Nojiri set the pace in qualifying with a 1:04.864, edging Kakunoshin Ohta by 0.032 seconds, while Igor Omura Fraga completed the top three. With overtaking difficult around SUGO, track position put Nojiri in control from the start.
He held the lead through the opening laps as Ohta applied pressure, while Iwasa began working his way forward from ninth. By Lap 2, the reigning champion had climbed to seventh.
The race shifted into a strategic battle during the pit-stop phase. Ohta stopped on Lap 19, with Nojiri following a lap later and retaining the effective lead after a rapid stop. Fraga stayed out longer, attempting to gain an advantage through the overcut.
Then came the turning point. A Safety Car was deployed on Lap 27 after several cars went off, reshaping the order just as Fukuzumi and Iwasa emerged from their pit stops. The pair moved to the front of the neutralised field, with Fraga settling into third.
When racing resumed on Lap 36, the three Honda-powered cars immediately began fighting for the win. Fukuzumi held off Iwasa through the final laps to take victory, finishing just 0.505 seconds ahead of the reigning champion. Fraga crossed the line another 0.434 seconds back in third.
Ohta recovered to fourth, limiting the damage to his championship lead, while Nojiri dropped to fifth after losing the advantage he had built from pole. Tadasuke Makino and Sho Tsuboi completed the top seven, with Sacha Fenestraz eighth.
SUGO ultimately belonged to Fukuzumi, but the race was shaped by the interaction between tyre strategy, pit timing, and the late Safety Car. Nojiri had controlled the opening stint from pole, only for the neutralisation to place Fukuzumi and Iwasa at the front when the race resumed.
The championship now heads to Fuji Speedway for Rounds 9 and 10, with the double-header set to provide another major test in the 2026 title fight.
