Kyojo Cup: Tomishita continues dominant form with Kyojo Final win to further extend her points lead

Building from her strong form on Saturday, Cerumo/Inging's Riona Tomishita was once again the driver to beat in Sunday's final, leading all 15 laps en route to her second win of the season in as many races, as Joanne Ciconte and Aimi Saito joined her on the podium.

Photo credits: Kyojo Cup

Building from her strong form on Saturday, Cerumo/Inging's Riona Tomishita was once again the driver to beat in Sunday's final, leading all 15 laps en route to her second win of the season in as many races, as Joanne Ciconte and Aimi Saito joined her on the podium.

Sprint Race winner Riona Tomishita capped off her breakout weekend in the Kyojo Cup season-opener at Fuii with a win in the Final, as rookie Joanne Ciconte clinched second and 2024 champion Aimi Saito claimed third after a strong drive.

As the sprint race results composed the grid for the final, Tomishita led the way at the start from pole, as teammate Kokoro Sato was passed by Miki Onaga at Turn 1 and fell to fourth. Ahead of them, Tomishita fended off Ciconte's attack in Turn 2 and kept the Aussie at bay through the rest of the lap. 

Behind them, Ai Miura enjoyed a strong start from seventh, overtaking Saito and later Shimono down the main straight for fifth as she began lap two. Just a lap later, at the same spot, Saito took sixth from Shimono, as the reigning champion began to struggle to keep up with the to five runners. Saito meanwhile, had begun hunting down Miura for fifth and eventually overtook her around the outside of turn one on lap four to return to her starting position. 

On lap seven, Rami Sasaki began attacking Shimono for seventh, but the reigning champion was able to hold on to her position. Ahead of them, Saito began pestering Sato for fourth, a position she got after the Cerumo/Inging driver got a bad exit from the Dunlop chicane and was defenseless as the TOM'S driver stormed past.

The AiWin car of Miura also attempted to get by Sato, but was held off by the Sprint Race podium finisher. Three laps later, Miura went side-by-side with Sato through the first sector, as she jumped up to fifth after clearing her just before 100R.

Ahead of them, Saito maintained her blistering race pace, setting the fastest lap and closing in on Onaga on lap 11. After an unsuccessful attack, which saw her run wide on the exit of Turn 2, Saito moved past the KCMG driver on the main straight as she began lap 12. 

As the race drew to a close, Cerumo/Inging's Tomishita clinched the win after leading all 15 laps, as Ciconte finished second and Saito took a strong third. Onaga and Miura rounded out the top five, ahead of Sato and Rio Shimono in seventh, with a solid Hana Burton in eighth.

Kilei Kanemoto and Sara Matsui rounded out the points-paying positions in ninth and tenth. Sasaki crossed the line 11th, ahead of Marie Iwaoka and Itsumo Shiraishi, as Sitarvee Limnantharak finished 14th, in front of Paige Raddatz. Behind them, Rina Ito, Ryu Yamamoto and recently-graduated university student Kelsey Pinkowski were the last cars to cross the line. 

Photo credits: Kyojo Cup