Howson takes victory in TCR Japan’s opening round

On a day of firsts for new TCR series around the world, Matthew Howson became the latest driver to win a TCR race when he took a lights-to-flag victory in the first round of the brand new TCR Japan championship at Autopolis.
With the race declared wet, the first two laps were run behind the safety car, with Howson’s KCMG Honda Civic leading the 14-car field across the start line when the safety car came in. Spray was then an issue for a number of laps, together with patches of standing water off the racing line.
In a largely processional race, the first five drivers finished in the positions in which they had started, with Takuro Shinohara’s Audi and the Honda of Yu Kanamaru completing the podium places. Behind the three, the two Volkswagen Golf GTI cars of Shogo Mitsuyama and Takeshi Matsumoto finished fourth and fifth, with Matsumoto having a battle with the Audi RS 3 of ‘Yoshiki’ over the first few laps.
Behind the top five, Yukinori Taniguchi finished sixth in a Honda after passing ‘Yoshiki’ on Lap 8. The Volkswagen Golf of ‘Hirobon’ was eighth after starting from tenth on the grid.
The tricky conditions caught out a number of drivers, with ‘Kenji’ and Reshu Shioya both sliding off the track before rejoining. ‘Kenji’ recovered to finish ninth, with Shioya’s Honda finishing behind the Audi of Masayuki Ueda, who claimed the last of the top ten places.
Race 2 takes place on Sunday at 12:25 local time (05:25 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-serie.tv.

Race 1
1. Matthew Howson (KCMG, Honda Civic FK8), 11 laps
2. Takuro Shinohara (Hitotsuyama Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.070
3. Yu Kanamaru (Team Goh, Honda Civic FK8), 1.357
4. Shogo Mitsuyama (Green Brave, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 7.336
5. Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama,Volkswagen Golf GTI), 12.258