After summer break, the EXGEL NEXT CUP 2020 moved to Suzuka Circuit Southern Course for round 2 on September 27th 2020.
In qualifying practice, rookie driver Taito Suzuki recorded brilliant lap and secured 1st place, followed by Itsuki Maeda in 2nd place and Ryota Horachi, the winner of the previous round in 3rd place.
Qualifying session was intense with close battles between the 3 drivers plus Shunsuke Minagi who competes in the Japanese Karting Championship OK category and FS-125’s Tokiya Suzuki.
Ryota Horachi finished 1st in qualifying and super rookie Taito Kato came in 2nd, however Kato received a 5-second bumper penalty and was demoted to 13th position.
Tokiya Suzuki finished qualifying in 2nd, followed by Shunsuke Minagi in 3rd, showing outstanding capabilities of the flagship category.
After a clean start of final, Ryota Horachi took a lead and Tokiya Suzuki in second place gave huge pressure to the previous round’s winner.
In the middle of the race, Tokiya Suzuki overtook Ryota Horachi impressively, and in contrast, Ryota Horachi had to defend his 2nd position.
Tokiya Suzuki kept showing remarkable speed until the end and made his first career win in the NEXT CUP series.
Ryota Horachi managed to defend his 2nd position, and Akitoshi Itsuki finished in 3rd place.
Taiko Kato finished in 4th position from 13th start, and got “MC-FORTUNE Award” as the most impressive driver.
The next round of the EXGEL NEXT CUP will be held at Festica Circuit Mizunami as the final race of the season.
Please keep you eye to see who is going to seize the title.
 

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