Anna Inotsume is crowned Saturday champion of TCR Japan

In TCR Japan’s penultimate event of the season at Fuji Speedway, Anna Inotsume and Takeshi Matsumoto-Suehiro took one race win apiece. However, the weekend belonged to the Dome Racing’s lady driver who was crowned champion in the Saturday series. Inotsume capitalised on the troubles of her rival Masanobu Kato and became the first woman to grab the title in a TCR national sprint championship. She also gave Honda its first title in the Japanese series. Inotsume is also leading the Sunsay series, 24 points clear of ‘Mototino’ and 27 of Matsumoto-Suehiro.

Race 1 – Inotsume had taken the pole beating Hodeo Kubota’s new Civic FL5 by 77 thousandths; Kato’s Audi didn’t make the grid due to starter issues. Inotsume led at the start from Matsumoto-Suehiro and Junichi Umemoto, while Kubota stalled and dropped to fifth. ‘Mototino’ and Kenji Suzuki made contact at T1 and spun off, they both rejoined but the safety car had already been deployed. Racing resumed in lap 4, with Seiji Tamada dropping from P4 down to the back of the field. Inotsume was able to pull away from Matsumoto-Suehiro, while Kubota overtook Umemoto for third in lap 6. During the final laps the leading trio got closer, but Inotsume held on to the lead and won by seven tenths over Matsumoto-Suehiro, with Kubota third, eight further tenths behind. Choi Jeongweon was handed a five second penalty for an infringement during the safety car period and dropped from fifth to seventh. Inotsume’s fifth win of the season granted her the title of the Saturday Series.

Race 2 – Inotsume on pole and Kubota shared the front row once again; under a light rain Kubota, Matsumoto-Suehiro and Umemoto were the only drivers who went for slick tyres. At the start, Kubota sprinted to the lead from Matsumoto-Suehiro and Kato. Inotsume had a slow getaway and trying to recover she went straight at T1 and rejoined in P8. The first two laps were chaotic, with Suzuki, Tamada and ‘Mototino’ making spins; Matsumoto-Suehiro too made a couple of mistakes and dropped to fourth behind Kato and Choi. In lap 2, Kato stole the lead from Kubota, then in lap 4 Matsumoto-Suehiro passed Choi and moved up to third. Kubota closed in on Kato, and in lap he 6 tried an overtaking move, they collided and both cars stopped along the track. The safety car was deployed, with Matsumoto-Suehiro in the lead ahead of Inotsume, Choi and ‘Mototino’. When the safety car was retired at the beginning of lap 10, ‘Mototino’ overtook Choi for third. The pair continued fighting for the last two laps of the race and eventually Choi retook the third position when he passed ‘Mototino’ in the penultimate corner. Up front, Matsumoto-Suehiro won ahead of Inotsume. 

The 2023 TCR Japan will come to an end at Sportsland Sugo, on November 25/26.

Fuji – Race 1

1. Anna Inotsume (Dome Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 13 laps

2. Takeshi Matsumoto-Suehiro (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.756

3. Hideo Kubota (J’s Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.562

Fuji – Race 2

1. Takeshi Matsumoto-Suehiro (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA Leon Competición), 11 laps

2. Anna Inotsume (Dome Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 3.200

3. Jeong Weon Choi (KMSA Motorsport N, Hyundai Elantra N), 4.415

Championship points – Saturday Series

1. A. Inotsume, 94 pts; 2. T. Matsumoto-Suehiro, 51; 3. M. Kato, 50 

Championship points – Sunday Series

1. A. Inotsume, 85 pts; 2. ‘Mototino’, 61; 3. T. Matsumoto-Suehiro, 58

Picture: TCR Japan