Following her appearance in the FIA’s Girls on Track Initiative and a successful season competing in Danish F4, Aaliyah spoke to teenager Juju Noda about her career in racing and ambitions for the future.
The daughter of former F1, IndyCar and SuperGT driver Hideki Noda, Juju Noda is no stranger to the world of racing. Following in her father’s footsteps, she began karting at the tender age of three before making the step up to single seater cars aged only nine.
Juju Noda first made a name for herself when she broke the Okayama F4 lap record by just under a second in 2017, aged 11-years-old. Since then, she has been compared to the likes of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen and is widely considered to be a racing prodigy.
Q: Hello Juju, could you introduce yourself?
A: Hello. My name is Juju Noda, and I am a fourteen-year-old girl from Japan. I started racing when I was three years old, following in the footsteps of my father. Now, I am racing in Formula Four.
Q: What made you start karting at such a young age and would you consider your father a big inspiration?
A: In a sense, I was inspired by him. My father was a racing driver and I thought it was very cool, so I wanted to do it as well.
Q: You made the step up from karts to single-seater cars quite young, how would you describe the experience and feeling of being in the cockpit for the very first time?
A: I was only nine years old when I drove a Formula car for the first time, so I found it really exciting. It was so different from karting, but I had the pace right away, which impressed a lot of people.
Q: There is a lot of interest in how your career pans out — have you ever felt extra pressure as a result?
A: To be honest, I am just doing my own thing. Of course, if people talk about me then I am grateful for that. I enjoy racing and all the pressure that comes with it — I don’t think it would be as exciting for me if there was no pressure at all.
Q: You just made your debut season in Danish F4, how did you handle the nerves waiting for the season to start and frustration after so much of the season was cancelled due to the pandemic?
A: The circumstances were really tough. The team and I were ready to race but we could not because there were so many events cancelled. It is really difficult to keep the momentum when events are constantly being cancelled. It’s a real shame because I really wanted to drive more and win more races.
Q: Competing in Denmark and karting in general, means you’re away from home a lot — how have you coped with that?
A: Of course, it’s nice to be home and hang out with my friends or even go to school like a normal teenager but racing is something that I really want to do. I’m trying my best to make myself as competitive as possible and to do that, it’s necessary to give up some things so I can reach my goals.
Q: There has always been this notion within motorsport that Europe is the pinnacle of motorsporting talent. Since you have raced in both Japan and Europe, would you say that there is any difference in the level of talent the different series have attracted?
A: I don’t think I have enough experience right now to really talk about this, but there are definitely benefits to racing in Europe. You can compete at a younger age in Europe compared to Japan and for me this is the best advantage of racing in Europe right now.
Q: What would you say has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
A: I would have to say winning my debut European race, while taking pole position and fastest lap at the same time. I am also very proud that I qualified in pole position at all my races this season.
Q: Final question! In terms of competing, what are your plans for the future?
A: I hope to be able to compete in Formula One, Formula E, IndyCar or Le Mans someday. They are brilliant competitions with such great histories. Right now, however, I have some exciting options on the table for next season that my father is working on as we speak. One thing I know for sure is that wherever I end up racing, I will do my best.
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