M&K Racing Honda Civic wins Super Taikyu opener at Motegi

The M&K Racing Honda Civic FL5 #97 was victorious in the TCR class in the Super Taikyu season opener at Twin Ring Motegi.

Team’s regulars Mitsuhiro Endo and Shinji Nakano have been joined by Kento Omiya and experienced TCR racer Jack Young who shared driving duties during the four-hour race. Endo and Nakano had qualified the car, with the combination of their fastest lap times granting the tenth spot on the grid, the first for the TCR class; the Waimarama Racing Hyundai Elantra N and the Birth Racing Project CUPRA TCR lined up immediately behind.

The #97 Honda claimed a respectable eighth position overall in the race, covering 111 laps and beating by one minute and 41 seconds the BPR CUPRA driven by Takafumi Kochiya, Jiei Okuzumi, Takahisa Ohno and former TCR Japan champion Takeshi Matsumoto Suehiro.

‘Kizuna’, Lee Jung Woo and Katsumasa Chiyo drove the Waimarama Hyundai to the third place, taking the chequered flag just three seconds behind the CUPRA.

The Super Taikyu series will resume at Suzuka on 26/27 April.

Picture: Super Taikyu