AUTO RACING/ At 18,長野 市 の スポーツ ジム Noda is first Japanese woman to race in Super Formula

By HIDEAKI KATO/ Staff Writer

April 26, 2024 at 08:00 JST

• Share
• Tweet list

• Print

Juju Noda, the first Japanese woman to compete in the Super Formula series, in Tokyo in February (Hideaki Kato)

Juju Noda is following in the same tire tracks laid out by her father, Hideki, a former Formula One auto racer. 

Earlier this year, Noda blazed her own trail, becoming the first Japanese woman to compete in the Super Formula, Japan’s top auto racing series, which opened its season on March 9. She was, at 18, also the youngest on record to compete in the circuit.

“I want to trigger a change in the environment so women can play more active roles,” Noda said.

She admired her father and made her debut in kart racing when she was 3.

Noda has since taken various lessons, including in soccer, swimming and karate, but she said auto racing is the only sport that she felt frustrated to be a loser in.

Noda decided at the age of 5 that she wanted to be a professional race car driver in the future. She was 14 when she began making the rounds of Europe in a camper van with her family to compete in races.

She has even skipped a school event.

“I thought I could establish a lead on my rivals if I trained during the time that I saved,” she said.

Some auto races have rules that set a minimum weight for the machines, including the driver. Weighing only 50 kilograms or so, Noda sometimes has to load her car with a weight during a race to meet the requirement.

She also needs enough muscular strength to withstand a force approaching 4 Gs, about four times her weight, during a race.

Racers of a sturdy build can rely on their muscles, which also help their vehicles achieve the proper weight, so a lighter weight driver is at a disadvantage behind the wheel.

“I wish I could say that once you put on a helmet it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, but things are never that simple,” Noda said.

Noda was the first woman, in the 2023 season, to be the champion of the year in a European championship that is called a gateway to the F1 series, the most prestigious in the world.

She said she is often asked why she can drive so fast despite her slight build. She said she has formed a hypothesis on her own, which she wishes to prove logically.

That is why Noda entered Nihon University’s College of Sports Sciences this spring, where she plans to put much effort into research as well.

• ·「月のお気に召すまま」が別マで完結、アルコ×蒼井まもるコラボの読み切りも
• ·【阪神】小野寺暖が１軍合流　６月に左手首のじん帯損傷→８月２日に２軍戦で実戦復帰
• ·重盛さと美、黒髪からイメチェン→金髪サラサラヘアーを公開「似合う似合う」「若返りお化け」などの声
• ·【甲子園】「歴史を変える。先人になる」関東第一エース右腕・坂井遼が初優勝へ決意
• ·【ボートレース】福井支部の小寺拳人が引退
• ·【阪神】青柳晃洋が“真夏の完全復活”へ　「持っているものを全部出せたら」２２日ヤクルト戦先発
• ·米沢蓮「いろんな意味で後半戦を有利に戦える」　２戦連続Ｖで賞金ランクトップ奪取へ
• ·天才との戦いで勝利への執着が芽生える、バドミントン読切「ラケットマン」
• ·美しい皇后様の嘘を新米女中が知ってしまう、LINEマンガ新連載
• ·羽鳥慎一アナ、兵庫県斎藤元彦知事「パワハラ疑惑」の職員「アンケート」に見解…「多くの人が名前を書いて答えている…そこは重い」
• ·大谷翔平、第５打席はフェンス直撃の単打　３８個目の盗塁成功で史上最速「４０―４０」へ１本２盗塁
• ·奈良岡功大が１時間２４分激闘制す　パリ五輪後の初戦を突破　黄色い声援は「うれしいっす」…ジャパンＯＰ
• ·あら大変、気づけばすっかり大活躍ですわ！転生令嬢サラナ・キンジェの大忙しな日々
• ·天才との戦いで勝利への執着が芽生える、バドミントン読切「ラケットマン」
• ·【阪神】小野寺暖が１軍合流　６月に左手首のじん帯損傷→８月２日に２軍戦で実戦復帰
• ·【仙ペン】優勝する気…しかない