely mixed feelings after this one – on one hand, it was fantastic to show the win at Suzuka was no fluke and we have the speed to compete at the front in this championship on a regular basis.
“On the other hand, it was very disappointing to slip back during the race as we really struggled to keep the tyres alive. It’s something we’ll have to look at ahead of the next race to see what we can do to improve.
“Despite this setback, there are lots of positives to take. This is a really tough championship full of seasoned professionals who have been racing in Japan for many years, so it’s a huge achievement for our new team to be competing with them at the sharp end of the grid.”
Next up for Zak is a return to single-seater action for the penultimate round of the Super Formula season at Fuji Speedway (October 11-12).
“Sugo was my best weekend of the season in Super Formula last time out, so it’s important I build on that momentum on a track I’m now much more familiar with in both single-seaters and sportscars,” added Zak.
For more information on Zak, visit www.zakosullivan.com or follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/zak.osullivan.