Yuki Fujii’s Audi on top in TCR Japan test day
Yuki Fujii set the pace in the official test of the 2021 TCR Japan at Fuji Speedway. On his first outing in a TCR car, Fujii drove the Hitotsuyama Racing Audi RS 3 LMS to clock the fastest lap of 1:47.883 in the second of the two test sessions.
Birth Racing Project’s ‘Hirobon’ was fastest in the first session with a lap of 1:48.473 and then improved to 1:48.084 in the second session, ranking only two tenths behind Fujii.
One further tenth adrift was Hiroaki Ishiura in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce entered by M-Prototyping Team Stile Corse who was clocked at 1:48.254.
Fourth and fifth fastest were Keiichi Inoue’s NILZZ Racing Audi and Mineki Okura in the second Team Stile Corse Alfa Romeo.
The other drivers remained above the 1:48 mark. Amongst them – seventh fastest with a lap of 1:49.656 – was Takeshi Matsumoto, the 2019 champion of the Sunday series and double vice-champion last year in both the Saturday and Sunday series, who has swapped his Wakayama Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI with an Audi run by Birth Racing Project.
The 2021 TCR Japan will kick off at Fuji on April 3rd and 4th.
TCR Japan test day
1:47.883 – Yuki Fujii (Hitotsuyama Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:48.084 – ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA)
1:48.254 – Hiroaki Ishiura (Team Stile Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
1:48.678 – Keiichi Inoue (NILZZ Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:48.877 – Mineki Okura (Team Stile Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
1:49.144 – Jun Sato (Adenau - Racingline Performance, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
1:49.656 – Takeshi Matsumoto (Birth Racing Project, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:49.966 – ‘MJ’ (NILZZ Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:50.415 – Kenji Suzuki (Birth Racing Project, Audi RS 3 LMS)
Picture: TCR Japan
