Ryota Horachi secured the 2026 Formula Regional Japanese Championship (FRJC) title at Fuji Speedway after a dramatic final round in which he won Race 13 before finishing just 0.162s behind Kento Omiya in the season-ending Race 14.
The championship arrived at Fuji finely poised after Tokiya Suzuki swept the previous two races at the circuit. Yuzuki Miura held an 11.5-point advantage over Horachi, while Omiya sat another 2.5 points behind. Horachi transformed that picture by taking pole and victory on Saturday, reducing his deficit to Miura to only 1.5 points before the final race.
Omiya then produced his fifth victory of the season in Race 14, resisting Horachi through an intense final-lap fight. Second place nevertheless gave Horachi 232 points and the championship, 6.5 clear of Miura and 10.5 ahead of Omiya. Yutaka Toriba completed a perfect weekend in the Masters class to overturn his own close title battle, while Ponos Racing secured the Entrants’ Championship. The complete Round 6 event page contains the official practice, qualifying, race and championship documents from the Fuji finale.
2026 FRJC Round 6: Fuji: Free Practice: Suzuki sets early benchmark
The final weekend began with two dry Free Practice sessions on Friday, with 23 cars entered for the opening running before the field reduced later in the day.
Fresh from his dominant Round 5 performance, Suzuki immediately returned to the top of the order. The TOM’S TGR-DC driver set a 1:36.329 in the opening session, beating championship leader Miura by only 0.046s. Horachi followed just 0.207s away in third, while Sota Arao and Tosei Moriyama completed the top five.
Omiya responded during the afternoon. The Ponos Racing driver recorded a 1:36.395 on his 19th lap, edging teammate Horachi by only 0.006s. Suzuki took third with a 1:36.628, while Moriyama and Miura followed as the leading five remained separated by less than half a second.
However, nobody improved on Suzuki’s morning benchmark. He therefore ended Friday at the head of the combined Free Practice classification, with Miura second on a 1:36.375. Omiya and Horachi were separated by only 0.006s in third and fourth, leaving the three principal championship contenders within 0.026s of one another behind Suzuki. Moriyama completed the top five on a 1:36.737.
2026 FRJC Round 6: Fuji: Qualifying: Horachi and Suzuki split final poles
Saturday morning brought sunny and dry conditions for the two 15-minute Qualifying sessions, with the championship contenders facing their first major opportunity to alter the title picture.
Horachi immediately delivered in Qualifying 1. After most drivers spent three laps preparing their tyres, the Ponos Racing driver opened the serious running with a 1:36.873 before lowering his benchmark to a 1:36.578. He then produced a 1:36.349 with less than five minutes remaining, a time nobody could beat.
Suzuki climbed to second late in the session. Omiya briefly displaced him with a 1:36.670, but Suzuki responded on his next lap and recorded a 1:36.603, finishing 0.254s away from Horachi. Omiya settled for third with his 1:36.670, while Miura managed fourth on a 1:36.839. Rio Shimono took fifth and Moriyama sixth, with Z.Falcon securing the Masters pole from seventh overall.
Qualifying 2 proved more disrupted. Yutaka Toriba stopped on circuit during the tyre warm-up phase, prompting a Red Flag with only a little over five minutes remaining. When the session resumed, the entire field faced a short sprint to establish the Race 14 grid.
Suzuki immediately took control with a 1:36.400 before improving again to a 1:36.183. Horachi responded with a 1:36.431 but could not prevent Suzuki from claiming pole by 0.248s. Omiya took third with a 1:36.611, while Shimono moved ahead of Miura for fourth. Moriyama completed the top five, leaving Miura only sixth for the race that would ultimately decide the championship. Masayuki Ueda secured the Masters pole from eighth overall.
2026 FRJC Round 6: Fuji: Race 13: Horachi wins after fierce Suzuki fight
Horachi started Race 13 from pole but immediately lost the lead. His launch allowed Suzuki to sweep ahead into Turn 1, while Omiya threatened the second Ponos car from third.
Suzuki completed the opening lap 1.165s ahead, but Horachi quickly began reducing the gap. He set a 1:37.144 on Lap 2 and improved to a 1:37.100 one tour later, bringing himself within 0.303s of the leader by the end of Lap 5. Omiya remained close enough to threaten but gradually slipped away from the leading pair as their fight intensified.
Horachi launched his first serious move at Turn 1 on Lap 6 and took the lead, only to run wide at Coca-Cola Corner and allow Suzuki straight back through. He attacked around the outside of Turn 1 again on Lap 8 but overshot, temporarily increasing his deficit to 1.170s and bringing Omiya back towards the battle.
The championship challenger quickly regrouped. Horachi reduced Suzuki’s advantage to 0.705s before attacking again on Lap 10. He could not complete a move at Dunlop Corner but finally passed at Turn 13. Suzuki responded immediately at the final corner, retaking the lead before the pair ran side-by-side along the main straight beginning Lap 11. This time Horachi emerged ahead.
Their fight also brought Omiya into contention, although his own hopes suffered when officials handed him a five-second penalty for a false start. With Horachi finally established at the front, the race leader gradually opened a small margin over Suzuki through the closing laps.
Omiya nevertheless continued attacking and passed Suzuki at the ADVAN corner on the final lap, only for Suzuki to fight back almost immediately and reclaim second. Horachi crossed the line 2.822s ahead to take his third victory of the season, with Suzuki second.
Omiya initially crossed the line third, but his five-second penalty dropped him to fifth behind Miura and Shimono. That proved significant for the championship. Miura’s promoted third place gave him 15 points and moved him to 215.5, while Horachi’s victory lifted him to 214. Omiya reached 196.5 and remained mathematically alive, but now sat 19 points behind the leader before the finale.
Toriba also delivered an important result in the Masters battle. Z.Falcon did not start despite taking class pole, leaving Toriba to begin as the highest-placed Masters competitor from ninth. He finished eighth overall and claimed his third class victory of the season ahead of Hideaki Irie and Ueda.
Race 13 results
- #45 Ryota Horachi — 24:28.334
- #38 Tokiya Suzuki — +2.822
- #37 Yuzuki Miura — +3.637
- #86 Rio Shimono — +6.479
- #54 Kento Omiya — +8.079
- #10 Tosei Moriyama — +11.874
- #48 Lin Chenghua — +12.675
- #13 Yutaka Toriba — +16.989 — Masters winner
- #46 Hideaki Irie — +40.070
- #11 Masayuki Ueda — +41.754
- #18 YUKI — +50.431
- #36 Paul Wong — +1:09.018
- #21 Daisuke — +1:10.356
- #88 Li Xuanyu — +1:36.580
- #60 SEiMEI — 1 lap
- #23 YUGO — 1 lap
DNS: #77 Z.Falcon
Fastest lap: #45 Ryota Horachi — 1:37.100.
Three drivers remain in contention entering final race
Race 13 transformed the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the final 15 laps of the season. Miura retained the lead, but his advantage over Horachi had fallen from 11.5 points entering the weekend to only 1.5.
Omiya’s penalty made his task considerably more difficult, although his 196.5-point total left him mathematically capable of taking the championship. The official Race 14 report consequently confirmed Miura, Horachi and Omiya as the three remaining title contenders.
The starting positions further complicated the situation. Suzuki had pole, Horachi started alongside him in second and Omiya lined up third. Miura faced a considerably more difficult route from sixth, behind both Shimono and Moriyama.
2026 FRJC Round 6: Fuji: Race 14: Omiya wins thriller as Horachi seals title
The final race of the 2026 season began under clear skies on Sunday morning. Suzuki made another strong start from pole and retained the lead into Turn 1, while Omiya immediately attacked Horachi around the outside before completing the move at Coca-Cola Corner.
After the opening lap, only 0.348s separated Suzuki and Omiya, with Horachi another 0.338s behind in third. Shimono initially held fourth from Miura, but the championship leader passed her at Dunlop Corner on Lap 2 to move into the position he needed to begin challenging the cars ahead.
Omiya soon began attacking Suzuki. An attempted move around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 3 failed, but the Ponos driver remained within striking distance and eventually passed at Dunlop Corner on Lap 5.
The top four remained covered by less than a second at that stage. Omiya led Suzuki by 0.198s, with Horachi only 0.534s further back and Miura 0.986s from the lead. With all three title contenders running inside the leading four positions, the championship remained finely balanced.
Suzuki attempted to reclaim the lead around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 6 but ran wide. Horachi immediately capitalised, passing the TOM’S driver at Coca-Cola Corner and moving into second.
That left the championship increasingly in Horachi’s hands. He finished Lap 6 only 0.522s behind Omiya and reduced the margin to 0.416s one lap later. Omiya responded with a 1:37.628 on Lap 9 and briefly increased his advantage to 0.796s, but Horachi refused to let the leader escape.
Horachi set what would become the overall fastest lap on Lap 11, recording a 1:37.587 and reducing the gap to only 0.448s. The pair remained almost inseparable from there. Omiya led by 0.466s after Lap 12, 0.339s after Lap 13 and just 0.224s as they began the final tour.
Horachi attacked around the outside at Turn 1 and remained alongside Omiya through Turn 2. The fight continued at Coca-Cola Corner before the pair again battled at Dunlop, but Omiya resisted every attempt. He emerged from the final corner still ahead and crossed the line just 0.162s clear to secure his fifth victory of the season, the highest total of any driver in 2026.
Horachi took second and, crucially, the 18 championship points that came with it. Suzuki completed the podium 4.512s behind the winner, while Moriyama finished fourth.
Miura could only manage fifth after starting sixth. His 10-point score took him to 225.5, but Horachi’s second place increased his total to 232 and secured the championship by 6.5 points. Omiya’s victory carried him to 221.5, leaving him third and only 10.5 points from the title despite winning five of the season’s 14 races.
Race 14 results
- #54 Kento Omiya — 24:36.650
- #45 Ryota Horachi — +0.162
- #38 Tokiya Suzuki — +4.512
- #10 Tosei Moriyama — +7.988
- #37 Yuzuki Miura — +8.919
- #86 Rio Shimono — +9.418
- #48 Lin Chenghua — +14.117
- #88 Li Xuanyu — +34.150
- #13 Yutaka Toriba — +39.880 — Masters winner
- #46 Hideaki Irie — +40.371
- #18 YUKI — +42.584
- #11 Masayuki Ueda — +50.710
- #21 Daisuke — +53.450
- #60 SEiMEI — +1:33.230
- #23 YUGO — +1:34.281
NC: #36 Paul Wong — one lap completed
DNS: #77 Z.Falcon
Fastest lap: #45 Ryota Horachi — 1:37.587.
Masters fastest lap: #13 Yutaka Toriba — 1:39.643.
Horachi completes late charge to 2026 FRJC title
Horachi entered the final weekend 11.5 points behind Miura but produced 43 points from a victory and second place to completely reverse the championship order.
His Race 13 win moved him to within 1.5 points of Miura before the finale, while his second place behind Omiya added another 18. Horachi consequently finishes the season on 232 points, earning the championship by 6.5 over Miura. His campaign included three victories alongside the consistent podium finishes that ultimately proved decisive.
Miura finishes runner-up on 225.5 after leading the championship into the final race. Fifth place in Race 14 proved insufficient once Horachi reached second, but his season still included two victories and regular points finishes across the 14 races.
Omiya ends only four points further back on 221.5. His five victories represent the highest total of the season, but several lower-scoring weekends left him needing a significant swing in the finale. He delivered the victory he required, but Horachi’s second place kept the championship beyond his reach.
Shimono finishes fourth on 120 after adding fourth and sixth at Fuji, while the injured Masana Muto retains fifth on 109. Lin takes sixth with 90, ahead of Suzuki, whose two wins at Round 5 followed by second and third at Round 6 gave him 83 points from only four starts.
Final 2026 Drivers’ Championship standings
- #45 Ryota Horachi — 232 points
- #37 Yuzuki Miura — 225.5
- #54 Kento Omiya — 221.5
- #86 Rio Shimono — 120
- #38 Masana Muto — 109
- #48 Lin Chenghua — 90
- #38 Tokiya Suzuki — 83
- #10 Hibiki Komatsu — 59
- #10 Yu Oda — 34
- #13 Yutaka Toriba — 33
- #44 AKITA — 31
- #11 Masayuki Ueda — 28
- #88 Li Xuanyu — 23
- #10 Tosei Moriyama — 20
- #10 Shunji Okumoto — 20
- #46 Hideaki Irie — 18
- #40 Shoichiro Akamatsu — 14
- #18 YUKI — 2.5 points
Daisuke, YUGO, Paul Wong, SEiMEI and Z.Falcon also competed during the season but did not score Overall championship points.
Toriba sweeps Fuji to claim Masters’ Championship
The Masters title fight entered Round 6 almost as close as the Overall championship. Ueda led Toriba by only half a point after sweeping Round 5, while Irie sat seven points behind and AKITA remained mathematically involved despite missing the previous event.
Toriba turned that deficit into a commanding championship victory. He won the class in Race 13 from eighth overall, moving onto 207 points and overtaking Ueda, who finished third in class. Irie’s second place kept him within contention but left him needing a strong final result.
Race 14 settled the championship emphatically. Toriba started only eighth among the Masters competitors and 16th overall but steadily worked through the order. He finally moved into the class lead at Turn 1 on Lap 13 and finished ninth overall, taking a second victory of the weekend and the full 50 points available from the two races.
Toriba therefore ends the season on 232 points, 20.5 clear of Irie. Ueda falls to third on 209.5, only two points behind Irie, while former championship leader AKITA finishes fourth on 172 after missing the final two rounds.
Final 2026 Masters’ Championship standings
- #13 Yutaka Toriba — 232 points
- #46 Hideaki Irie — 211.5
- #11 Masayuki Ueda — 209.5
- #44 AKITA — 172
- #18 YUKI — 121
- #40 Shoichiro Akamatsu — 103
- #36 Paul Wong — 79
- #23 YUGO — 58
- #21 Daisuke — 46
- #60 SEiMEI — 36
- #77 Z.Falcon — 22 points
Ponos Racing secures Entrants’ Championship
Ponos Racing also completed the weekend with the Entrants’ Championship, turning an 11-point advantage over TOM’S TGR-DC after Round 5 into a final margin of 28.
Horachi supplied the maximum 25 points in Race 13, while Suzuki’s second place earned 18 for TOM’S. Ponos then scored another 25 through Omiya’s victory in the finale, while Suzuki’s third provided TOM’S with 15.
Those results lift Ponos to 292.5 points, with TOM’S finishing runner-up on 264.5. Rn-sports takes a distant third on 133 after Moriyama’s strong fourth-place result in the final race, while Dr.Dry Racing Team finishes fourth on 120 through Shimono’s campaign.
Final 2026 Entrants’ Championship standings
- Ponos Racing — 292.5 points
- TOM’S TGR-DC — 264.5
- Rn-sports — 133
- Dr.Dry Racing Team — 120
- RAGNO MOTOR SPORTS — 90
- AIWIN — 33
- ABBEY RACING — 31
- Team LeMans — 23
- Fujita Pharmacy Racing — 18
- Eagle Sports — 14
- NILZZ Racing — 2.5 points
Horachi emerges champion after dramatic Fuji finale
Round 6 provided a fitting conclusion to a season in which the championship repeatedly changed direction. Miura arrived at Fuji with an 11.5-point advantage and retained the lead after Race 13, but Horachi’s victory reduced that margin to just 1.5 points and placed the title firmly within reach.
Omiya then did everything he could in the finale. After moving from third to second at the start, he passed Suzuki for the lead and resisted intense pressure from Horachi all the way to the chequered flag. His 0.162s victory gave him a season-high fifth win, but Horachi’s decision to balance his pursuit of the race victory with the wider championship picture ensured second place was enough.
Horachi therefore ends 2026 as the Formula Regional Japanese champion on 232 points, with only 10.5 covering the top three after 14 races. Toriba completed his own late championship turnaround with a perfect Masters weekend, while Ponos Racing paired Horachi’s Drivers’ crown with the Entrants’ title.
The Fuji finale also closes the current chapter of FR Japan before the championship introduces its second-generation Formula Regional car for 2027, with Horachi leaving the final season of the existing package as its newest champion.
