rbn claims first IMS win as Webbah opens 22-point lead in Japan

rbn claimed his first IMS victory at Suzuka, winning from fifth on the grid as a rain-focused setup paid off in a chaotic D2 race.

Lord DabFoot provisionally finished second from seventh, with Kaтю́shа Snowstorm completing the podium. Webbah87 came home fourth, but the Williams driver was one of the weekend's biggest winners after Walter9500's race collapsed following a poor Ferrari strategy call.

Walter stayed out on old intermediate tyres after the third Safety Car. As the tyres faded, so did his afternoon. He finished 13th and scored nothing.

A championship lead that stood at five points before the race is now provisionally 22.

rbn turns wet-weather pace into a breakthrough victory

Before Japan, rbn's best IMS finish was fourth in Australia. At Suzuka, he went three places better and became an IMS race winner for the first time.

He qualified fifth and credited his wet-weather setup after the race. Those sharing the track were in little doubt about his pace: Webbah said rbn had been “flying”, while Kaтю́shа congratulated him on a hard-earned first victory.

The result was transformative for VCARB too. rbn scored 30 of the team's 31 points in Japan, with WorseTurnip850 adding the final point in 12th.

VCARB arrived at Suzuka tenth in the constructors' standings. It leaves level with Alpine on 73 points and provisionally ahead in eighth on countback.

Ferrari's tyre call leaves Walter exposed

Webbah's qualifying session nearly went wrong before the race had even begun. Three sets of controller batteries died during the session, leaving him without vibration and scrambling to find replacements before his final run.

He found them—and still took pole.

The race itself was less successful. Webbah fell to fourth, but Walter's afternoon unravelled far more dramatically. Ferrari kept its championship contender out on old intermediates following the third Safety Car, leaving him vulnerable as the race moved towards its conclusion.

Walter dropped to 13th and left Japan without a point. Webbah collected 17, including the points for pole and fastest lap, and extended his championship advantage from 123-118 to 140-118.

For a driver who has competed in IMS since Season 1 without winning a drivers' championship, this was a potentially enormous afternoon. Webbah did not win the race, but the title that has evaded him for seven seasons is now considerably closer.

Ferrari must hope its strategy call does not become the moment Walter's challenge began to slip away.

Kaтю́shа announces herself in the title picture

Kaтю́shа started third and finished third, delivering a composed result in conditions she has not always enjoyed.

Her own verdict afterwards was simple: she is no longer bad in the wet.

The championship table supports that confidence. Kaтю́shа moves from fourth to third on 111 points, passing the absent xAQxFr and closing to within seven points of Walter.

Webbah remains 29 points ahead of her, but Kaтю́shа is now close enough to punish another difficult weekend from either of the two drivers who entered Japan as the principal championship contenders.

Lord DabFoot's ‘ethical’ podium awaits the FIA

From seventh on the grid, Lord DabFoot provisionally climbed to second and jokingly asked the paddock to recognise his “ethical P7-to-P2 drive”.

The stewards may have a different interpretation.

Three ghost-to-pass incidents have been submitted against him—two by Kaтю́shа and another by Webbah. Until those cases are decided, his second place and the order of the podium remain under dispute.

The result should still be recognised as provisional rather than dismissed. The FIA will rule on the submitted evidence in the coming days.

Schokolade recovers from 16th as Pooldiver's charge ends in frustration

Schokolade produced one of the strongest recoveries of the race, finishing seventh after starting 16th.

The Audi driver has also requested the removal of a three-second penalty. If it is removed without any other changes to the classification, Schokolade could rise to sixth ahead of kyotonic.

Pooldiver46's afternoon ended far earlier.

Starting 21st, Pooldiver said he had gained approximately 12 places and finally had conditions that suited him before an apparent lag-related collision with TheMDog sent him into the wall.

The two drivers' recordings reportedly presented different versions of the contact. Pooldiver later made clear that he did not personally blame TheMDog, instead directing his frustration towards the connection problems that had affected the incident.

The case has been submitted to the FIA. Whatever the stewards decide, it was a bitter end to what Pooldiver believed could have been one of his strongest races of the season.

Wadz's season finds another way to go wrong

Wadz51 began the D2 race from the front row and finished eighth.

Unfortunately, that conversion fits the broader pattern of his season.

Season 7 is currently Wadz's worst campaign by both average finishing position and points per start. Across 12 appearances in three divisions, he has scored 41 points, averaged a finishing position of 10.92 and recorded only one top-four result.

His results were poor enough to trigger a demotion from L1 to L2 after Baku. Even after stepping down a licence level, a P2 start at Suzuka became another disappointing result.

The season has been messy away from the classification as well. Wadz received six penalty points in Austria after the stewards found that he had taken matters into his own hands during a yellow-flag dispute. In Baku, he received a 15-second penalty and three further penalty points for his collision with Webbah and the subsequent ghost-through.

Japan has brought more scrutiny.

Wadz is involved in two submitted D1 incidents—one filed by him against Webbah and another accusing him of an unsafe rejoin—and beliber has reported him following their late-race D2 contact. None of those submissions has yet been decided.

A front-row start should have offered the chance to reset the conversation. Instead, Wadz left with eighth place and another collection of footage awaiting the FIA.

Williams cuts Ferrari's advantage almost in half

Ferrari still leads the constructors' championship, but Williams made substantial progress at Suzuka.

The gap has fallen from 41 points to 26.

Webbah and kyotonic both scored for Williams, contributing 17 and 11 respectively. Ferrari's entire 13-point return came from TheMDog in fifth after Walter's strategy-assisted fall to 13th.

Williams did not win the race, but it comfortably won the championship exchange.

Eleven incidents leave the result provisional

Eleven D2 incidents have been submitted from the race.

Lord DabFoot's podium is under scrutiny, John Marco has requested the removal of a ten-second penalty, and Schokolade is challenging the warning that produced his three-second penalty. Several other incidents could also lead to time penalties or penalty points.

The FIA's decisions may reshape parts of the classification, but two central outcomes are already clear.

rbn leaves Japan as an IMS winner for the first time. Webbah leaves with his strongest control yet over the championship he has spent seven seasons trying to win.