Uchida and Shirasaki win in Race 1 at Fuji

The second round of the 2024 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Japan was held at the iconic Fuji Speedway, renowned for its fast-paced layout. The event saw a record-breaking 32 entries of the fierce 488 Challenge Evo. With clear skies and a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius, the race was nothing short of intense. Despite a red flag interruption, the drivers battled fiercely for 18 laps, with Trofeo Pirelli's Yudai Uchida (Rosso Scuderia) emerging as the victor. In the Trofeo Pirelli Am, Motohiko Isozaki (Cornes Shiba) won. In the Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am categories, Yasutaka Shirasaki (Rosso Scuderia) and Masahiko Isozaki (European Version) claimed the top spots. Both Shirasaki and Masafumi Hiwatashi displayed domination from qualifying to the race in the Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am classes, respectively.

Trofeo Pirelli. In the Trofeo Pirelli race, Nobuhiro Imada (Rosso Scuderia) started from pole position, but last year's champion Yudai Uchida (Rosso Scuderia) who started from 3rd on the grid, showed outstanding performance and took the lead at the first corner. Ferrari Japan's young driver Yugo Iwasawa (Ferrari Japan) also followed closely behind in 3rd place. However, on the 8th lap, Uchida and Imada made contact at the final corner exit, causing Imada to crash. Even after the race was halted by a red flag, Uchida did not lose focus and managed to hold off Iwasawa's relentless pursuit, taking the checkered flag in first place.

In the Trofeo Pirelli Am race, Makoto Fujiwara (Cornes Shiba) secured pole position as a guest driver. However, he spun out at the hairpin on the first lap and had to retire. This allowed Motohiko Isozaki (Cornes Shiba), who started from 3rd place, to take the lead. In the middle of the race, a red flag period brought about a tight battle for 2nd place between Cold MAX (Cornes Osaka), AKITA (Cornes Nagoya), and Kanji Yagura (Cornes Osaka) as they closed in on Isozaki. However, Isozaki managed to hold on and claim his first victory of the season.

Coppa Shell. In the Coppa Shell class, there was a strong showing from Yasutaka Shirasaki (Rosso Scuderia), who secured his second consecutive victory in Round 1. His dominance continued as he claimed pole position. The qualifying spots of Tsutomu Shimoyama (Cornes Shiba) and Ryuichi Kunihiro (M-Auto Italia) remained unchanged until mid-race. Unfortunately, Kunihiro had to retire from the race due to machine trouble. Despite a push from Shimoyama in the final laps, Shirasaki maintained his lead and finished with a pole-to-win victory.

In the Coppa Shell Am class, Masafumi Hiwatashi (European Version) secured pole position in the class, while second place went to Ryutaro Saito (MID Sapporo), who had previously won his debut race at Suzuka, Japan. The two engaged in a tight battle for the lead, but Hiwatashi ultimately emerged as the winner without any changes in the standings. Yusaku Maezawa (Cornes Shiba) made his Ferrari Challenge debut at Fuji, starting from 3rd place and finishing in the same position.

On Sunday the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars will return to the track for qualifying from 8.30am to 9.00am, while Race 2 of 30 minutes plus one lap will start at 1.00pm. The times indicated are local.