FCR VITA: Riona Tomishita charges from fourth to first in wet conditions
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
In just her third race in the series, Riona Tomishita took her maiden win in the FCR Vita series ahead of Kilei Kanemoto, making it a 1-2 in both the overall results and the KYOJO Vita class.
During last weekend's Kyojo Cup season opener, Riona Tomishita and Kilei Kanemoto also competed in the FCR Vita series as they aimed to maximize their on-track time throughout the weekend.
In the second round of the FCR Vita series, there were 11 KYOJO VITA entries, including Tomishita and Kanemoto. The class most notably featured Tomoko Fujishima, who raced in the first eight seasons of Kyojo Cup, along with drivers such as Mai Yasui, Saria Oikawa, Kotomi Maeda and Yuki Kanai, who all have at least one full season of Kyojo Cup under their belts.
In qualifying, Toshiya Oono took pole ahead of Kanemoto, whilst Tomishita lined up fourth.
With the race starting on wet tires, Kilei Kanemoto made a good start and began attacking Oono for the lead at TGR Corner but wasn't able to overtake the pole-sitter as she struggled for traction on the exit.
On the following lap, using the slipstream, Kanemoto got alongside Oono once again before TGR Corner but wasn't able to take the lead as Oono braked later for the corner and was able to hold the lead.
Despite a near-identical situation happening on lap three, Kanemoto made the most of a good exit from the Coca Cola corner and went on the inside of Oono at Turn 6 to take the lead as the latter fell to third after being overtaken by Ryohei Arioka.
At the end of the lap, Oono was overtaken by Riona Tomishita on the main straight and thus fell out of the podium positions. Ahead of them, Arioka passed Kilei Kanemoto for first around the outside of Coca Cola corner.
However, he wasn't able to pull away as Kanemoto went for the lead on lap five, but wasn't able to pass as Arioka had a better exit out of TGR Corner. With Kanemoto struggling for traction, Riona Tomishita took full advantage of it, taking second place from the former just before Coca Cola corner.
Tomishita's charge through the field didn't stop there as on the following lap, she got alongside Ryohei Arioka on the main straight and took the lead just before the braking zone.
On lap eight, Arioka attempted to take back the lead around the outside of TGR Corner, but it ultimately didn't pay off, as Tomishita cleared Arioka on corner exit, cancelling the latter's better run out of the corner.
As Arioka lost time trying to take the lead, Kilei Kanemoto began trying to take back second with two laps to go by going around the outside of TGR Corner, however, she wasn't able to overtake the former as she struggled for traction.
Cameras soon turned to Mayu Hakoiri, who stopped her car just after the Dunlop chicane, but no yellow flags were thrown and the race continued as the field began the final lap.
On the final lap, Kilei Kanemoto was able to overtake Arioka for second, in a carbon copy move of what Tomishita did three laps earlier, taking the inside line and clearing the latter on exit.
The order remained the same throughout the final lap, as Riona Tomishita held on to take her first win in FCR Vita competition, ahead of Kilei Kanemoto, who took the fastest lap at the end, and Ryohei Arioka, who rounded out the podium.
Behind them, Mai Yasui finished seventh overall and completed the KYOJO Vita podium, as Saria Oikawa and Yuki Okamoto rounded out the top five of the class by finishing 11th and 19th overall.
Tomishita currently leads both the FCR Vita and Kyojo Vita standings, after taking second place in the opening round of the season, which was also a win in her class. The KTMS driver heads to the second round of Kyojo Cup in July with high hopes as she aims to replicate her success in VITA competition with the KC-MG01 following a difficult round last weekend.
