BURIRAM, Thailand – Jann Mardenborough and Kasuki Hoshino have charged back into championship contention in the Super GT GT300 with a storming second place in Thailand.
The duo are now only five points off the championship lead with two rounds remaining at the season finale at Twin-Ring Motegi on November 12 and 13.
After starting on the front row, Hoshino jumped into the race lead from the green flag.
Although they briefly fell back a few positions when making their routine pit stop, Mardenborough pulled out a ferocious chase in the second half of the race to finish second with only one second separating them from the race leader.
"It was all right at the start," said Mardenborough. "Kazuki did a perfect job of handing the car over in the lead. We had to change all four tires. We exited the pits with me in the car in fourth. I quickly overtook the BMW for third, and then I was stuck behind the second place car for a long time. I was able to make it into second place and chase down the leader but didn't have enough laps remaining to pull off a move. We are second now in the championship – just five points behind the leader. So I am looking forward to the last two races in Motegi."
Check out the @SUPERGT_JP action from Thailand as @Jannthaman & @KazukiHoshino charged to 2nd place in the GT300 class. #NISMOnation #OMGTR pic.twitter.com/KD7WR1grvY
— Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) October 10, 2016
In GT500, the No.12 GT-R of Hironobu Yasuda and Joao Paulo De Oliveira fought back from an incurred penalty to finish the race in fourth place.
The #1 Motul car of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli, laden with 100kg of handicap weight, the heaviest allowed under current regulations, was running strongly in the points sphere but unfortunately suffered a spin when while battling through GT300 traffic.
Despite suffering heavy damage in the ensuing impact, the reigning champions will head to Motegi with a 10-point lead in the championship.
Satoshi Motoyama and Katsumasa qualified well in fifth but fell down the order in the race to finish 12th while the Daiki Sasaki / Masataka Yanagida GT-R attempted to complete the race without a tire change – a strategy that earned them victory earlier this year. This time however, the tactic didn't work and had to make an additional stop en route to a 13th place finish.
NISMO Calendar
October 15-16
FIA WEC, Fuji Speedway, Japan
October 22-23
ELMS, Estoril, Portugal
Australian Supercars, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
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