The first round of the IndyVirtual triple crown, the Toyota Japan 500, was held at the Twin Ring Motegi. After the signature pre-race fanfare that IndyVirtual offers, the grid was formed for a three-wide rolling start, with pole-sitter Lewis Ellington on the inside alongside defending FV champion Nathaniel Powers and Nick Addison, while just behind was another FV superstar in Enrique Ruiz, alongside Kip Maxwell and Will Taylor. From the start, Ellington led away with Addison getting the jump on Powers to take second. Ruiz also started well in his first race experience on an oval circuit. The pack raced very cleanly for no fewer than 30 laps before the first incident – backmarker Callum Brandon was being lapped by the leaders when the wash from Aron Einarsson’s car unsettled the Lancashire car, with snap oversteer pitching him into the wall. Brandon was entirely unhurt, but the first caution period meant Ellington and Addison lost their marginal lead over the chasing Powers, Ruiz and Maxwell. Daniel Bruner pitted under the safety car, the only driver to do so, dropping him from 24th to last, but now on the tale of the pack.
When the race restarted, Maxwell looked very racy, with his reputation for being kind on the tyres showing as he had far more grip than those around him. In quick succession the Englishman overtook Ruiz, Powers and then Addison to take second position on the road, with Ellington only a few tenths of a second up the road. On lap 75, Ellington pitted from the lead, with Maxwell pitting a lap later to hand the lead to Addison – both dropped down to 13th and 14th respectively, but considerably ahead of the next best driver to have pitted – Yakumi Takahashi in 20th. Enzo Domenicalli’s race ended early when the Cerberus driver’s engine expired on the back straight, forcing the Italian to coast in neutral all the way back around to the pitlane on the apron, impressively avoiding a full course caution. As the race reached the 100-lap mark, Addison, Powers and Kidd were all fighting hard. The reigning FV champion was first to force a move, taking the lead all the way around the outside, while Kidd followed through only a lap later. Addison was noticeably ragged as his tyres were getting more worn, and on lap 112 of 322 he pitched his car into a spin on the final turn. The pack immediately following all did well to avoid him except for Aron Einarsson, which culminated in “the big one”. As cars scattered to avoid the accident, Ellington was unsighted which meant he also hit Addison’s car, while both Felix Beyer and Rodrigo Sanchez lost control as they swerved to avoid the carnage, dropping out from 18th and 24th respectively. Naturally a full course caution was triggered but the pitlane reopened shortly after triggering a flurry of pitstops, the highest placed of those being Brock Kidd, dropping from 2nd to 17th – the defending Champion re-joining ahead only of those who had also pitted. From the restart on lap 128, Powers and Will Taylor both pulled away once more, with Hugh Dwyer and Luke Stokey up in 3rd and 4th having not pitted. As the race approached half distance, the remainder of the drivers pitted, giving Maxwell the lead over Powers and Takahashi, with Drake Davies and Stuart Harrison all the way up in 4th and 5th having qualified 20th and 18th respectively, taking advantage of the two full course cautions. Enrique Ruiz was one place behind in 6th. Marcus Thunder’s race ended prematurely as well with suspension damage when he clipped the wall and had to limp back to the pit lane. As the race continued to progress, Maxwell and Powers fought hard, exchanging the lead on a number of occasions, before on lap 193 both drivers pitted, with Maxwell emerging just ahead of Powers in 6th. Further back, Harrison, Kidd and Ruiz all pitted as well. Takahashi inherited the lead ahead of Taylor with Sam Hudson moving up to an impressive 3rd position. Maxwell and Powers seemed to work together for the following laps, moving gradually up the order to 3rd and 4th, but the delay they faced against the traffic caused them both issues – when Takahashi pitted, he re-emerged ahead of the pair in second with only Taylor – who was yet to pit – ahead of him. Dwyer and Stokey were still yet to pit but were holding their own up in 5th and 6th. As the race reached lap 280, another round of pitstops occurred, with Jochem van Snelheid the highest placed pitter from 6th position, dropping him way down the order. As the race entered its final stages Taylor finally pitted from the lead, which cleared Takahashi, Powers and Maxwell into 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Signature driver was however again showing the extent of his tyre saving abilities and was once again the most composed-looking driver on the track. With 20 laps to go, he made his first move by clearing Powers around the outside into the first turn, and set about Takahashi who was only 30 miles away from a famous home victory for the Japanese driver. Maxwell pushed on though, and with only 3 laps to go of the 322-lap race distance he made the decisive move, promoting him to the lead of the first race of the triple crown series. Powers swiftly followed him through, dropping Takahashi to the final podium spot and with nothing left to respond with. Taylor and Kidd followed in a distant 4th and 5th, but it was Felipe Cesar who took sixth when, on the final lap, Hugh Dwyer and Luke Stokey came together, pitching both drivers into the outside wall and eliminating them from contention after the chequered flag had already fallen. Ruiz took a fine 7th on his IndyVirtual debut, while Davies, Harrison and Keith Boston rounded out the top 10 – the latter from 32nd on grid. See below for full race classification and championship standings:
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