‘Hirobon’ wins at Suzuka on his return to TCR Japan

‘Hirobon’ made a winning return to TCR Japan in the second event of the season at Suzuka. On his first appearance at the wheel of an Audi RS 3 LMS run by the Birth Racing Project team, the 2021 and 2022 champion claimed an authoritative victory in the second race, beating Choi Jeong Weon’s KMSA Motorsport Hyundai Elantra.

On Saturday, Choi had won the first race from the pole ahead of his teammate Masanobu Kato who was sidelined by a technical issue on Sunday. Choi keeps on leading the standings, twenty points clear of Kato.

Race 1 – Choi had set the pole beating ‘Hirobon’ by nearly nine tenths and led at the start from ‘Hirobon’, Kato and Junichi Umemoto. Choi began to pull away, while ‘Hirobon’ was put under pressure from Kato who muscled his way through into the chicane at the end of lap 2. Little by little, Kato nibbled at Choi’s lead and by lap six he stuck to the tail of his teammate’s car, while Umemoto was chasing ‘Hirobon’ and began to attempt an overtaking move. In lap 8, Umemoto managed to pass ‘Hirobon’ moving into the third position and soon afterwards ‘Hirobon’ went off the track but was able to rejoin. Up front, Choi kept Kato at bay until the end and won by eight tenths.

Race 2 – In the second qualifying Choi had claimed another pole, outpacing the rest of the field by 1.9 seconds. At the end of the formation lap, Kato returned to the pits with a technical issue and did not rejoin, while Choi led at the start from ‘Hirobon’ and Umemoto. The leading pair pulled away easily, building a five-second gap over Umemoto at the end of the opening lap. Choi increased his pace in the attempt to shake ‘Hirobon’ off, but the latter was able not to lose contact. At the beginning of lap 10, ‘Hirobon’ overtook Choi for the lead at the end of the pit straight and pulled away to take his first win in two years, while Umemoto finished a distant third.

The championship will resume at Motegi in two weeks.

Championship points

1. Choi Jeong Weon, 118 pts; 2. M. Kato, 97; 3. R. Niikura, 57

Picture: TCR Japan