April 23, 2017　Rd. 5 Suzuka

Takaboshi makes it back-to-back win after holding off Otsu
F3-N: Shimono claims his third win of the season

Mitsunori Takaboshi（B-MAX NDDP F3） and his advisor Satoshi Motoyama

Rd 5 race of 2017 Japanese F3 championship was started for 17 laps at 4:05 pm on a clear and sunny Sunday, April 23 with the grid determined by the order of second best times of the 30-minute qualifying on Saturday: Mitsunori Takaboshi (in B-MAX NDDP F3) on pole position with Hiroki Otsu (TODA FIGHTEX) in second and Sho Tsuboi (Corolla Chukyo Kuo TOM’S F317) in third.

Start of Japanese Formula 3 Round 5

Fellow front row starter Otsu got away well to take the lead into turn one from Takaboshi, while despite a good start from fourth place Alex Palou (THREEBOND) lost speed for a moment on the straight as he had a wheel on the dirt through a spat with Tsuboi, slipping down the order to sixth behind Sena Sakaguchi (HFDP RACING F316) and Yoshiaki Katayama (OIRC F315). The first lap completed with the race leaders covered by narrow margin.
The opening laps would see a spectacular series of overtaking moves. Once Palou got past Katayama at Spoon on lap two and then passed Sakaguchi for fourth place the ThreeBond set about giving chase to Tsuboi in third. A furious fight for front spot got the spectators excited when Takaboshi dived down the inside of Otsu into Hitachi Automotive Systems Chicane for the lead, only for the Toda to snatch it back around the outside of turn one a lap later.

■ Three-way contention for victory

Takaboshi and Otsu

Having passed Tsuboi at turn one on lap five Palou began to close in on the lead two while Takaboshi was struggling for an overtaking opportunity, before the race would take on a three-way contention for victory.
Takaboshi put his machine right behind Otsu at Hitachi on lap seven to finally overtake with an outside move into turn one a lap later, leaving the Toda being under mounting pressure from Palou.
However, Palou had to bide his time until lap 10 when he challenged the inside of Otsu at Hitachi to grab second spot.
Takaboshi’s lead over Otsu would be extended to 1.537 sec on lap nine, and eventually to as much as 5.159 sec at the line. It was a perfect weekend for the B-MAX as he stretched his winning streak to three with full marks by setting fastest lap and taking pole position in both Rd 4 and Rd 5. Palou secured his three consecutive second place.

Alex Palou（THREEBOND）

Despite allowing Tsuboi to move closer in the closing stages Otsu avenged the podium result that he had missed out for a penalty in the previous Okayama event, by clinching his first ever Japanese F3 podium finish in third.
While Tsuboi finished fourth on the road a post-race penalty for the spat with Palou just after the start (as a dangerous drive) would drop him down the order, promoting Sakaguchi up to fourth ahead of Katayama and Ai Miura (EXEDY B-Max F317).

Otsu and Palou

■ F3-N: Shimono delivers impressive catch-ups to pick up his third win

Meanwhile in F3-N pole-sitter DRAGON (B-Max Racing F306) completed the opening lap in front, while Shigetomo Shimono immediately launched impressive catch-ups, having started from sixth as he shot past two cars ahead at first turn to put his CMS AVANTECH F306 right behind Masayuki Ueda (Rn Yamashita Seisakusho F308), and then moved up to second place as early as on lap two after beating Ueda at Hitachi Chicane.
Shimono took the lead from DRAGON on lap four, which he would comfortably retain till the chequered flag by a sizable 19.428 sec margin, picking up his third win of the season.
Despite being in bad shape DRAGON managed to finish the race in second place ahead of Ueda. “I couldn’t fully push as I was not well,” he revealed.
Ryoya Hasegawa (Alb Niigata Daiichi Hotel Sugar) secured fourth place after passing Kubota at Spoon on lap five.

Result & Entry List PDF