Kyojo Cup: Aimi Saito wins season finale, clinches 2024 crown

MARCO ALBERTINI

Dec 23, 20242 min read

Aimi Saito claimed her first Kyojo Cup title in an exciting Fuji season finale that saw title rival Miki Onaga out of the points following a lock-up at the start. Ayumu Nagai and Rio Shimono completed the podium in the series' final race before switching to F4 cars.

With only four points separating Aimi Saito and two-time champion Miki Onaga heading into the final round of the all-female Kyojo Cup chamionship, all either driver needed to do was to finish ahead of the other to win the title.

Aimi Saito started on pole, but it was Miki Onaga, who had started second, who initially took the lead at the start, however she locked up under braking at turn one, which gave back the lead to Saito and sent Onaga down the order and out of the points.

Behind Saito, Rio Shimono overtook two cars going into the third corner to move herself up in the podium positions, and it only took half a lap for her to reach and pass Riona Tomishita to climb up into second place as the first laps went by.

With various battles happening up and down the field, attention soon turned to Ayumu Nagai, who overtook Riona Tomishita for third place at the first corner.

Nagai later passed Shimono for second, and the Dr.Dry driver soon fell into the clutches of Tomishita, who began battling with the F4 Japanese racer for third. It was then Shimono who came out on top as Tomishita had to settle for fourth as Mako Hirakawa was also closing in on her.

Just a few seconds down the road, Itsumo Shiraishi, in her second race in the championship was running sixth and defending from Hana Burton, who had made up five places in the opening stages but then locked up at the first corner and was passed by Kirei Kanemoto heading into Coca Cola corner.

Burton and Kanemoto began trading positions, but the duel came to an end when Burton locked up heading into the Dunlop corner, making contact with Marie Iwaoka and spinning the Japanese-American. Burton however rebounded to ninth in the closing laps.

At the chequered flag, Aimi Saito crossed the line to win the 2024 Kyojo Cup finale, ahead of Ayumu Nagai, who took her first podium of the season, and Rio Shimono, who rounded out the podium.

Having won the exhibition race last month, Riona Tomishita ended the season with a 4th-place finish ahead of Mako Hirakawa, who finished fifth. Itsumo Shiraishi took her first points in the championship with a sixth place finish, ahead of Kirei Kanemoto and Rami Sasaki, who rounded out the points positions.

With another exciting season of Kyojo Cup in the history books, the series will prepare for the 2025 season, where the VITA-01 will be replaced by the KC-MG01 F4 car, as the championship looks set to chase the single-seater route for the upcoming future.