With that all out of the way though, it was Silver class driver Mosca who took overall pole position at Suzuka, by a margin of 0.2 seconds over Pro class team-mate Juncadella as Akkodis locked out the front row. Defending champions made up the second row, with Emil Frey Racing’s Arthur Rougier ahead of 2021 Silver class winner Madpanda and Ezekiel Perez Companc, just in front of Silver class leader Alex Aka. Aka was looking for a class podium finish to secure this season’s title for Attempto.
Despite a number of first-lap incidents this season, and Suzuka’s notoriously difficult, tightening radius turns one and two, the drivers came through mostly unscathed. One notable exception was Aka, who seemed to lose a spot in every braking zone. Luca Ghiotto (Audi Sport Tresor) overtook Aka in the first turn, Kelvin van der Linde (WRT) in the Degners, and Niklas Nielsen (Iron Lynx) at the Casio Triangle. Crucially though, all were Pro drivers, keeping Aka in that important class podium spot. However, Brendon Leitch (Leipert) was soon onto Aka’s tail, but a rather robust defence from the Audi driver saw Leitch spinning off on the exit of the final turn – despite what looked to be a clean and respectful overtake from the Lamborghini. This would have consequences for both race and championship in the later stages.
At the front though, Mosca and Juncadella had pace to spare. Though the two were running nose to tail, the gap to third – now occupied by Ghiotto after overtaking Rougier – was close to seven seconds by the time the pit window opened. Pro driver Juncadella opted for an early stop, aiming for the undercut and coming out with clear track in the chasm between Nielsen and Aka. Mosca went for the traditional ACC Esports technique of the latest stop possible, but found himself looking at his team-mate’s rear wing as he emerged from the pits in second. Rougier and Ghiotto also swapped positions in the stops as they fought over second in Pro, but Ghiotto took the spot back again with a bold pass into the hairpin with ten minutes remaining.