That said, it was the original Gran Turismo world champion, Igor Fraga, setting the pace in the one-lap qualifying session. With all drivers using the new Suzuki “Vision Gran Turismo” concept car, 2018 winner Fraga was the quickest ahead of Bonelli who joined him on the front row. Defending champion Valerio Gallo could only place 14th after an error on his lap.
At the start of the race, Bonelli leapt into the lead almost immediately, having opted to start on a soft tyre compound while Fraga started on a hard set – all drivers being required to use at least two of the three grades available. Chaos broke out further back, as Coque Lopez didn’t get away properly, forcing Ryota Kokubun to take evasive action only to then be taken out in a first-turn incident caused by Gallo missing his braking point on cold, hard tyres; the stewards gave Gallo a two-second penalty for this multi-car collision.
Fraga was slipping back as those around him made their tyre advantage work, though both Matthew McEwen and Patrik Blazsan ended up in strife after similar overtake attempts on Baptiste Beauvois at the Inner Loop.
Having built a five-second lead with the soft tyres, Bonelli pitted on lap five only to emerge in traffic. As he tried to clear the slower cars, he contacted the rear of Kanata Kawakami and was given a one-second penalty as a result. That, combined with the slower out laps on hard tyres, allowed Beauvois to hit the front on new softs and build a gap of his own.
Beauvois, who won two of the Olympic Virtual Series live races in 2021, looked to be cruising to victory, but was pushing the soft tyres to the limit. Gallo had earlier got seven laps out of them before rapidly sliding back down the field. Sure enough, entering the Inner Loop on the final lap, the Suzuki span and dropped the Frenchman to fifth.
Bonelli retook the lead and held off Fraga – who’d switched to soft rubber later in the race – for the rest of the final lap to take the win. 2020 champion Takuma Miyazono took third after a solid race and staying out of trouble.