The opening round of Rotax MAX Challenge APG 2027 took place at Auto Paradise Gotemba on November 8 under cloudy skies, with Eba Ogino, Taihiro Sakano and Mao Shimazu among the leading performers across the day's races. Ogino won Micro MAX, Sakano dominated Senior MAX, while Shimazu claimed the MAX Lights KYOJO victory before returning to finish fourth in Senior MAX.
In Micro MAX, Ogino delivered a consistent performance for Buzz Racing, topping the qualifying standings after winning both heats before converting that form into victory in the 14-lap final. Takao Kokuho made the biggest move among the leading finishers, climbing from sixth in the standings to take second for ASTRA MOTORSPORT. Nei Shimizu completed the podium in third.
Ryunosuke Noto finished fourth but set the fastest lap of the final with a 43.664, quicker than Ogino's best of 43.786.
Senior MAX was led throughout by Sakano. The Peak Performer Racing driver topped qualifying with a 38.458, and won both heats before taking the 18-lap final. Takuma Sekiya finished second for RT WORLD, while Sara Saito secured third for KP BUZZ and set the class's fastest race lap with a 38.571 on Lap 9.
Shimazu had a busy day across the MAX Lights KYOJO and Senior MAX categories. She won the 16-lap KYOJO final for ASTECH, ahead of Seira Kojima and Sakika Shintani, before returning to the Senior MAX field to finish fourth. In the other MAX Lights categories, Ryu Miyazaki won Senior, Hiroshi Nishino took Masters honours and Chion Tamura claimed the Junior victory.
Mini MAX produced a notable recovery drive from Yoshitake Inose. Starting the final from seventh in the qualifying standings, the KF MOTORSPORT driver moved through the field to take victory with the class's fastest lap of 41.919. Qualifying leader Minato Mori finished second, followed by Hugo Liang in third.
Itto Shibasaki completed a dominant Junior MAX campaign, topping qualifying with a 39.600, winning both heats, and taking the 18-lap final. Hayato Kobayashi and Murasugi finished second and third, recording identical best laps of 39.816, while Rihito Ito finished fifth.
In MAX Masters, Ryuki took victory ahead of Megumi Yuge and Yoichi Kiyama.
The Gotemba event featured several dominant performances, with Ogino, Sakano and Shibasaki converting strong qualifying and heat results into final victories. Shimazu added a second class win to the day's highlights, while Inose's recovery in Mini MAX provided one of the weekend's strongest climbs through the field.
