Round three and four of Porsche Carrera Cup Japan at Fuji Speedway, known for a combination of many tight passages and a long 1.475-kilometre start-finish straight on 03 and 04 May. In qualifying on Monday morning, Kondo, who won round two in Okayama, got pole position with a new record lap on the track. Ogawa, PCCJ winner in 2013 and 2014, was only 0.010 sec. behind of Kondo. Kamimura, winner of the season opener in Okayama, sat on third grid. Okusa, Porsche Japan junior driver, started the race from the second row with Ogawa. Not only Kondo but also Ogawa and Kamimura’s best lap times were faster than previous course record.

Round three of PCCJ started on 16:25 on Monday 03 May. At the start, Ogawa passed Kondo on the second corner and became a leader. Ogawa, who won round five at Fuji in last season, had built safety lead and finished again at Fuji. Kondo, Kamimura and Okusa lined up after Ogawa with even gaps of less than second. By the middle of the 15 laps race, Kondo made the gap wider and secured second position. In meantime, Okusa closed the gap to Kamimura. Okusa charged at Kamimura at the first corner of the seventh lap. The attack was almost completed but Okusa overshot and Kamimura defended third place.

The race pace of the four drivers in the Pro-class were almost even and there was no position changing after all. In Pro-class, there were three winners in three rounds. The competition in top category of PCCJ is seems to be very tough in the 2021 season.

The grids for the fourth round were set by second best time in the qualifying session. The winner of the race on Monday, Ogawa was pole sitter. His second best lap time was only 0.001 sec. faster than Kondo. Kamimura and Okusa were on second row just like round three.

The signals changed to green at 11:15 AM on Tuesday 04 May. Right after the start, Kondo almost overtook Ogawa but Ogawa kept his position in first corner. Okusa also responded quicklythe to green signal and tried to pass Kamimura but could not. At the final corner in 3rd lap, Kondo was right behind of Ogawa. Kondo used the slip stream and passed Ogawa at home straight of fourth lap. Okusa had a better pace to Kamimura in third lap. He took the cross line at the final corner and came up to third but he got wide out of the corner. He spun out and hit inside wall. This caused safety car run for four laps. Okusa had to retire because of damages in his GT3 Cup.

At restart, Kondo could not warm up his front tires and overshot first corner so Ogawa and Kamimura passed him. Before the final corner, Kamimura tried sneaking into the inside of Ogawa but took a hit. Ogawa kept his position but Kamimura lost speed by the collision and Kondo was up to second. The duel between Ogawa and Kondo last until the final. Their gap was 0.2 second at the checker. Ogawa, again won the race at Fuji and Kondo was on second, Kamimura at third. With these two wins at Fuji, now Ogawa is leading the championship. Kondo’s point is the same as Ogawa but Kondo only has won once in Okayama thus his rank is behind of Ogawa.

In the Pro-am class, Uchiyama won rd. three and IKARI won rd. four. Just like 2020, the battle between Uchiyama and IKARI should last to the final round of this season.
In Am class, Sky Chen won rd. three, two in a row from Okayama. Kuma, who has been started all four races in this season, finally won rd. four with pole-to-finish.

Next rounds, five and six, will take in Suzuka on 29, 30 May together with round three of Super GT series.