K-Tunes Ferrari sweeps Japan Cup weekend at Fuji

New entries, modified lineups and the weather playing tricks with the FANATEC Japan Cup field marked the weekend at Fuji Speedway, and be it in the dry Saturday race or in the changing weather of the Sunday race, the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari 296 GT3 of Shinichi Takagi and Daisuke Yamawaki prevailed by using their pace advantage in different ways over the pair of races.
 
The all-Ferrari front row in Race 1 was easily dismantled before the first corner as the No. 9 BINGO Corvette went for second place and started the chase for the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari, with Motoki leaving no room to breathe for Daisuke Yamawaki.
 
It was question of a few minutes for Motoki to take advantage of the extra pace he had, making the move for the lead of the race. Yamawaki tried his best to follow Motoki but the gap was building up by small amounts per lap until the pit window.
 
With a 15 second hold for the No. 9, the No. 98 went back for the lead and the No. 7 COMET Ferrari returned to second place while also having the GT3 Am Cup lead. The order then shuffled a lot as the No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren took the GT3 Am Cup lead and the No. 9 got second in class, though Shinji Takei lost the overall podium to a charging No. 96 K-Tunes Lexus, with Morio Nitta chasing and passing Tadao Uematsu with 5 minutes to go.
 
The No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari never had any opposition until the finish and conquered the race with authority while the No. 96 Lexus completed the team’s 1-2, while the No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren held the No. 9 BINGO Corvette for GT3 Am Cup honors. The GT4 winner was the No. 39 TGR Indonesia Toyota as the No. 50 YZ BMW crossed the line in first, but had a 10 second penalty due to unsafe release in the pit window.
 
Japan Cup - Fuji Race 1 results
 

The second race had a K-Tunes front row, but the No. 96 Lexus took the lead from the No. 98 Ferrari due to the damp track favoring rain tires, and the No. 9 BINGO Corvette followed the path and took second place.
 
While Morio Nitta was kind of comfortable in front, Shinji Takei was under threat from the No. 81 Daishin Nissan, and a wide line from Takei helped in the change of positions. Takei tumbled down to fifth due to the grip not coming to the tires of the No. 9.
 
With the correct tires for the occasion, the No. 98 was climbing the order really quick while the leading No. 96 Lexus was crawling on track, becoming prey to the No. 81 immediately, only for the No. 98 to recover the lead.
 
Once the pit window was gone and the slicks passed from gamble to preference, the No. 98 K-Tunes Ferrari was carried to the win by Daisuke Yamawaki due to the minute of advantage he had to the No. 55 Team Macchina McLaren of Tadao Uematsu, who won the GT3 Am Cup.
 
The No. 39 TGR Indonesia Toyota commanded the GT4 Silver-Am Cup for the whole race, but having the wet tires in a drying track hurt its pace too much, giving the win in the final lap to the No. 82 Sunset Blvd. Porsche. The No. 64 JBR McLaren was the winner in the GT4 Am Cup.
 
Japan Cup - Fuji Race 2 results
 
Yamawaki and Takagi (No. 96) lead the table with 86 points while Takei (No. 9) has 72 in second and Uematsu (No. 55) keeps his crusade against the GT3 Pro-Am Cup contenders by sitting in third with 60 points. The Japan Cup will keep following the GT World Challenge Asia, with the next double header set for Suzuka on 6 and 7 July.
 
PHOTOS: SRO