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Last Update: 01-05-2011

        Cyber Formula GPX~~!                          

   TEAM's PROFILE                                            

Sugo

Sugo Asurada / Sugo Grand Prix / Sugo Winners / Sugo GIO Grand Prix
Headquarters: Shizuoka prefecture, Japan
Marque First Established: 2006
World Championships: 2015 (Hayato), 2016 (Hayato), 2018 (Henri), 2020 (Hayato), 2021 (yes, Hayato)

Corporate Profile:
Sugo Asurada and its subsequent incarnations form the racing division of Sugo, originally a small but well-known manufacturer that produced items like tune-up and custom racing parts for cars. It has also made cars for commercial consumption, such as a sporty street version of the Asurada. Sugo is headed up by Koujiro Sugo, who also raced for the first incarnation of the Asurada team and stayed on as team owner until Osamu Sugo took over the duties in 2018.

GIO, the rapidly growing auto manufacturer that joins forces with the Sugo team in 2022, possesses a strong European presence thanks to close involvement with other established manufacturers there, and is also asserting itself in the Japanese domestic market--at the expense of current industry giant Aoi.

Team Profile:
The Sugo Cyber Formula racing legacy started off small and unpromising, with an enthusiastic but overly-optimistic core team comprised of driver Koujiro Sugo, car designer Hiroyuki Kazami, and chief mechanic Tetsuichirou Kurumada. Their entry in the Japanese Grand Prix of 2006, the inaugural year of the Cyber Formula series, met with humiliating defeat, but they rebounded the next year to best rival team Aoi and win. Even so, they failed to secure either a points finish at the world level or the funds to continue racing, and so the team dropped out of Cyber Formula for the next 7 years.

Their comeback bid takes place in 2014, with a promising new driver, Akira Hiyoshi, but a car that's not quite up to the challenge. After a 5th place finish in the Japan Grand Prix and a failure to acquire a super license, the Sugo team's mediocre reputation seems to be firmly established. But the following year, thanks to Hayato's efforts and Hiroyuki's Asurada, the team clinches what will be the first of several Cyber Formula world championships.

Sugo Grand Prix is created in 2018, when Henri Claytor replaces an injured Hayato as the team's driver. When Hayato rejoins partway through the year, a second squad, Sugo Winners, is formed around him and the staff from the Sugo Asurada days. In 2022, both Winners and Grand Prix are merged into Sugo GIO Grand Prix as Sugo makes an engine deal with GIO, which has 60 wins on its record--but superior results in Indy don't necessarily transfer over to Cyber Formula, so the year proves to be a learning experience for all parties involved. That same year, Clair Fortlan officially takes over as acting team manager in place of Osamu, who is increasingly busy with paperwork and sponsorship issues. The following year, Osamu's friend Bootsvorz replaces Henri, which would make for a really fun team to watch if only the Cyber Formula anime wasn't over.

Lately the Sugo team has been almost unbeatable, but the results hide a fatal weakness: the team's dependence on Hayato and Asurada for results. (One must wonder, what on earth possessed the supposedly intelligent Hiroyuki to design a race car that could only ever be driven by one person?) When Hayato eventually stops racing, Asurada will no longer be operational, and Sugo may be left with a conspicuous lack of depth within its ranks. Henri was talented enough that he could have been groomed to be a potential successor to Hayato, but the team left him as its second-class driver and was correspondingly rewarded for its lack of effort. Henri was then replaced by Bootsvorz, perfectly competent, but not getting any younger. In comparison, at the end of SIN, Sugo's top three competitors all have second drivers whose best years are still to come--Aoi and Union Savior brought in fresh young talent, and Marie is only in her sophomore year at Stormzender. Sugo does have Clair, one of the top designers around, but even so none of the team's non-Asurada cars appear to be strong enough to consistently dominate championships unless piloted by an absolutely top-notch driver (i.e., the Schumacher effect). Which, as seen above, Sugo may not have when the time comes--unless it manages to poach one from another team. And when was the last time anyone at the established caliber of Kaga or Randoll or Hayato willingly swapped teams? Well, never. Granted, the future of Cyber Formula now exists only in speculation, but there may be the seeds of a future upset here...

Year-By-Year History:
2006:    1st GPX. Sugo Asurada makes its Cyber Formula debut at the 

              Japanese Grand Prix with driver Koujiro Sugo and has a poor 

              showing.
2007:    2nd GPX. Koujiro Sugo wins 5th for the team at the Japanese 

              Grand Prix, but doesn't cut it at the world GPX. Team exits    

              Cyber Formula.
2014:    9th GPX. Sugo Asurada reenters Cyber Formula. Akira 

              Hiyoshi, the new driver, places 5th at the Japanese Grand Prix, 

              failing to qualify the team for world competition.
2015:    10th GPX. Hayato replaces Akira and drives to championship 

              victory with the Asurada GSX and Super Asurada 01.
2016:    11th GPX. Hayato wins the championship a second time. The 

              Super Asurada AKF-11 appears.
2017:    12th GPX. A crash with Randoll puts Hayato out of commission 

              for the year, but he still ranks 3rd overall on the points he's 

              already accumulated. Kurumada resigns and makes Osamu 

              new team manager.
2018:    13th GPX. Henri Claytor, in the Garland SF-01, brings home 

              the world championship for what is now known as Sugo Grand 

              Prix. Hayato rejoins as the driver for new second team Sugo 

              Winners and finishes 4th overall. Kurumada returns to become 

              Winners team manager.
2019:    14th GPX. Miki transfers to Aoi and Ryohei becomes the new 

              chief mechanic. Hayato finishes 2nd overall, Henri is 7th.
2020:    15th GPX. Sugo Winners is subsumed into Sugo Grand Prix. 

              Hayato wins the world championship. The v-Asurada AKF-0 

              appears. Henri finishes 7th overall.
2021:    16th GPX. Hayato collects yet another world championship. 

              Henri finishes 7th overall. Well, at least he's consistent.
2022:    17th GPX. Sugo joins forces with engine supplier GIO, as a 

              result of which Daisuke Amagi is now attached to the Sugo 

              race crew. Clair becomes acting team manager. Shinsuke 

              might as well have dropped off the face of the earth. Hayato 

              finishes 2nd overall, Henri is... 7th.
2023:    18th GPX. Bootsvorz replaces Henri as second Sugo driver.

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