Kato and ‘Hirobon’ share victories in TCR Japan opener

The opening event of the 2022 TCR Japan saw Masanobu Kato and ‘Hirobon’ sharing the honours with a race win apiece. Kato claimed his maiden victory in the series at the wheel of his Team Mars Audi, passing ‘Hirobon’ on the last lap of the Saturday race. Birth Racing Project’s reigning champion took his revenge in the Sunday race, when he scored the first victory in Japan for the CUPRA Leon Competición car.

In the Saturday Series, ‘Hirobon’ took the lead from the pole and led for most of the race, chased by Kato who had moved into second by overtaking Resshu Shioya during the first lap. Kato managed to close in on ‘Hirobon’, passed him at the beginning of the last lap and then kept him at bay, beating him by two tenths under the flag. Shioya completed the podium ahead of Mineki Okura who had qualified second but had lost two places at the start. Okura was later demoted to fifth behind Anna Inotsume by a 5-second penalty for jump start.

‘Hirobon’ had the pole for the Sunday Series’ race as well but had to fight with Kato and Shioya to retain the lead at the start. During the first three laps there was a fierce battle between the leading trio who swapped places several times, while Okura and Inotsume followed them at a striking distance; then the positions settled, and the race became processional. ‘Hirobon’ retained the lead and beat Shioya by 1.3 second, while the battle for third saw Kato resisting the pressure from Okura.

The second race meeting of TCR Japan will be at Okayama on 25/26 June.

Fuji – Race 1
1. Masanobu Kato (Audi Team Mars, Audi RS 3 LMS), 14 laps
2. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.219
3. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 2.202

Fuji – Race 2
1. ‘Hirobon’ (Birth Racing Project, CUPRA Leon Competición), 14 laps
2. Resshu Shioya (Team G/Motion, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 1.385
3. Masanobu Kato (Audi Team Mars, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.834

Championship points – Saturday Series
1. M. Kato, 27 pts; 2. ‘Hirobon’, 23; 3. R. Shioya 18 

Championship points – Sunday Series
1. ‘Hirobon’, 30 pts; 2. R. Shioya, 21; 3. M. Kato 19 

Picture: TCR Japan