Hitotsuyama and BINGO LM Corsa conquer Japan Cup weekend at SUGO

The same teams are still the top forces in the SRO Japan Cup, but what the two races at Sportsland SUGO showed us is that the 2026 season is more competitive despite the wins of the usual suspects, the No. 1 Hitotsuyama with Cornes Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, driven by Shintaro Kawabata and Akihiro Tsuzuki, and the No. 9 BINGO Racing with LM Corsa Porsche 911 GT3R of Shinji Takei and Ukyo Sasahara.
 
The No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari led the early moments of the first race, not allowing any sort of room for the No. 24 MAX Racing Mercedes, all while the No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini was defending the GT3 Am Cup lead and third place overall from the No. 45 PONOS Ferrari.
 
The status quo  was kept during the whole first stint, and the pit window did almost nothing to change the situation, though the No. 19 got isolated in the lead after the No. 45 fell hard in the order.
 
The No. 24 MAX Racing Mercedes was kept within 2 seconds of the No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari in the final moments of the race, but there was no room for a lead changing maneuver, which left things as they were until the finish line. The No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini just had to cruise to the finish to win the GT3 Am Cup, while the No. 82 Zenko RS Porsche was the best GT4.
 
SRO Japan Cup  - SUGO Race 1 results
 

The No. 9 BINGO LM Corsa Porsche had the Race 2 pole but a lazy start gave the lead to the No. 1 Hitotsuyama Ferrari, but the action was in the GT3 Am Cup, with the No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini losing the class lead to the No. 45 PONOS Ferrari, all while the No. 27 AWD Audi had to hold back to not meddle with the class battle. Hiroshi Hamaguchi kept close contact with Yusuke Yamasaki, concluding the move after some minutes of pressure.
 
For the first time in the weekend, the No. 82 Zenko RS Porsche saw the GT4 lead being threatened by the No. 11 Akiland Toyota, but the overtake was helped by the overall lead battle, as the No. 1 brushed aside the No. 82 and left the door open for the No. 11.
 
After success penalties, the pit window and a Safety Car intervention due to a puncture in the No. 97 K-Tunes Ferrari, the lead battle turned into the No. 9 and the No. 88 Miracolo Tokyo McLaren, with the No. 24 MAX Racing Mercedes joining for a three-way scrap in the final seven minutes.
 
Yusaku Shibata eventually passed Tadao Uematsu and set sights on Shinji Takei in the final five minutes, but Takei was resolute in his defense, keeping the No. 9 BINGO LM Corsa Porsche in front until the finish by a mere 0.208 seconds.
 
The No. 19 Spirit of FFF Lamborghini won the GT3 Am Cup by staying at the back of the lead battle, as the top 5 GT3 Pro-Am Cup cars were pretty close and the No. 19 came right after them. The No. 11 Akiland Toyota completed the list of class winners by dominating between the GT4s.
 
SRO Japan Cup  - SUGO Race 2 results
 
Takei and Sasahata (No. 9) have the lead with 37 points against the 36 of Shibata and Motojima (No. 24) and the 35 of Tsuzuki and Kawabata (No. 1), while Uematsu and Yamashita (No. 88) sit in fourth with 30 points.
 
The series will be resumed in two months as Fuji Speedway will be host of the second double header of 2026 on 11 and 12 July.
 
PHOTOS: SRO