Ezra Steals Japan at the Last: Shaheen’s Suzuka Masterclass Ends in Heartbreak

Season 6 Main League · Japanese Grand Prix · Suzuka Circuit · 25 April 2026 · 50% race

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The Main League’s return to Suzuka delivered a strategic, high-tension contest that was decided not in the opening sequence alone but at the final corner — where a moment’s lock-up flipped victory from pole-sitter to pursuer. Shaul Ezra wins from third on the grid, Youssef Shaheen signs off second after leading almost the entire distance, and Eden Azran completes the podium from the front row. Every driver classified — twelve finishers, no DNFs.

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Race — A Lead Built, Then Lost

Shaheen From Pole — Until the Flag

Youssef Shaheen converted pole position into a race-long command of the lead. From the front, he stretched the gap while Shaul Ezra, having started third, lost ground off the line and had to rebuild his race from a step back in the order. Ezra’s recovery was relentless: working forward through Guy Azran and Eden Azran — the McLaren siblings — he halved what had grown into a five-second deficit and arrived on Shaheen’s gearbox with time running out.

The decisive scene played out at the final corner. Shaheen, still ahead on the approach, locked up under braking — enough to hand Ezra the inside and the win. The margin at the line was 0.488 seconds, a cruelly thin gap after a defensive drive that had carried Shaheen from lights to flag almost uninterrupted.

Ezra adds fastest lap to his victory package and moves the championship needle again at a venue where experience and tyre management reward patience as much as outright pace.

Azran — Another Podium

Eden Azran crossed in third, from second on the grid, keeping his season firmly anchored in the leading group. It is another top-three banked in a campaign where consistency, not headline wins, has kept him within sight of the summit.

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Qualifying — Mixed Weather, Single Opportunity

Qualifying unfolded in evolving conditions: the session began dry before rain began to bite within the first minutes, narrowing the window to one or two meaningful flying laps before the circuit slowed beyond improvement. Shaheen’s pole under that pressure stands as both a technical and psychological statement — pole earned when the clock and the clouds were working against the field.

Nitzan Alon and Omer Cohen each served penalties carried over from qualifying — both were required to start from the back of the field, with their effective grid positions shown as P12 and P11 in the results sheet.

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Alon — Fourth From the Back

Nitzan Alon lined up twelfth and drove to fourth — eight positions gained, the largest climb in the classification. Returning after a long absence from Main League competition, he delivered one of the weekend’s standout performances and collected Driver of the Day recognition alongside fourteen points.

Omer Cohen, also serving his penalty constraint from the back of the settled grid, reached tenth and added three points in a disciplined damage-limitation run.

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Aston Martin — Strategy and Defence

Idan Turjeman finished fifth, one place up from sixth on the grid, running an alternate strategy intended to support Aston Martin’s wider race picture. Alongside Shaheen’s defence of the lead, Turjeman’s positioning and tyre work formed part of a coordinated effort to protect the lead car from Ezra’s Mercedes charge — a team script that nearly held until the final-corner drama.

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Kelly and Dvir — Contact and Cost

Kelly Aiche and Dvir Badash were caught in an on-track incident that left damage to Kelly’s front wing, compromising his race and capping his result lower than the pace suggested. Kelly took eighth from fifth on the grid; Badash salvaged sixth after starting tenth, four places gained despite the turbulence of the midfield fight.

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Classification Snapshot

Pos	Driver	Grid	Notes
1	Shaul Ezra	3	Win, fastest lap
2	Youssef Shaheen	1	Led to final corner
3	Eden Azran	2	Podium
4	Nitzan Alon	12	+8, DOTD
5	Idan Turjeman	6	Alternate strategy
6	Dvir Badash	10	+4
7	Guy Azran	4	McLaren
8	Kelly Aiche	5	Front-wing damage
9	Lior Cohen	7	—
10	Omer Cohen	11	Penalty-impaired grid
11	Tal Cohen	8	+1 lap
12	Asaf Ben Lulu	9	+1 lap

No post-race steward time penalties appear in the official results sheet for this event that would alter finishing positions.

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Main League — After Japan

Pos	Driver	Points	Gap
1	Shaul Ezra	113	—
2	Eden Azran	81	32
3	Youssef Shaheen	72	41

The best seven of nine scoring format leaves room for further swings; with four Main rounds still to run after Japan, the table is far from decided — but Ezra’s margin is now 32 points at the top, with Shaheen’s second place in this race lifting him to third in the standings.

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