One pole apiece for Kanamaru and Matsumoto
On the wet track of Suzuka, Yu Kanamaru and Takeshi Matsumoto claimed one pole position apiece in the Qualifying sessions for TCR Japan’s final couple of races.
Kanamaru topped the timesheet for most of the first session, improving the fastest lap from 2:30.494, to 2:29.809 and eventually 2:28.418 that granted him the pole for Race 1. Just before the end of the session, Matthew Howson clocked a 2:29.142 and moved into the second position, demoting Matsumoto to third and Shuji Maejma to fourth. Howson’s teammate Paul Ip qualified a brilliant fifth.
The second Qualifying was red flagged after five minutes to recover Jun Sato’s Golf GTI from the gravel at T2. The session restarted with only nine minutes left on the clock, and Kanamaru made a mistake that spoiled his first timed lap. Howson posted a provisional best time of 2:29.885, but Matsumoto stole the pole from him stopping the watch at 2:29.296. Kanamaru recovered to qualified third ahead of ‘Hirobon’ and Maejima.
These results helped Matsumoto to climb on top of the overall standings, eight points ahead of Takuro Shinohara and 11 more than Kanamaru.
TCR Japan’s races are scheduled to start tomorrow at 11:30 and 16:15 local time (04:30 and 09:15 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.
Qualifying 1
1. 2:28.418 – Yu Kanamaru (Team Goh Models, Honda Civic FK7)
2. 2:29.142 – Matthew Howson (KCMG, Honda Civic FK7)
3. 2:30.318 – Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
4. 2:31.371 – Suji Maejima (Go&Fun Squadra Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta)
5. 2:31.581 – Paul Ip (KCMG, Honda Civic FK7)
Qualifying 2
1. 2:29.296 – Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
2. 2:29.885 – Matthew Howson (KCMG, Honda Civic FK7)
3. 2:30.203 – Yu Kanamaru (Team Goh Models, Honda Civic FK7)
4. 2:20.329 – ‘Hirobon’ (Adenau-Racingline, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
5. 2:31.228 – Suji Maejima (Go&Fun Squadra Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta)
Championship points
1. Matsumoto 136 pts; 2. Shinohara 128; 3. Howson 125
