Kyojo Cup: Shimono clinches maiden Kyojo Cup title with sixth win of the season
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
Dr. Dry with Impul's Rio Shimono became a Kyojo Cup champion after winning this Sunday's Kyojo Final in dominant fashion ahead of Aimi Saito and Riona Tomishita.
Dr. Dry with Impul's Rio Shimono became a Kyojo Cup champion after winning this Sunday's Kyojo Final in dominant fashion ahead of Aimi Saito and Riona Tomishita.
With two races yet to be run, Rio Shimono clinched the Kyojo Cup title with a dominant win in the fourth Kyojo Final of the year. The 25-year-old from Osaka won six out of eight races and never finished no lower than third in the other two races.
The grid for the Final was based on the Sprint race results, meaning Shimono started on pole and kept the lead on the opening lap, as Aimi Saito went from fifth to third at TGR corner. Fourth-place starter Itsumo Shiraishi fell to seventh, while Hana Burton dropped to tenth, as Riona Tomishita moved up to eighth in the chaos.
On lap two, Miku Ikejima spun from fifth, while trying to defend from Kilei Kanemoto and dropped to last. As Kanemoto remained in sixth, Tomishita overtook both to move herself up to fifth. On the following lap, Mako Hirakawa attempted to take seventh from Itsumo Shiraishi at TGR corner, but locked up and ran wide.
Behind them, Burton held off Marie Iwaoka to keep 10th on lap four, while a battle for 13th between Flame Airikkala and Ayumu Nagai began to brew. Airikkala held on to 13th for three laps before locking up at TGR Corner on lap seven and falling to 15th. In the meantime, Tomishita moved up to fourth by overtaking teammate Kokoro Sato at Dunlop on lap six, while Saito overtook Mini Onaga for second a lap later at TGR corner.
On lap 11, Shiraishi got up to sixth by overtaking Kanemoto at TGR Corner, while Airikkala passed Hosokawa for 15th after briefly falling behind her. On the final lap, Tomishita made a decisive move at TGR Corner on Onaga to get up to third at the last available opportunity.
At the front, Shimono took her sixth win of the season to clinch her maiden title with one round yet to be run, as Saito and Tomishita joined her in the podium. Behind them, Onaga and Sato rounded our the top five, as Shiraishi held on to sixth ahead of Kanemoto, as Hirakawa finished eighth, while Sasaki and Burton closed out the top 10.
Iwaoka finished just outside the points in 11th, ahead of Nagai and Orido, while Yamamoto kept Airikkala at bay to finish 14th. Hosokawa finished close behind them in 16th, as Ikejima recovered to 17th after her early race spin. Limnantharak finished 18th after start-line issues, ahead of Zhao and Pinkowski, who were the last cars to cross the line in 19th and 20th.
