Max wins Race 1 at Okayama, Shirasaki becomes champion

The scorching hot Okayama International Circuit hosted the final round of the 2024 season of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Japan, Round 5. With temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius, the 19 laps of spectacular Race 1 saw clean battles among 20 488 Challenge Evo cars, despite an early safety car deployment. In a thrilling comeback, Trofeo Pirelli's Yudai Uchida (Rosso Scuderia) and Trofeo Pirelli Am's Cold Max (Cornes Osaka) clinched victory after a qualifying. Coppa Shell's Yasutaka Shirasaki (Rosso Scuderia), with his sixth win, secured the class championship, while Coppa Shell Am's Ryutaro Saito (Mid Sapporo) claimed the pole-to-win, setting the stage for an upset class championship in tomorrow's Race 2.

Trofeo Pirelli. At the Trofeo Pirelli class, Yuga Furutani (Ferrari Japan) had to retire on the first lap due to issues with his car, despite starting in pole position. Instead, Uchida who has previously won two championships, improved from his 3rd place starting position to take the lead. The safety car was deployed, but when the race restarted, Rin Arakawa (Auto Speciale), who qualified in 2nd place, was in close pursuit of Uchida. In a fierce battle that lasted until the final lap, Uchida emerged victorious and claimed his 7th win of the season.

In the Trofeo Pirelli Am class, four cars competed for the victory. Akita ( Cornes Nagoya), who had already clinched the class championship, secured pole position. However, Max, who qualified 3rd, had a fantastic start and swiftly claimed the lead on the very first lap.

Coppa Shell. During the qualification round for the Coppa Shell class, which had five competitors, Shirasaki emerged as the fastest. Having won five out eight races this season and leading the class's championship, he outpaced even the Trofeo Pirelli Am class, securing the 4th place overall as well as pole position for his class. The second and third positions were claimed by Kazutaka Miura (Auto Cavallino) and Phil Kim (Nicole Competizione) respectively. In the actual race, Shirasaki allowed the Trofeo Pirelli Am class drivers to pass him, yet maintained his impressive pace to ultimately clinch the 4th spot overall and win his class, securing the championship title.

In the Coppa Shell Am class, Ryutaro Saito secured his first class pole position during qualifying, with Norikazu Shibata (Cornes Osaka) and points leader Masafumi Hiwatashi (European version) following in second and third place respectively. However, Saito encountered a setback in the opening lap and ended up falling behind, allowing Hiwatashi to take the lead. Nevertheless, Saito managed to make a comeback on lap 9, ultimately overtaking Hiwatashi midway through the race. With a widening lead, he successfully secured his first class pole-to-win victory.

On Sunday the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars will return to the track for qualifying from 12.15am to 12.45am, while Race 2 will start at 3.20pm. The times indicated are local.