Shinohara wins again and take the points lead

After taking his maiden TCR Japan victory in yesterday’s Race 1 at Okayama, Takuro Shinohara encored with another win in Race 2 that propelled him on top of the standings.
The Hitotsuyama Racing driver took a poor start from the pole position and dropped to fourth, while Shuji Maejima took the lead after he nearly collided with Shogo Mitsuyama at the end of the pit straight. Yu Kanamaru moved into third place, but he was passed by Shinohara during the first lap.
In the following lap, Shinohara passed Mitsuyama for P2 and then began closing the gap to Maejima and overtook him during lap 3 to take the lead. On the same lap the points leader Takeshi Matsumoto passed Matthew Howson for P5, while ‘Hirobon’ who was running in seventh position served a drive through for jump-start.
On lap 6, Matsumoto moved into P4 after passing Kanamaru and then began threatening Mitsuyama’s third position.
In lap 9, Yukinori Taniguchi overtook ‘Yoshiki’ for P7 and this was the last change in the positions. During the final laps, Shinohara controlled the race while Maejima followed four seconds behind; Mitsuyama managed to keep Matsumoto at bay to finish third, while Kanamaru beat Howson for fifth. Masayuki Ueda and ‘Mototino’ delivered a thrilling fight for the ninth position that was won by Ueda with a slim 0.175 seconds margin.
With only one event left, at Suzuka on October 25/27, the title fight is red hot with six drivers covered by 24 points. Shinohara is the new leader, but Matsumoto is only one point behind; Kanamaru and Mitsuyama are equal on points with a gap of 11, Maejima lies in fifth position 15 points behind the leader and nine ahead of Howson.

Race 2
1. Takuro Shinohara (Hitotsuyama Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 15 laps
2. Shuji Maejima (Go&Fun Squadra Corse, Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 4.860
3. Shogo Mitsuyama (Green Brave, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 12.568
4. Takeshi Matsumoto (RT Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 13.170
5. Yu Kanamaru (Team Goh Models, Honda Civic FK7), 17.041

Championship points
1. Shinohara 128 pts; 2. Matsumoto 127; 3. Kanamaru 117