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Sunday, May 12, Hokuta Matsuyama wins his first solo victory in the GR Corolla in Round 2 of this years D1GP at Okuibuji Motor Park.

In a chaotic rain soaked competition, Matsuyama in his Toyota GR Corolla (GZEA14H) was able to best all the competition to take first place in the Tanso (solo) competition. Another Team Toyo Tires driver, Yuki Tano, who stepped up to D1GP just this year, took second. The up and coming Tano was the 2022, D1-Lights series champion.

The weekend was the first competitive outing for the Toyota GR Corolla which was built for this year’s D1GP competition. Commenting on his win, Matsuyama said “I didn't think it would be good enough to win a solo race, but it was easy to ride, so I thought I would be able to qualify and compete.”

It was no easy ride however, after Matsuyama sufferd an engine blowout on Friday, and had to drive the car with extreme care to protect his rebuilt engine, in addition to dealing with the rain that was falling.

Team Toyo Tires athletes, Hideyuki Fujino and Masato Kawata also qualified for the (Tsuiso) twin drift battle.

In the Tsuiso, Yuki Tano proved to be the best of the Team Toyo Tires runners, reaching the final four. A tense battle with Saito in the final four, saw them level on points before a rematch where Saito progressed after Tano span. However, his performance was enough to take third place on the podium.