2021 Honda 300

Map of the complete Twin Ring Motegi complex, oval in gray.

*CRC Wiki Note: You can watch this race via CRC's YouTube channel by using this broadcast link.*

The **2021 Honda 300** was a 309.8 mile (498.57 kilometer) motor race that took place on 28 March 2021 at the Twin Ring Motegi Speedway in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. The event was the second race of the 2021 AT&T Champ Car World Series season, and took two weeks after the Fujitsu Grand Prix of Australia in Phillip Island. A local advertising campaign focused on the teams most familiar to those in Japan from the series, being Cat Devil Racing, based out of Kyoto, Panasonic Team Impulse, based out of Osaka, and Obsidian Racing Team, who maintained a base near Tokyo. For Team Impulse and Obsidian, both teams also carry a significant following in Japan due to their successes in the GP1 Championship.

Esther Hoffson entered the race with the Indycar World Driver's Championship lead due to winning in Phillip Island, while Isabel Espinoza entered as the defending race winner, now racing for Obsidian Racing Team. A majority of fans showed up to support step-sisters Sakura Ishibashi, and Kunimitsu Kinoshita, who have both won in the series at the track in the past. Panasonic Team Impulse made their presence felt at Motegi, with Hazel Lacasse taking her second career Champ Car win, and first of five wins in 2021, at Motegi on a fuel mileage event. Lacasse's win marked Alpine-Renault's first win at the Honda-owned oval since Ishibashi won in 2018.

## Race Background

The 2021 race at Motegi marked the 23rd straight year the premier North American open wheel series visited the unique Japanese venue, dating back to the 1998 National Championship season. Twin Ring Motegi is one of only four tracks to appear on every calendar of the Indycar World Championship, alongside Auto Club Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

As with the 2020 season, the 2021 event marked the beginning of the operating year for the track, which operates from late March until mid-November. The Champ Car World Series is the first to visit the track each year, between it, the Super GP open wheel ladder, the All Japan GT Championship, and the GTPlanet Fandom Series, the track also hosts the annual Japanese motorcycle grand prix and routine track days for fans and amateur drivers.

Similar to Phillip Island two weeks prior, Escuderia Aguila entered the race missing most of its key personnel due to visa issues, with the team later confirming they wouldn't be present until after the race in Richmond. It marked another significant setback for the historical Argentinian team, who were slowest of all Chevrolet-powered cars at the season opener.

Entering the 2021 event, Horizon Corporation and the Motegi track management staff were in the middle of negotiations to secure the race's future beyond 2021, with Horizon Corporation openly looking elsewhere for an east Asian event if negotiations fell through. It was later revealed the race would be renewed for 2022 and beyond, with new title sponsorship from Arasaka Corporation, due to Honda's increased presence in the GTPlanet Fandom Series beginning in 2022.

## Entry List

All 28 cars entered for the full 2021 season were present for the event, coming from 13 teams. 7 entries were powered by Alpine-Renault, 7 entries were powered by Chevrolet, 8 entries were powered by Honda, and 6 entries were powered by Mercedes-Benz.

## Practice

Both free practice sessions were held on Friday, the 26th of March. Free Practice 1 was held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. local time, while Free Practice 2 was held from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. local time.

## Qualifying

Qualifying for the event took place on Saturday, the 27th of March, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. local time. Per Champ Car regulations, standard oval event qualifying consists of single car runs, with each competitor getting an out lap, and four timed laps, before returning to pit lane so the next competitor can qualify. The best lap of the four laps are counted.

## Race Report

### Opening Laps

Simona Leroux led the field to the green for the first time in her Champ Car career, getting a good jump on the start from David Wessel, who dropped from second to fourth by the exit of turn 2. Wessel would drop further back in the opening two laps, as Leroux was shadowed by Sakura Ishibashi and Stephanie Porter-Kelley. Coming to complete lap 2, a crash occurred exiting turn 4 as Patrick Marcelli tried closing the door on Gerard Perth, who had made it three wide between himself, Marcelli, and Kunimitsu Kinoshita on the outside lane. Marcelli spun into the wall and in front of Kinoshita, who checked up from the melee and received only minor damage. Matheus Michelin, who was behind the accident, was also involved as Marcelli spun around to face the right direction, damaging his front wing. The caution allowed Simona Leroux to pit from the lead, due to running over debris from the crash, which gave Ishibashi the race lead at her home track. The race would go back to green on lap 8, with Ishibashi proceeding to get passed by Porter-Kelley, ending Ishibashi's laps led counter at 5. Porter-Kelley would begin to lead an extensive amount of the race, while Keisha Fox moved up the field in her Cherokee GP car. Simona Leroux also began moving back up the field, thanks to slightly fresher tires kicking in. Leroux would regain the lead at the end of lap 19, with Hazel Lacasse giving hot pursuit for Panasonic Team Impulse. While Leroux led and began to extend a gap, Lacasse was embroiled in a battle with multiple drivers over second place, including both Rockstar Phantom Motors cars, the Striker Motorsports cars of Porter-Kelley and Natalia Kirichenko, Kaylee Zappa, and Diego Jaramillo.

### First Half

Leroux would lead until lap 42, when she would be caught up and passed by Andrew Draco, who led his first laps of the season at that moment. Leroux would fight to take the lead back, succeeding after two laps thanks to the wounded car of Michelin. Leroux would proceed to extend her gap to Draco to over half a second until the race approached the later stages of the green flag run on tires. Most of the field stayed out during the caution, except for Leroux, who used her advantage to pull the gap from half a second to over a second and a half around lap 75. The second caution of the day would come out on lap 79. Kaylee Zappa, who had pit for fresh tires, came up on Andrew Draco, still on old tires and battling understeer. Draco understeered into the path of Zappa, not expecting the Italian driver to commit to the outside lane, causing a crash that saw the defending Indycar World Champion barrel roll but keep the car rolling despite the damage the car received. The caution would be a break for Leroux, who had not yet pit, and trapped a large portion of the field a lap down as a result. The race would restart once more on lap 83, with Leroux leading Lacasse, Diego Jaramillo, Ryan Stevens, and Natalia Kirichenko. Chaos would ensue once more beginning on lap 84 when Kunimitsu Kinoshita and Cristine Espinoza made contact exiting turn 2. Both drivers avoided serious accidents, but stacked the field up at the rear of the field. Exiting turn 2, Andrew Draco and Kaylee Zappa would once again tangle, with Zappa retiring from the second incident, while Draco persisted to continue the race. Cleanup would see the race restart on lap 90, with Ryan Stevens battling Diego Jaramillo, and Sakura Ishibashi for second place. The fourth caution of the race would come out at the end of lap 93. Astrid Krane, who was struggling and a lap down, lost her engine in front of several lead lap cars, with a few catching oil on their tires from the engine failure and causing a crash exiting turn 2.

### Second Half

The race restarted on lap 98, with Leroux leading Ishibashi, Jaramillo, Stevens, and Lacasse to the green flag. 22 cars remained in the race, with 6 cars out of the race for various reasons.

## Box Score

### Race Statistics

* Cautions: 6 for 24 laps
* Lead Changes: 16 between 7 drivers
* Weather Report: Partly cloudy, temperatures between 61 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit, winds South-Southeast between 7 and 13 mph.

## See Also

* 2021 Fujitsu Grand Prix of Australia, the previous race of the 2021 AT&T Champ Car World Series season.
* 2021 DirecTV 225, the following race of the 2021 AT&T Champ Car World Series season.
* 2020 Honda 300, the previous year's Indycar World Championship event at Twin Ring Motegi.