Reigning champion Nojiri dominated the majority of the race from pole position, with the Mugen Honda driver’s advantage over the rest of the field peaking at well over 10 seconds early in the 31-lap contest.
But the tide started shifting slowly when both Tadasuke Makino and Matsushita dispatched front row starter Kenta Yamashita in quick succession on laps seven and nine respectively, and set about chasing Nojiri for the victory.
By lap 15 Makino had brought the gap to Nojiri down to seven seconds, with Matsushita following him closely behind in third place.
Matsushita made multiple attempts at passing Makino for second, but the Dandelion driver was able to resist his advances until just four laps from the finish, when Matsushita finally made a move stick into the final chicane.
Once in clear air, the 28-year-old wasted no time in closing the gap to championship leader Nojiri, reducing his lead from three seconds to 1.5s in the span of a single lap.
On the penultimate lap, Matsushita went around the outside of Nojiri into Turn 1, making the move stick to clinch a maiden victory in Japan’s premier single-seater series for himself and the B-Max Racing team.
Nojiri eventually finished five seconds off the lead in second, albeit with an enhanced 16-point lead in the championship, with Makino matching his career-best result in third to complete an-all Honda podium.
Makino couldn’t hold off Matsushita, but still completed the podium in third
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
Sacha Fenestraz had a fairly lonely race en route to fourth, the Kondo driver not having the pace to fight for a podium position after being jumped by Matsushita and Makino on the opening lap.
KCMG secured a double points finish with Kamui Kobayashi leading home team-mate Yuji Kunimoto in fifth after the team elected to use team orders to allow the former to chase after Fenestraz for fourth.
Fuji Race 1 winner Ryo Hirakawa completed an impressive recovery drive from 12th on the grid to finish…
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