BINGO Racing sweeps Japan Cup weekend at SUGO

It was a BINGO Racing show at Sportsland SUGO to start the 2024 FANATEC Japan Cup, with the newest national competition from SRO being initially dominated by the No. 9 Callaway Corvette C7-GT3R of Shinji Takei and Ukyo Sasahara, which was a complete turnaround for the FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia race winning car that got torn to pieces last season.
 
With most class grid numbers being barely above a full podium, those in the GT3s will fancy having a go at overall wins, which can lead to trouble like the contact that took the No. 7 Comet Ferrari at the start of the first race. While the field was settling in their positions, the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari was going away with the lead while the No. 9 BINGO Corvette was holding the second place from the No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren.
 
The No. 98 opened nearly ten seconds in the first stint, but once the pit window came the No. 9 caught up, and before the GT3s completed the pit cycle, but Ukyo Sasahara used of some force and passed Shinichi Takagi for the eventual lead.
 
Sasahara never left the lead with the No. 9 BINGO Corvette as the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari didn’t have the pace to close down. The podium was completed by the No. 563 ANR Lamborghini, which passed in the final lap the No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren, which won the GT3 Am Cup comfortably. In the GT4s, the No. 39 TGR Indonesia Toyota had control of the first stint, but once the pit window was over, it was total control from the No. 50 YZ Racing BMW.
 
Japan Cup - SUGO Race 1 results
 

The No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari started on pole in the second race, but soon the No. 563 ANR Lamborghini and the No. 9 BINGO Corvette, and since Shinichi Takagi was far behind the leaders, it was a battle between Yuki Nemoto and Ukyo Sasahara.
 
It took nearly 25 minutes for Sasahara to pass Nemoto for the lead as the gap remained similar for most of the time, and the No. 9 left the No. 563 to defend the second position from the No. 98. While K-Tunes brought the No. 98 early for the mandatory pitstop, but BINGO Racing and ANR opted to let Sasahara and Nemoto raise hell for more time to give cushion for Shinji Takei and Akira Mizutani.
 
While Takei kept the No. 9 firm in the lead, Mizutani became prey for a pass from the outside by Daisuke Yamawaki, putting the No. 98 in second place again. With gerabox problems taking a lot of time to solve, the No. 563 tumbled down the order while still keeping the Pro-Am Cup podium, but the erratic pace would make it vulnerable for the No. 96 K-Tunes Lexus.
 
With no competition around, Takei just carried the No. 9 BINGO Corvette to the weekend sweep while the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari fought when possible, but the gap to the overall and GT3 Pro-Am Cup winner didn’t go down to 7 seconds. The No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren driven solely by Tadao Uematsu had total control of the GT3 Am Cup and was gifted with an overall podium once the No. 563 ANR Lamborghini faultered.
 
As for the GT4 field, unlike on Race 1, the No. 39 GTR Indonesia Toyota dominated the class while the No. 38 Wakayama Toyota had to defend the second place in class from the No. 50 YZ Racing BMW until the finish line.
 
Japan Cup - SUGO Race 2 results
 
Sasahara and Takei lead the standings with 50 points while Yamawaki and Takagi accumulate 36, with Uematsu surprisingly sitting in third with 27 points despite being an Am Cup entry. The next round of the series will be held at Fuji Speedway on 22 and 23 June.
 
PHOTOS: SRO