‘Hirobon’ beats Masanobu Kato in a very wet Race 2 at Motegi

After clinching the title of the TCR Japan Saturday Series yesterday in Motegi’s Race 1, Birth Racing Project’s ‘Hirobon’ made a step forward to encore in the Sunday Series with victory in a very wet second race. At the wheel of his CUPRA, ‘Hirobon’ benefited from a couple of mistakes of the race leader Masanobu Kato to claim his fourth win of the season.
The race started after two formation laps behind the safety car, under pouring rain. Mineki Okura’s Stile Corse Alfa Romeo Giulietta led the field from the pole position, but during the third lap, Okura was passed by both Kato in the Team Mars Audi RS 3 LMS and ‘Hirobon’.
Kato and ‘Hirobon’ pulled away, while series returnee Resshu Shioya moved up to fourth ahead of ‘Mototino’ and then overtook Okura for P3 in lap 4. 
Further behind, Jun Sato defended the sixth place from Anna Inotsume and Masayoshi Oyama, but in lap 6 Sato spun forcing Inotsume and Oyama to run wide onto the gravel in avoidance. They all rejoined, with Inotsume ahead of Sato and Oyama.
Kato built a 10-second margin over ‘Hirobon’, but then in lap 9 he spun and ‘Hirobon’ seized the opportunity to take the lead. Kato didn’t give up and put the pressure on ‘Hirobon’ trying to find a gap to pass, but at the beginning of the last lap he made another mistake and lost contact. ‘Hirobon’ won with a 1.5 second margin from Kato, while Shioya completed the podium, celebrating his return to the championship after surviving cancer therapy.
‘Hirobon’ leads the standings by 18 points over Kato, with 30 points on offer in the last event that will be held at Suzuka in two weeks, October 30/31.

Motegi – Race 2
1. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA), 9 laps
2. Masanobu Kato (Team Mars, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.513
3. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R FK8), 13.423
4. Mineki Okura (M-Prototyping Stile Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 29.120
5. ‘Mototino’ (55 Moto Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK8), 31.122

Championship points – Sunday series
1. ‘Hirobon’ 96 pts; 2. M. Kato 78; 3. T. Matsumoto 60

Picture: TCR Japan