Nissan GT-R achieves second dual-class 1-2 finish of season

Autopolis, Oita-pref. (November 1, 2015) - One of the most important races in determining who will be the champion, round 7 of the Super GT was held on November 1st (Sun) at Autopolis, Oita Prefecture. Here, after a white-knuckled head-to-head battle that spanned over 2 hours, the #1 "Motul Autech GT-R" (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) came out on top, having started the race from 3rd on the grid. Following behind in 2nd was pole-sitter, the #12 "Calsonic IMPUL GT-R" (Hironobu Yasuda / Joao Paolo de Oliveira), making it a 1-2 finish for the NISSAN GT-R in the GT500 class. Not only that, in the GT300 class the #3 B-Max NDDP GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino / Mitsunori Takaboshi) grabbed the win, with the #10 Gainer Tanax GT-R (Andre Couto / Katsumasa Chiyo) tailing in 2nd to make it the GT-R’s second double 1-2 finish of the season.

With Oliveira behind the wheel, the #12 GT-R leapt out in front right from the start and began to increase its lead. However the #38 RC F and #1 GT-R remained hot on its heels and, from the middle of their second stints, began closing in on the #12 GT-R. A tense battle ensued between these three but when the #38 went off track it fell out of the fight for the lead. On the other hand, the #1 GT-R driven by Quintarelli managed to reduce the 5-second gap with the #12 to just 0.179 seconds. Flawless pit-work from the NISMO crew rapidly put Matsuda back out onto the course. This enabled him to quickly warm up his new tires and catch up with the #12 GT-R on its out-lap to achieve a sudden turnover. From that point on Yasuda in the #12 made several attempts to reclaim his position but just couldn’t quite achieve a reversal and, after 65 laps, the #1 GT-R passed the checkered flag in the top spot. This is the #1 GT-R’s second victory of the season following on from round 2 at Fuji. On top of this, the #12 has managed to retain its position as the ranking leader, while the #1 GT-R is now sitting at 2nd with only a 2-point difference. This means that the season champion will be decided at the final round at Twin Ring Motegi (Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture) where either of these two GT-Rs are capable of taking home the top honors as long as they achieve top order results. With the final round seeing all handicap weights reset to zero, all machines will be competing in their natural state making it an even playing field where everyone has an equal chance of taking victory. With this in mind, the honor of being champion will be going to the most prepared and best performing team on the day.

Starting from 4th on the grid, the #24 "D'station Advan GT-R" (Daiki Sasaki / Michael Krumm) was ticking off laps at a solid pace early on in the race but gradually began picking up marbles from the track, resulting in a loss of grip, which forced them to pit early. After changing drivers from Krumm to Sasaki, they experienced some electrical troubles that resulted in them crossing the finish line in 15th. Starting from a 10th place qualification, the #46 "S Road Mola GT-R" (Satoshi Motoyama / Masataka Yanagida) carried out a tenacious race in the early stages, and picked up their speed towards its close to pass rivals in the top group. In the end they passed the checkered flag in a commendable 6th place.

The Nissan GT-R was also able to claim a 1-2 finish in the GT300 class. This was the second win of the season for the #3 GT-R, following on from round 3 in Thailand, and also sees the #10 GT-R’s Couto securing the driver’s championship without having to wait for the final round.

- Comment from NISMO Team Principal Yutaka Suzuki
“There were a lot of tense moments throughout the race but Ronnie really pushed hard and put us in a good position. Then Tsugio followed this up by putting us into the lead where he protected it for the rest of the race. The entire team and the drivers did a perfect job. It was an edge-of-your-seat race but this win is huge. It’s now a simple case of whichever of the two (#1 and #12) come out on top in the next round that will decide the championship. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got."

- Comment from #1 Driver Tsugio Matsuda
"Ronnie did a great job of closing in on Oliveira and I knew that my only chance of overtaking the #12 would be on their out-lap. Fortunately I was able to rapidly warm-up the tires and catch the #12. When rain began falling in the middle of my stint I thought the heavens were playing a joke on me. I want to ride this momentum into the final round at Motegi."

- Comment from #1 Driver Ronnie Quintarelli
"I had some concerns before the race but, as soon as I started, the car felt a lot better than I expected and was able to run at an equal pace to the two machines in front of me. The pit-work from the crew was perfectly implemented and Tsugio’s performance was amazing, which enabled us to get this result. It’s fantastic."

[GT500 Race Result] 65Laps

[GT300 Race Result] 60 laps

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