Under bright sunshine at Fuji Speedway, the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Japan 2025 Round 4 Race 2 unfolded, a stark contrast to yesterday’s Race 1. This race saw 30 Ferrari 296 Challenges and three 488 Challenge Evos on the grid, competing over 30 minutes plus one lap.

In the Trofeo Pirelli class, Sota Muto (M.Auto Italia) started from pole position and claimed a flawless victory, never surrendering the lead. In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Kanji Yagura (Cornes Osaka) secured the top spot, marking his second consecutive win. Coppa Shell saw Masaru Yoneda (Cornes Osaka) rise from a P5 start to capture his first-ever victory. In Coppa Shell Am, Masaharu Katsumata (Nicole Competizione) surged to the front on the final lap to take the win from a P3 qualifying position. In the 488 Challenge Evo class, Michito Hirota (Gran Testa Nagano) completed back-to-back victories.

Trofeo Pirelli. The Trofeo Pirelli field consisted of four cars, the same as in Race 1. Muto, once again on pole, kept his composure amid fierce battles further down the order, achieving another pole-to-win finish. The fight for second place went down to the final lap, with Tadao Uematsu (Cornes Shiba) coming out ahead, and Yuga Furutani (Auto Speciale) finishing third.

Five cars competed in Trofeo Pirelli Am. Tsutomu Shimoyama (Cornes Shiba) started from pole for the second consecutive time, but it was Yagura, who had staged a dramatic comeback in Race 1, who demonstrated impressive pace from a P3 start. Yagura seized the lead on lap three and never looked back. Yasutaka Shirasaki (Rosso Scuderia), winner of Round 2 Race 1, finished second, while Cold Max (Cornes Osaka) charged up from fifth on the grid to claim third.

In the 488 Challenge Evo category, which featured three entries, Hori started from second in qualifying, seized the lead on the opening lap, and went on to dominate the race, finishing with a comfortable margin over his rivals. He secured his second consecutive win, making a remarkable debut in the series.

Coppa Shell. The Coppa Shell category featured five entrants. Pole-sitter Norikazu Shibata (Cornes Osaka) and third-place qualifier Phil Kim (Nicole Competizione) became locked in a fierce battle for the lead, but both retired after a collision at Advan Corner on lap ten. This opened the door for Yoneda, who started from fifth. Now in his third season, Yoneda celebrated his long-awaited first victory.

In the Coppa Shell Am, which saw the largest field this time with 16 entrants, Alex Fox (Yanase Fiorano Motori) took the lead from second on the grid after winning Race 1. He gradually built up a gap at the front, but was forced to fall back on lap 14 in the closing stages. Katsumata, who started from third, capitalized on this opportunity, claiming his first victory in three years since 2022. In second place was Hiroyuki Katayama (Cornes Osaka), who put in an impressive drive, charging up from fifth on the grid.

The final round, Round 5, will be held at Okayama International Circuit from August 8th to 10th. With the championship battle in each class still too close to call, the season finale promises intense and thrilling on-track action.