The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Japan for the 2024 season has a schedule of five rounds, with Round 4 set to take place at the Suzuka Circuit. The race was held in a summer-like 36 degrees, saw a total of 30 488 Challenge Evo cars participating. In a fierce competition, Yudai Uchida (Rosso Scuderia) took the lead in the Trofeo Pirelli category while Yasutaka Shirasaki (Rosso Scuderia) led in the Coppa Shell category. Akita (Cornes Nagoya) came out on top in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, and Yusaku Maezawa (Cornes Shiba) emerged as the winner in the Coppa Shell Am after a pole-to-win performance.
Trofeo Pirelli. At the Trofeo Pirelli class, Yudai Uchida, the defending champion of Trofeo Pirelli from last year, secured the pole position in his class. However, his expected rival Tatsuya Minowa (Ferrari Japan) started the race from the back of the grid in 19th place overall. With no competition in sight, Uchida displayed his dominance and clinched his fifth win of the season, ultimately securing the class championship.
In the Trofeo Pirelli Am class, where there were seven participants, Akita, the current points leader, managed to secure pole position overall. Although he was unable to catch Uchida in the Trofeo Pirelli class on the second lap, Akita did overtake Kanji Yagura (Cornes Osaka) by 3.5 seconds, earning his fourth consecutive pole-to-win in the class and overall fourth win. Deske (Cornes Shiba), who qualified second, finished in third place on the podium.
Coppa Shell. In Coppa Shell, eight cars entered. Shirasaki, the current points leader with 4 wins out of 6 races this season, took pole position with a speed that placed him 3rd overall. Phil Kim (Nicole Competizione), who took his first win in the previous round, qualified second. But Shirasaki was faster than the top class drivers and was more than 10 seconds ahead of Kim by the time the race was red-flagged due to a single-crash, he took his fifth win in the class with a pole-to-win finish.
Coppa Shell Am. Yusaku Maezawa secured pole position in Coppa Shell Am. Despite finishing 12th in the overall standings, he delivered an impressive performance, placing him between Trofeo Pirelli Am and Coppa Shell. During the competition, Maezawa drove with fierce determination, steadily extending his lead over Masafumi Hiwatashi (European Version), who qualified in 2nd place. He maintained his composure resulting in his well-deserved class pole-to-win victory and second win of the season.
On Sunday the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars will return to the track for qualifying from 11.20am to 11.50am, while Race 2 will start at 4.30pm. The times indicated are local.