Miracolo Tokyo and Hitotsuyama win Japan Cup races at Fuji

It was supposed to be an SRO Japan Cup sweep for the No. 1 Hitotsuyama with Cornes Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Akihiro Tsuzuki and Shintaro Kawabata, as they were the fastest drivers on track, but a freak contact in the first race handed the win to the No. 88 Miracolo Tokyo McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Tadao Uematsu and Kenta Yamashita, meaning that the title holders still have work to do in order to get back to back titles.
 
Despite the door rubbing in the first corner, the first race had the minimal number of casualities, with only a stopped No. 96 K-Tunes Lexus retiring without a single lap done in the first race. After the first minutes having being spent behind the Safety Car, the No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari led the way at the restart, but Hiroshi Hamaguchi wasn’t too interested in just keeping the GT3 Am Cup lead and aimed for Akihiro Tsuzuki and the overall lead.
 
With Tadao Uematsu and the No. 88 Miracolo Tokyo McLaren keeping the field at bay, Hamaguchi and Tsuzuki had a battle on their own for the lead, but this would go to nothing in the next lap, as Hamaguchi hit Tsuzuki in the rear, bringing both to a momentary stop and handing the lead on a plate to Uematsu. While the No. 1 kept going, the damage in the No. 19 proved to be terminal, coming to a definitive stop a few meters later.
 
The fight for third became the fight for first as Uematsu was holding Yusaku Shibata in the No. 24 Max Racing Meredes, with both coming at the same time for the mandatory pit stop. With Max Racing taking some time to complete their service, the No. 27 AWD Audi got between the leaders and joined the fight for the win, though Yuya Motojima quickly put the No. 24 back to second. With Kenta Yamashita too far ahead to be reached by Motojima, the No. 88 Miracolo Tokyo McLaren just had to be brought to the finish to celebrate the first win in the season.
 
The No. 45 PONOS Ferrari took GT3 Am Cup honors while the No. 82 Zenko RS Sunrise Porsche was the best GT4.
 
Japan Cup - Fuji Race 1 results
 

The front row of the second race had an uncommon presence as the No. 935 Galah Nissan was alongside the No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari, but while Shintaro Kawabata led the way, Natsu Sakaguchi had less momentum and lost the second place to Ukyo Sasahara in the No. 9 BINGO LM Corsa Porsche, just in time as the Safety Car joined the track as debris from the No. 181 Norik Ferrari accumulated at the first corner.
 
The first stint remained on a status quo as the pace was quite close, which meant that the amateur side of the GT3 Pro-Am Cup squads would be the decisive factor. Galah surrendered quickly to the pace shown by Akihiro Tsuzuki in the No. 1 and Kazunori Suenaga in the No. 96 K-Tunes Lexus, but the No. 935 returned to the podium when the No. 96 got one second of Stop and Go penalty due to a pit stop below the minimum time.
 
Tsuzuki reached Shinji Takei with 16 minutes to go, putting the No. 9 in full defensive mode, and with clever positioning the No. 1 got the lead a lap later. Behind them, the No. 24 Max Racing Mercedes rose to the podium as the No. 935 Galah Nissan kept going down the order, appearing in sixth overall with 11 minutes to go as the No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini was leading the GT3 Am Cup and ascended to the overall top five.
 
Takei wasn’t able to match Tsuzuki’s pace in the final minutes, so the No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari had open way to win the race, while the No. 9 BINGO LM Corsa Porsche lost the second place to the No. 24 Max Racing Mercedes. The No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini had a reasonable gap to the No. 45 PONOS Ferrari and won the GT3 Am Cup. The No. 82 Zenko RS Sunrise Porsche was the best GT4 again with another commanding performance between all cars of the spec.
 
Japan Cup - Fuji Race 2 results
 
The duo Shibata/Motojima (No. 24) leads the standings with 72 points over the 67 of Uematsu/Yamashita (No. 88), the 62 of Takei/Sasahara (No. 9) and the 60 points of Tsuzuki/Kawabata (No. 1). Okayama hosts the next two races, set for 29 and 30 August.
 
PHOTOS: SRO