Six drivers in TCR Japan’s title fight at Suzuka

The final event of TCR Japan's inaugural season is staged at Suzuka within the WTCR event. Unlike their international colleagues, the Japanese competitors will race on the longer Grand Prix Circuit. The season will be closed Saturday by two races of 23 minutes plus one lap each, with their grids determined Friday by two back-to-back 20-min Qualifying sessions. 60 points are still at stake, meaning that the top-six drivers in the standings are still in the title fight, as they are covered by 24 points.
Takuro Shinohara (Hitotsuyama Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS) defends the lead and is followed by Takeshi Matsumoto (RT Team Wakayama, VW Golf GTI) who is only one point adrift, Yu Kanamaru (Team Goh Models, Honda Civic) and Shogo Mitsuyama (Green Brave, VW Golf GTI) both 11 points off the leader, Shuji Maejima (Go&Fun, Alfa Romeo Giulietta) who has a gap of 15 points and Matthew Howson (KCMG, Honda Civic) who must recover 24 points.
At Suzuka the championship will welcome Philippe Devesa in a second Golf GTI run by the Adenau-Racingline team. A Frenchman tranplanted in Japan, Devesa is the leader of the TCR class in the Super Taikyu in which he shares the Golf with Mitsuyama and Jake Parsons.
Both races will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv, Saturday at 11:30 and 16:15 local time (04:30 and 09:13 CET).