Shinohara takes a dominant victory in Suzuka Race 1

Takuro Shinohara was in a league of his own in the first race of TCR Japan at Suzuka and drove his Team Hitotsuyama Audi RS 3 LMS to a dominant win, crossing the line 16 seconds ahead of his closest rival Takeshi Matsumoto.
By finishing second, Matsumoto – the reigning champion of the Sunday series in the Team Wakayama Volkswagen Golf GTI – retained the leadership in the standings, seven points clear of Shinohara. Drago Racing’s lady driver Ryo Shimono completed the podium at the wheel of her Honda Civic Type R. 
Shinohara had outpaced Matsumoto in Qualifying by nearly one second, but ‘Hirobon’ made the best start from P3 on the grid and led into Turn 1. However, the BRP driver made a slight mistake at the exit of the bend, his CUPRA ran a bit wide and Shinohara was quick to use the gap for moving into the lead.
The Audi of Shinohara began to build a gap ahead of ‘Hirobon’, Matsumoto and Shimono. From the fifth lap, Matsumoto began to put the pressure on ‘Hirobon’ and this gave Shimono the opportunity to get closer to them.
Further behind, the Alfa Romeo cars of Junichi Umemoto and Mineki Okura were having a close battle for P7.
In the last part of the race ‘Hirobon’ was struggling with tyre-wear and at the beginning of lap 9 he went wide again at Turn 1, opening the gap to Matsumoto who overtook him for second; then, during the penultimate lap ’Hirobon’ lost third to Shimono and eventually crossed the finish line in fourth position just ahead of the Honda cars of Takuya Shirasaka and Resshu Shioya, while Okura finally passed Umemoto for P7.  
After the race, Shirasaka was excluded for a ride height infringement.
The Saturday series’ race is scheduled to start tomorrow at 10:55 local time (02:55 CET), Shinohara will start from the pole position again after posting the best lap in the second Qualifying, six tenths faster than Shimono. Live streaming at www.tcr-series.com.  

Race 1
1. Takuro Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS), 11 laps
2. Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 16.241
3. Ryo Shimono (Drago Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 19.313
4. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA), 28.021
5. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R), 33.509

Championship points – Sunday series
1. Takeshi Matsumoto 97 pts; 2. Takuro Shinohara 90; 3. ‘Hirobon’ 71

Picture: TCR Japan