In less than 4 hours from the end of the previous round the 5th race of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was held at Twin Ring Motegi. Each drivers was expected to fight a tougher battle for a total of 20 laps, 6 laps more than the 4th race with air temperature of 26 deg. C and track temperature of 37 deg. C.
The grid for the race was determined by the results of the 3rd race, and so Nobuharu Matsushita of HFDP RACING, the winner of the 3rd race started from pole for the third time in a row ahead of Kenta Yamashita (PETRONAS TEAM TOM’S), Mitsunori Takaboshi (B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP) and Takamoto Katsuta (PETRONAS TEAM TOM’S). Rintaro Kubo of TOCHIGI Le Beausset Motorsports started first grid in the F3-N class followed by Hiroshi Koizumi (Hanashima Racing) aiming for consecutive win with Ai Miura (EXCEDY RACING TEAM) in 3rd and Tairoku Yamaguchi (TAIROKU EXCEED) in 4th.

◎ Yamashita and Katsuta were struggling to close in on fast starter Yamashita
With Tsubasa Yamaguchi of HFDP RACING having had to retire after the formation lap due to a mechanical failure the race started with 14 cars. Matsushita got away best as he did in the last two races ahead of Yamashita with Katsuta in 3rd place having passed Takaboshi again. While in F3-N class Kubo made a good start into the first comer with Koizumi and Miura behind him.
As Yamashita completed the opening lap he had a good feeling from over 1 second gap to the lead and thought he might be able to challenge Matsushita later in the race. Matsushita, however, had even a better feeling from the fact that in both the last 2 races he continued to build up his lead till the end that had been reduced in the middle stages. Once he set the fastest lap on the 4th lap the race leader continued his pace at 1m46s level before slightly showing fatigue with 5 laps to go in which he still set 47s level. There was nothing Yamashita could do. The 3 consecutive wins at Motegi promoted Matsushita to the top in point standings by 1 point ahead of Yamashita. “I will aim at extending my winning streak at Okayama. I hope to race well as I did in this race weekend,” Matsushita showed confidence. Yamashita finished second for the 3rd time in a row ahead of Katsuta.

◎ Unexpected contact in a battle for the top Between Kubo and Koizumi
A match race was being fought in F3-N class between Kubo and close pursuer Koizumi before the lead two had a contact with each other on lap 5 as Koizumi tried to put his car down the inside of Kubo into turn 5. With damaged tyres and front wing Kubo managed to remain on the track, while Koizumi went off the track and slipped to the foot of the field. Meanwhile Yamaguchi shot past Miura to third spot on lap 2, and then was moved up to second by the Koizumi’s drop, but he was not so fast as to close in on Kubo. Despite being badly damaged Kubo gradually opened up his lead and scored his 3rd win of the season to maintain the lead in the point standings. In his fierce comeback attempts Koizumi reclaimed some of his lost ground but failed to score a podium finish to place 4th.