April 10th Okayama International Circuit (Okayama Prefecture)
The opening round of the SUPER GT season, the OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE, was held at Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture where the #1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) performed a stunning comeback to take victory. With the #46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama / Katsumasa Chiyo) taking 3rd, it was a double podium finish for the GT-R.
Starting from 3rd place on the grid, starting driver, Ronnie Quintarelli took the wheel and immediately began displaying some serious pace. The race took a major turn after about lap 20. Skillfully utilizing the back-markers, Quintarelli closed the gap with his rival in second to only 0.3 seconds and went on to engage in a bumper-to-bumper battle. Carrying out a blistering charge at the hairpin corner of lap 28, he successfully managed to move into 2nd place and proceeded to close in on the race leader.
While the top group began to enter the pits after lap 35 to carry out routine pit-work, Quintarelli stayed out on the track and ticked off laps at a furious clip. After completing 38 laps he finally went into pit lane. Here the NISMO team displayed some amazing agility and had second-stint driver, Matsuda back out on the track in around 40 seconds, faster than most of the other rival crews. After exiting the pits Matsuda stood in the lead and went on to build up a margin equivalent to almost one run down the straight. From that point on he continued to tick off laps at a safe pace, running unchallenged to the checkered flag. This made it a fantastic start towards the team’s goal of attaining a third consecutive championship.
Although the #1 GT-R took victory, at times it seemed that the most cheers were being aimed towards the #46 GT-R. Although this was his debut GT500 race, in the previous day’s official qualifying Chiyo managed to mark the top time for Q1, which garnered a great deal of attention. Yet it was his performance on race day that had the fans going wild. Veteran, Satoshi Motoyama, took charge of the first stint and maintained their position until pitting in at lap 35. Here he handed the car over to the young gun, Chiyo.
After taking the reins from his esteemed co-driver, Chiyo pulled out a momentous drive and began to swiftly close in on the rivals in front. Then, at lap 50, he was parallel with the car in 3rd place as they moved into the double hairpin and engaged in an ultra-close, side-by-side battle that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Although he was unable to overtake at this stage, two laps later he saw another opportunity at the very same hairpin corner and this time he effortlessly pulled out in front to move into 3rd place. From that point on he moved his focus onto the car in 2nd and here, too, he engaged in a close quarters battle. Although he was ultimately unable to achieve another upset, he passed the finish line in a laudable 3rd place to make it a stunning GT500 debut for the young driver.
Starting from 5th on the grid, the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda / Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) took the strategy of having Yasuda take the first stint, and Oliveira the second. Although they put in a valiant effort and seemed capable of reaching the podium had the race continued a little longer, they ultimately finished in 5th. The #24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Daiki Sasaki / Masataka Yanagida) was also running in the points sphere for a significant period, however their tire choice didn’t quite match the road surface conditions and they ended the race in 13th place.
- Comment from #1 GT-R driver, Tsugio Matsuda
“Our rivals were very fast in the tests carried out prior to this opening round, but this weekend our car’s setup was perfect. Ronnie pulled out a fantastic drive in the first stint to raise us up the order and then our crew’s blistering pit-work put us into the lead with a decent margin. It appears Chiyo was getting a great deal of attention in 3rd but I was only focussing on how big a lead I could build up. That was what was motivating me the whole time. We really achieved a well rounded victory today.”
- Comment from #1 Driver Ronnie Quintarelli
“This is my first time winning in the opening round, as well as at Okayama, but I have to be honest, it really hasn’t sunk in yet. The team did a great job perfecting the car for this weekend and Michelin really came through for us. Our tire selection is really what enabled us to win here. It really goes to show that if your car and tires are properly suited to the conditions, you can really push hard. We’ll have a weight handicap in the next round so we’ll be working hard in the next round to overcome that.”
- Comment from #46 GT-R driver Satoshi Motoyama
“Chiyo could not have done a better performance. During the tests there was a period where we were in a bit of a slump, but I don’t think anyone could deny that he is ready for the GT500. [Chiyo] was able to get the top time in Q1 due to our tires matching the road surface temperature, but there was also a bit of luck and momentum involved. His battle with the #6 RC F was a little risky but he skilfully got passed him in the end. Although he used tires that were slightly softer than those I used in my stint, they clearly allowed him to confidently attack the course and drive with a good pace. I felt pretty at ease watching his drive.”
- Comment from #46 GT-R driver Katsumasa Chiyo
“The #6 RC F was skilfully blocking me so getting passed him was a hard slog. From Attwood Corner to the hairpin our pace was faster so I felt like I could definitely overtake him. I wasn’t able to make the final decisive blow and get in front of the #37 RC F and I think this is down to my lack of experience. There were times when I was edging off the track but I was totally focussed on the road ahead and blindly pushed forward. Ever since it was decided I would compete in the GT500 I’ve been taught a great deal by Motoyama and the team, which I’m really thankful for. When Motoyama told me I’d done a great job I was really ecstatic.”
【GT500 Race Result】 82Laps
Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Time / Behind |
1 | 1 | MOTUL AUTECH GT-R | Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli | 1:56'22.730 |
2 | 37 | KeePer TOM'S RC F | James Rossiter / Ryo Hirakawa | 15.334 |
3 | 46 | S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R | Satoshi Motoyama / Katsumasa Chiyo | 15.756 |
4 | 6 | WAKO'S 4CR RC F | Kazuya Oshima / Andrea Caldarelli | 54.581 |
5 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R | Hironobu Yasuda / Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira | 54.825 |
6 | 38 | ZENT CERUMO RC F | Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura | 1'03.303 |
7 | 39 | DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F | Heikki Kovalainen / Kohei Hirate | 1'06.980 |
8 | 36 | au TOM'S RC F | Daisuke Ito / Nick Cassidy | 1'08.346 |
9 | 19 | WedsSport ADVAN RC F | Yuhi Sekiguchi / Yuji Kunimoto | 1Lap |
10 | 100 | RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT | Naoki Yamamoto / Takuya Izawa | 1Lap |
13 | 24 | Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R | Daiki Sasaki / Masataka Yanagida | 2Laps |
【GT300 Race Result】 76Laps
Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Time / Behind |
1 | 65 | LEON CVSTOS AMG-GT | Haruki Kurosawa / Naoya Gamou | 1:56'28.292 |
2 | 4 | GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi / Tatsuya Kataoka | 12.929 |
3 | 7 | Studie BMW M6 | Jorg Muller / Seiji Ara | 26.901 |
4 | 11 | GAINER TANAX AMG GT3 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka / Bjorn Wirdheim | 48.197 |
5 | 51 | JMS LMcorsa 488 GT3 | Akihiro Tsuzuki / Morio Nitta | 48.600 |
6 | 25 | VivaC 86 MC | Takeshi Tsuchiya / Takamitsu Matsui | 1'17.612 |
8 | 0 | GAINER TANAX GT-R | Andre Couto / Ryuichiro Tomita | 1'25.249 |
10 | 3 | B-MAX NDDP GT-R | Kazuki Hoshino / Jann Mardenborough | 1Lap |
26 | 360 | RUNUP Group&DOES GT-R | Yusaku Shibata / Atsushi Tanaka | 3Laps |
27 | 48 | DIJON Racing GT-R | Hiroshi Takamori / Masaki Tanaka | 3Laps |
<Related Link>
NISSAN MOTORSPORTS Web Site
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