Super Taikyu: Riona Tomishita, Shion Tsujimoto win in class at Autopolis
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- Jul 30
- 4 min read
In the fifth round of the Super Taikyu season at Autopolis, Riona Tomishita took her second ST-2 class win to jump to second in points, while Shion Tsujimoto took her maiden ST-Q win on her racing return. Also in the same race, Anna Inotsume took her second overall podium of the season, finishing second to the race winning #31 apr Lexus.
At the third-to-last round of the 2025 Super Taikyu season, Riona Tomishita took her second ST-2 win of the season alongside her teammates Hibiki Taira and Tokiya Suzuki, while Shion Tsujimoto scored her first win in ST-Q and Anna Inotsume took her best result of the season by finishing second overall.
For the five-hour race, the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi started third in class and was driven by Sota Ogawa in the early stages of the race. Behind him, the #271 HRC Honda started fifth overall and the #225 KTMS Toyota seventh in class as they were driven by Hiroki Otsu and Riona Tomishita, respectively.
As Ogawa took the lead at the first corner and held off the #777 D'station Aston Martin to lead the first hour, while Tomishita overtook the #7 Shinryo Racing Mitsubishi to get up into sixth.
In the second hour, the #31 apr Lexus took the lead after the second round of pit stops, as the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi fell to third, behind the #777 D'station Aston Martin. Meanwhile, in ST-2, the #225 KTMS Toyota gained three more places during the pit cycles to enter the third hour third in class.
As the race reached its halfway point, the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi fell to fourth following the third pit cycle, while the #225 KTMS Toyota moved up to second and was rapidly closing in on the #72 Nihon Automobile College Honda, which was overtaken for the lead just after the halfway mark.
Just as the #225 KTMS took the lead in the ST-2 class, the #96 M&K Racing Honda crashed on the exit of Turn 3, forcing the safety car to be deployed on track. With two hours and four minutes remaining, the safety car puled back in and the racing resumed with the #31 apr Lexus leading from the #777 D'station Aston Martin as the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi was stuck in traffic.
With four hours completed, the #23 TKRI Mercedes led the field from the #777 D'station Aston Martin, the #31 apr Lexus and the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi. However, the top two then pitted, putting the latter into the clutches #101 Hitotsuyama Audi, which overtook them shortly after to take back third as the final hour began.
While the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi was reeling in the #31 apr Lexus, the leading #23 TKRI Mercedes was involved in a collision with the #88 Murakami Motors Mazda at Turn 12, with just three minutes left on the clock. Both cars spun out, but as the former was able to rejoin the race, the #88 Murakami Motors Mazda was stuck on the gravel, but was given a tow and rejoined the race ahead of the final lap.
The #23 TKRI Mercedes crossed the line first, but was later given a 30-second penalty for the earlier contact with the #88 Murakami Motors Mazda, as a result, the #31 apr Lexus inherited the win despite serving a drive-through earlier in the race. The penalty ultimately pushed the #23 TKRI Mercedes to third in the final classification, behind the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi, which took its best result of the season, and giving Anna Inotsume her career-best result in the ST-X class.
In fifth place overall, the #97 M&K Racing Honda won in the ST-TCR class, one place ahead of the ST-Q class winners, the #271 HRC Honda, which led all 139 laps in its class to take a dominant win, two laps ahead of its nearest competitor. Driving the #271 HRC Honda as its "C" driver was former Kyojo Cup champion Shion Tsujimoto, who returned to racing after almost a year on the sidelines, who took her maiden ST-Q win and third class win in Super Taikyu, following her two wins in ST-TCR last year.
ST-3 was won by the #16 Okabe Jidosha Motorsport Nissan, two overall places ahead of the ST-2 winners, the #225 KTMS Toyota. The Taira-Suzuki-Tomishita trio led the second half of the race unchallenged, following strong opening sits by Tomishita, who set the fastest lap between the trio, and Suzuki before lending the car to Taira for the third stint.
In ST-4, the win was taken by the #3 Endless Sports Toyota, 43 seconds ahead of the #884 Shade Racing Toyota. Behind them, ST-5F was won by the #17 Team Nopro Mazda, while ST-5R was won by the #610 Koshido Racing Mazda.
The Autopolis round of the 2025 Super Taikyu season was a solid showing for both Riona Tomishita and Shion Tsujimoto, whose respective stints in the race helped their teams in achieving class wins, while it was also a positive one for Anna Inotsume, who took her second ST-X podium of the season.
