Round 8 (series final) of the 2014 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, the MOTEGI GT 250km RACE will be held over November 15th-16th at Twin Ring Motegi, which is located in Motegi, Haga, Tochigi Prefecture, close to the border with Ibaraki Prefecture. The SUPER GT race started to be held in Twin Ring Motegi in 1998 and since 2009 it has been the location for the final round of the season. With only one exception in 2012, in which Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli secured the championship in the previous round, it has always been the pivotal race for deciding who will take the crown. This year also, there are 5 teams from 3 manufacturers who are going into this final race at Motegi with a fighting chance of taking home the championship. Due to this, there is an amount of anticipation surrounding this event that feels like it exceeds previous years.
2013 MOTEGI GT 250km RACE
The road course of Twin Ring Motegi could be best described as a "stop and go" circuit which consists of short straights connected by tight, meandering corners. Furthermore, along with being known as a tough course for overtaking, the race's length of 250km makes it one of the preeminent sprint races in the series. This means that starting grid position takes on even greater importance and it is almost guaranteed that there will be a fierce battle that begins right from official qualification. Continuing on from round 6, the SUZUKA 1000km, and the 7th round in Thailand, high down force specs will also be used at Motegi. Furthermore, in comparison with the midsummer races of Suzuka and Thailand, the atmospheric and road surface temperatures will almost certainly be a great deal cooler. In the official tests to be implemented on Friday, matching the machines with the appropriate tires will be essential.
Representing Nissan will be 4 teams and 4 cars beginning with NISMO's #23 "MOTUL AUTECH GT-R" (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) which is 3rd in the rankings after taking victory in round 3 at Autopolis, and two consecutive 2nd place finishes in round 5 at Fuji and round 6 at Suzuka. They are joined by IMPUL's 4th ranked #12 "CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R" (Hironobu Yasuda / Joao Paulo De Oliveira), which won at the second round in Fuji, KONDO RACING's #24 "D'station ADVAN GT-R" (Michael Krumm/Daiki Sasaki), which displayed a fantastic performance in the last round in Thailand, and MOLA's #46 "S Road MOLA GT-R" (Satoshi Motoyama/Masataka Yanagida). As for their tires, the #23 and #46 are sporting Michelins, the #12 is riding on Bridgestones, and the #24 is equipped with Yokohamas.
In regards to the weight handicap system, which greatly affects the performance of the machines, for this race all GT500 cars will be competing with zero added weight. The #23 will be able to shake off the fuel restrictor with which it has been struggling with in the last few rounds and all participating cars will be competing on an even playing field for the first time since the opening round. Although one can't ignore the fact that this situation is the same for all vehicles, the performance of the #23, which until last round was the point leader and has been carrying the heaviest handicap weight of any other car, is undeniable. Sporting the same package, the #46, along with the #12 and #24, which are using different brands of tires, will all return to their original performance and the motivation of all the teams is steadily growing.
Of course, the developments within other teams cannot be ignored. It goes without saying that Lexus, which took consecutive victories in round 6 in Suzuka and round 7 in Thailand, and Honda, who call Twin Ring Motegi their home course, will be aiming for both victory in the season finale as well as the first championship title under the new regulations. Including the 3rd ranked #23 and the 4th ranked #12, the point difference between the top 4 machines is so narrow that if any of these cars were to take the win, their efforts will have secured the championship. For this reason, it is certain that a white hot battle will unfold right from the qualification sessions, making this a race that no fan can afford to miss.
A lot of attention will also be on the #3 "B-MAX NDDP GT-R," driven by Kazuki Hoshino and Lucas Ordonez in the GT300 class. Running on the momentum of their first victory this season at the last round in Thailand, just as in the GT500, they will also be competing in the final race with no handicap weight. There are great hopes that they will be able to finish the season off with a spectacular consecutive victory.
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