Photo: WTCR

Japanese pair secure Suzuka wild card drives with Team Hitotsuyama

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Japanese drivers Ritomo Miyata and Ryuichiro Tomita will join the grid when the WTCR – World Touring Car Cup heads for Suzuka next month.

The pair have secured wild card entries for their home event of the season, with the two drivers running as team-mates in a pair of Audi RS 3 LMS cars entered under the Audi Team Hitotsuyama banner.

A partner of Audi since 2011, Hitotsuyama Racing has been running an RS 3 LMS in TCR Japan this season, with Takuro Shinohara currently third in the standings.

Miyata has been racing in Formula 3 and Super GT since last year, and currently sits second in the F3 standings with one round of the year left to run.

“I have had the chance to test the Audi RS 3 LMS at Fuji with Audi Team Hitotsuyama,” said Miyata.

“I had never driven a front-wheel drive car before. I have spent my career in karting, single-seaters and Super GT, but I really have to say that I liked the TCR category instantly because the Audi is a car that is easy and fun to drive.

“Obviously, the WTCR boasts plenty of champions including multiple world champions, and I have a lot of respect for them. But as a race driver, you’ve got one target only whenever you race: being in front, claiming the pole position and winning. I want to do my best, and I know it won’t be easy at all against so many high-level drivers.”

Tomita meanwhile has competed with Hitotsuyama Racing in an Audi R8 LMS in the GT300 class of Super GT and in the Suzuka 10 Hours since 2018 and has taken advice from WTCR race-winner Frédéric Vervisch about what to expect.

“He gave me some advice on WTCR, both in terms of the car and how the sessions during a tight weekend schedule are used to maximum effect, [and] I have had the chance to test the Audi RS 3 LMS from Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Fuji recently,” he said.

“Last year, I raced the car at Motegi, and I really like it, and I’ve clinched a third place in an endurance race recently. When compared to another front-wheel-drive car that I’ve raced earlier in my career in a smaller class, a TCR car is much more powerful and fun. But I know how strong the opposition is with so many champions and world champions.

Still, I have set myself a target: it would be great to be among the top ten. I have raced already very often at Suzuka and even clinched a win here in the GT300 class of Super GT in 2015.”