2011 Round of Japan

The 2011 Round of Japan was the 18th race of the 2011 TM Master Cup season.

Due to damage left over from March's earthquake, the race was moved from the Twin Ring Motegi to the Shimane Circuit.

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Pre-race storylines
Most of the attention in the TM Master Cup Series has been placed on the "customer car" controversy surrounding the Saar and Inglesby teams. Customer cars, which have been outlawed for full-time teams since the beginning of 2010, are supposed to carry heavy penalties if used. Needless to say, quite a stir was created in the paddock when it was announced that no penalties would be issued. FLASH Racing and DeGarmo Enterprises were found to have no similarities other than engine mounts, which are legal if a team uses a customer engine.

However, the controversy was mostly surrounding the other half of the customer car debate, between Team Saar USA, Camelot Racing, and Rick Milligan Racing, where officials found that the cars were flirting with the gray area between customer car and a car each team had made themselves. All three cars are essentially evolutions of the same car, the 2009 Saar Tyrant, but were different enough to satisfy the inspectors. The officials informed Team Saar USA, Camelot Racing, and Rick Milligan Racing that their cars would be cleared to race.

Also, Last Row Autosport and BlackDiamond Racing have been added to the entry list for the Round of Japan, in place of the two Trevor Carrington Racing entries. Last Row Autosport will run Dan Mackay in a No. 20 Omecha, and BlackDiamond will run a No. 60 Omecha for Brazilian TM Lights driver Cesar Vila Nova.

Finally, Tutino's entries for the Round of Japan show former Formula A driver Vijay Pushanda in car No. 42 and Nemoto reserve driver Azuma Kazeyama in car No. 43. The team will reportedly use Nemoto engines for this race, with a possibility of both Pushanda and Kazeyama racing at Brazil as well.

The race
Ethan Everett started on the pole.

Postrace penalties

 * Luciano Soveral – 15 points for causing an avoidable collision under yellow flags AND start in the rear for the Round of Brazil
 * Dan Mackay – 15 points for causing an avoidable collision under yellow flags AND start in the rear for the Round of Brazil
 * Scott Steudler – warning for causing an avoidable collision
 * Takumi Nagata – 15 points for causing an avoidable collision under yellow flags
 * Yuliya Nosova – warning for causing an avoidable collision
 * Chris Allen – 15 points for causing an avoidable collision under yellow flags AND start in the rear for the Round of Brazil
 * Marcos Leonard – 15 points for causing an avoidable collision under yellow flags AND start in the rear for the Round of Brazil