Baguette and Hiramine arrived at the final round of the season with a 2.5 point deficit to the #3 NDDP Nissan of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi, who had scored two wins compared to one for the Impul crew prior to Motegi.
But the NISMO-run squad dropped out of contention almost immediately after the race began as Chiyo pitched the ARTA Honda of Tomoki Nojiri into a spin at Turn 5, picking up a drive-through penalty for the offence.
