Recently-appointed 2017 McLaren race driver Stoffel Vandoorne took his maiden Super Formula win in Japan today at Okayama.

The Belgian’s triumph was a fairly straight-forward affair. He launched his Honda-powered Docomo Dandelion SF14 from third on the grid but snatched the lead on the opening lap never to give it up.

The 24-year-old McLaren protégé won by a margin of 4.79 seconds form Yuji Kunimoto and former Jordan and HRT F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan.

Championship leader Yuhi Sekiguchi finished well down the order in 13th, as also did as current series runner-up André Lotterer.

A second round of the Japanese series shall be held tomorrow, while four more races spread over two race weekends, at Sugo and Suzuka, still remain in the championship.

Vandoorne’s win at Okayama now puts himself in contention for the championship title.

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