Shinohara wins Race 3 and takes the lead in Sunday series
Takuro Shinohara won TCR Japan’s third race at Suzuka – the replacing of the Sunday series’ Round 1 that had been cancelled at Sugo for fog – and so took the lead in the standings, one point clear of the reigning champion Takeshi Matsumoto.
This was the seventh victory from ten races for the Team Hitotsuyama driver and his Audi RS 3 LMS. Matsumoto finished second at the wheel of his Team Wakayama Volkswagen Golf GTI ahead of the BRP CUPRA of ‘Hirobon’. Drago Racing’s lady driver Rio Shimono who had won yesterday’s Race 2 retired after a collision with fellow Honda colleague Resshu Shioya while they were fighting for the fourth position.
Shinohara made good use of his pole and kept Matsumoto at bay to lead into Turn 1, while ‘Hirobon’ moved from P5 on the grid into third ahead of Shioya and Mineki Okura’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
The first three cars began to create gaps between each other, while Okura was chased by Shimono and Takuya Shirasaka who both managed to pass him during lap 3, moving into P5 and P6.
Shimono, then began to put the pressure on Shioya, but on lap 6 they made contact into the chicane and Shimono’s Honda retired with a broken suspension. During the final part of the race, Shioya tried to defend his fourth position from Shirasaka and Okura, but eventually Shirasaka overtook him in lap 9.
Shinohara won with a margin of four seconds over Matsumoto, ‘Hirobon’ completed the podium, while Shirasaka was classified fourth ahead of Shioya and Okura.
Junichi Umemoto hadn’t started, as his Alfa Romeo Giulietta stopped at the beginning of the warm-up lap.
The championship will end at Fuji Speedway on December 19th and 20th.
Race 3
1. Takuro Shinohara (Team Hitotsuyama, Audi RS 3 LMS), 10 laps
2. Takeshi Matsumoto (Team Wakayama, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 3.958
3. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA), 9.770
4. Takuya Shirasaka (Team DreamDrive/KCMG, Honda Civic Type R), 22.340
5. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R), 23.315
Championship points – Sunday series
1. Takuro Shinohara 120 pts; 2. Takeshi Matsumoto 119; 3. ‘Hirobon’ 87
Picture: TCR Japan
