Suzuka hosts TCR Japan’s penultimate event

The penultimate event of the TCR Japan championship is featured this weekend at Suzuka International Circuit.
The schedule includes three races: Friday's Race 1 counts as Round 5 of the Sunday's series, Saturday's Race 2 counts as Round 5 of the Saturday's series and Sunday's Race 3 is the rescheduling of Round 1 of the Sunday's series that was cancelled at Sugo for fog.
The grid for Race 1 and Race 2 will be determined by the best lap times in Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2 respectively, while the second best lap times of Qualifying 1 will determine the grid for Race 3.
Takuro Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS) is already in a position to clinch the title of the Saturday series. Shinohara has won all the four races held so far, building a leading margin of 37 points ahead of Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI), while 'Hirobon' (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA) lies third a further 17 points adrift.
As for the Sunday series, the battle is wide open. The reigning champion Matsumoto is leading the standings by five points ahead of Shinohara; 'Hirobon' has won the last race at Autopolis and moved into third in this series as well with a gap of nine points from the leader.
Drago Racing's Ryo Shimono is the best-placed Honda driver, she's currently ranking fourth in both series and well in contention for a podium position in the final standings.
This weekend at Suzuka, Takuya Shirasaka will make his maiden appearance in the series at the wheel of a Honda Civic Typer R run by Team DreamDrive with KCMG.
The three races will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com: Friday at 15:15 local time (07:15 CET), Saturday and Sunday at 10:55 local time (02:55 CET). 

Picture: TCR Japan