TCR World and life

JAPAN ‘HIROBON’ AND FUJII SHARE RACE VICTORIES AT TWIN RING MOTEGI IN AN EVENT FULL OF DRAMA Matsumotomakes a hat-trick at Sugo The pandemic is still affecting TCR Japan, resulting in drivers coming and going from the series. Former champions Takeshi Matsumoto and Takuro Shinohara made their first appearances of the season at Sportsland Sugo. Matsumoto (on top) – the winner of the 2019 Sunday Series – completed an authoritative hat- trick, winning all three races at the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf GTI run by Birth Racing Project, while Shinohara – who had been crowned champion last year in both the Saturday and Sunday Series – stalled twice at the start in the Team Hitotsuyama Audi RS 3 LMS, but recovered to finish on the podium in both Race 1 and Race 3. One of the few to take part in all events, ‘Hirobon’ is the current leader in both series. The Birth Racing Project driver followed his occasional teammate Matsumoto to finish second in the first two races at Sugo, but in the following event at Twin Ring Motegi he returned on top. ‘Hirobon’ drove his CUPRA to set pole position for the Saturday race and then led from lights-to-flag, claiming his third victory of the season. The crucial moment was at the start (above), when ‘Hirobon’ swerved across the DOME Racing Honda Civic of series newcomer Yusuke Shiotsu who eventually finished second ahead of Mineki Okura’s Alfa Romeo. In the second race, ‘Hirobon’ had to recover from the back of the grid after losing his qualifying lap for a track limit infringement. It was a race full of drama that saw ‘Hirobon’ spinning at the start after a contact with Okura and collecting ‘Mototino’; in the following turn, Okura crashed with Kenji Suzuki, which prompted the safety car into action. When racing resumed, Yuki Fujii pulled away from the field in his Team Hitotsuyama Audi, managing to resist a late assault from Shiotsu who had recovered after an early spin and scored h is maiden win in the championship (below). Masayoshi Oyama completed the podium, while ‘Hirobon’ finished seventh, one lap behind. Round 4 – Saturday 24 July, Sportsland Sugo 1. T. Matsumoto (Birth Racing Project, Volkswagen Golf GTI); 2. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA); 3. T. Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS) Round 5 – Saturday 24 July, Sportsland Sugo 1. T. Matsumoto (Birth Racing Project, Volkswagen Golf GTI); 2. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA); 3. M. Kato (Team Mars, Audi RS 3 LMS) Round 6 – Saturday 25 July, Sportsland Sugo 1. T. Matsumoto (Birth Racing Project, Volkswagen Golf GTI); 2. T. Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS); 3. A. Miura (DOME Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK8) Round 7 – Saturday 28 August, Twin Ring Motegi 1. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA); 2. Y. Shiotsu (DOME Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK8); 3. M. Okura (M-Prototyping Stile Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce) Round 8 – Sunday 29 August, Twin Ring Motegi 1. Yuki Fujii (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS); 2. Y. Shiotsu (DOME Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK8); 3. M. Oyama (Akiland Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK8) 29