Takuro Shinohara secures the Sunday series’ title too

In the final race of TCR Japan at Fuji Speedway, Takuro Shinohara claimed his ninth victory of the season and added the Sunday series’ title to that of the Saturday series he had already secured two weeks ago at Suzuka.
Once again, the Team Hitotsuyama driver and his Audi RS 3 LMS left the rest of the field behind. ‘Hirobon’ encored his second place from yesterday’s Race 1 and the 2019 champion Takeshi Matsumoto completed the podium in third position.
At the start, ‘Hirobon’ was faster than pole sitter Shinohara and led the field, with Matsumoto and Resshu Shioya in third and fourth positions. During the opening lap the JS Racing Alfa Romeo cars of Junichi Umemoto and ‘Mototino’ spun simultaneously, while Rio Shimono – who had qualified fifth, but had been dropped to the back of the field for receiving three warnings during the season – recovered and overtook Mineki Okura for P5.
Shinohara stole the lead from ‘Hirobon’ in lap 2 and during lap 4, Umemoto pulled up with a technical issue.
Matsumoto and Shioya resumed the battle for P3 they had had in Saturday’s Race 1, with Shimono and Okura following them closely. Shioya passed Matsumoto during the seventh lap, but the Team Wakayama driver was able to retake the position. During the final laps, Matsumoto resisted the pressure from Shioya and Shimono, retaining the third position behind Shinohara and ‘Hirobon’.

Race 2
1. Takuro Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS), 11 laps
2. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA), 4.402
3. Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 11.238
4. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R), 12.310
5. Rio Shimono (Drago Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 12.803

Championship points – Sunday series
1. Takuro Shinohara 150 pts; 2. Takeshi Matsumoto 137; 3. ‘Hirobon’ 109

Picture: TCR Japan