November 14th: Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka prefecture)
In what was a first-time happening, the special "JAF GRAND PRIX FUJI SPRINT CUP 2010" took place at Fuji Speedway (one lap: approximately 4.7 km) from November 12th to 14th. Friday was the scene of qualifying, while both Saturday and Sunday featured races in GT300, GT500 and Formula Nippon respectively, with the SUPER GT drivers each taking on one 22-lap sprint race on their own. In contrast to the rolling starts regularly seen in the series, this event featured standing start getaways.
- First Race
In what was a first for the series, the standing starts caught out those drivers who couldn't engage their clutches as well as their rivals, meaning that there was a huge change in the order immediately after the start. Leaving the line in 3rd place, Ronnie Quintarelli in the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R held on to his position throughout the opening lap. Qualifying 12th, the #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R of Benoit Treluyer made a rocket start, vaulting up a remarkable seven positions to run 5th the first time he crossed the start/finish line. However, from that point on he had to fight the car's deteriorating balance. He temporarily dropped to eighth position. Starting 8th on the grid, the #24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R with Hironobu Yasuda behind the wheel had advanced to 6th by the end of the opening tour, from where he mounted his attack. On lap 10, he usurped a pair of machines to reach fourth, his unrelenting battle with the #18 HSV bringing the crowds in the grandstands to their feet. It was a position he would hold until the flag.
In the second half, the performance in the #23 GT-R returned, and Treluyer moved up to 7th on lap 11, before snatching 6th place two laps later. On lap 19, he battled past the #18 HSV for 5th. Treluyer's innate aggressive driving style shone brilliantly. Meanwhile, Quintarelli in the #12 GT-R fended off all comers, maintaining third position throughout the first 22-lap SPRINT CUP race.
- Second Race
The GT500 race featured Satoshi Motoyama in the #23 GT-R, Tsugio Matsuda in the #12 car, while Joao Paolo de Oliveira piloted the #24 machine for the 22-lap event. Under cloudy skies and a temperature recorded at 16 degrees Celsius, the pole-starting #12 GT-R of Matsuda was delayed slightly due to the standing start, allowing an SC430 to get by. Following this, in his attempts to get into a winning position, he fell to 4th place on lap 9. He subsequently encountered tyre problems, falling to fifth, a position he held to the end of the race. Starting from sixth on the grid, the #24 GT-R jumped three positions in the confusion at the start, though on lap 3 the car was in fifth place, and by lap 7, had fallen to sixth. In this cliffhanger of a race, Oliveira continued to attack, muscling his way through the corners with the other cars, though avoiding making contact. Finally, on the last lap, he got by the #1 SC430 but was later handed a 30-second penalty for the manouevre.
The #23 GT-R of Motoyama started ninth, ending the opening lap in tenth. Unable to show the same performance in the first half that Treluyer had the previous day, he nevertheless got by two rivals in one fell swoop on lap 9, inferring that more progress up the order was on the cards. Unfortunately that didn't happen and he stayed in the position before leaping to sixth later on, the position in which he reached the flag.
In the GT300 races, the championship-winning #3 TOMICA Z (Kazuki Hoshino/Masataka Yanagida) was sixth on the first day, and came second on the second day, ranking 2nd overall in the JAF Grand Prix standings. In addition, support races including the Legends Cup, featuring 20 former top drivers, were held. Over the three days, more than 65,500 motorsport fans attended the event.
- NISMO Team Director Yutaka Suzuki's comment:
"The start of the 2nd race was hampered by clutch problems. The true performance was therefore unable to be demonstrated. There were further delays in the next 2-3 laps due to the clutch slipping. From that point, things stabilized with Motoyama taking it easy, so that he was able to run at a good pace later on. We had a slow start to this season, and this caused us to lag behind. In the off-season we aim to reflect on this and take the appropriate measures. Our aim next season is to meet everybody's expectations as we persevere to improve. We ask for everyone's continued support and encouragement next year, just as we received it this season."
Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Time / Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 38 | ZENT CERUMO SC430 | Richard Lyons | 35'31.508 |
2 | 17 | KEIHIN HSV-010 | Koudai Tsukakoshi | +04.893 |
3 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R | Ronnie Quintarelli | +07.221 |
4 | 24 | HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R | Hironobu Yasuda | +08.552 |
5 | 23 | MOTUL AUTECH GT-R | Benoit Treluyer | +09.198 |
6 | 32 | EPSON HSV-010 | Yuhki Nakayanma | +15.407 |
7 | 18 | Weider HSV-010 | Loic Duval | +15.453 |
8 | 35 | MJ KRAFT SC430 | Hiroaki Ishiura | +16.410 |
9 | 8 | ARTA HSV-010 | Ralph Firman | +39.897 |
10 | 39 | DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 | Andre Couto | +1'32.290 |
Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Time / Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | ENEOS SC430 | Daisuke Ito | 35'41.146 |
2 | 35 | MJ KRAFT SC430 | Kazuya Oshima | +00.837 |
3 | 18 | Weider HSV-010 | Takashi Kogure | +01.451 |
4 | 32 | EPSON HSV-010 | Ryo Michigami | +02.397 |
5 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R | Tsugio Matsuda | +11.030 |
6 | 23 | MOTUL AUTECH GT-R | Satoshi Motoyama | +13.635 |
7 | 1 | PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 | Juichi Wakisaka | +24.112 |
8 | 39 | DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 | Kohei Hirate | +24.905 |
9 | 100 | RAYBRIG HSV-010 | Takuya Izawa | +32.181 |
4 | 24 | HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R | Hironobu Yasuda | +41.074 |
Related URL: NISSAN MOTORSPORTS
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