2016.07.23

Oshima in the WAKO'S 4CR RC F takes pole with an amazing time!

Round4 Sportsland Sugo : Qualifying GT500 Review

The official qualifying for the “SUGO GT 300km RACE,” Round 4 of the 2016 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held on the afternoon of July 23 at Sportsland SUGO (one lap: 3.704 km) in Miyagi Prefecture. In the GT500 class qualifying, No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR RC F driven by Kazuya Oshima won pole position while beating the existing course record time by a big margin. In the GT300 class, the No. 25 VivaC 86 MC driven by Takamitsu Matsui won the team their first SUPER GT class pole, also with a record-breaking time.

 

 

On qualifying day for the 4th round of the season, GT500 class official qualifying session began at14:50. As in the morning, cloudy skies hung over the circuit. The air temperature had hardly risen at all, standing at 21℃. So, it appeared that how well the tires matched the track surface temperature would be a critical factor.
The course was opened on time for the start of the GT500 class Q1 session but the cars remained in their pits preparing for the right time to head out on the track. With 8 minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the session, the No. 15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT (Hideki Mutoh) was the first to leave the pit and enter the track. This was followed next by the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S RC F (Ryo Hirakawa).

Then, with about 7 and a half minutes remaining in the session the other cars began to head out one after another. After warming up for three laps that cars began to make the timed laps in succession. The first timed lap was run by the No. 24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Mastaka Yanagida). Next, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Hiroaki Ishiura ran a record-breaking time of 1’11.000 (former record: 1’11.607). Soon the other cars were also running times close to that. The second fastest time on the board was from the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) with a 1’11.024 lap.
Just after that, however, with 1 minute and 10 seconds remaining in the Q1 session, the winner of the first two rounds of the season, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), crashed hard into the sponge barrier on the out side of the SP Corner. Quintarelli was able to get out of the car, but the crash immediately brought out the Red Flag. The GT500 class Q1 session eventually ended that way under the Red Flag.
Later, Quintarelli would comment: “I was pushing hard on that attack, but I guess a little too hard. For tomorrow, I will put this behind me and come out reset to try hard to get at least one series point.”

This accident meant that the machines that crossed to control line on attacks after the Red Flag was shown or those in the middle of an attack would not have those times recorded, and those without a recorded time could not qualify to proceed to Q2. Noteworthy among the cars that could not qualify for Q2 as a result of the Red Flag were the No. 8 ARTA NSX CONCEPT-GT (Tomoki Nojiri), No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Katsumasa Chiyo), No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) and the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN RC F (Yuhi Sekiguchi).

Eventually, the fastest qualifier in Q1 was the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F. Following it in order was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT, and in 3rd position was the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR RC F. As a result of the timing of their attacks, it turned out that none of the GT500 Nissan GT-R NISMO cars were able to qualify for Q2.

 

 

Due to the time lost in cleaning up the crash of the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, the GT300 class Q2 was pushed back to be run from 15:27 to 15:39 and the GT500 class Q2 from 15:47 to 15:59. Starting after the GT300 Q2, the early minutes of GT500 class Q2 saw the cars waiting in their pit areas as they had in Q1. With 4 minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the session, it was again the No. 15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT (Oliver Turvey) that was first to enter the track, with the rest of the cars following.

Turvey was the first to run a flying lap, with the other cars following suit to get their first timed laps. Among them, it was the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR RC F (Kazuya Oshima) that ran an especially outstanding lap to record a time of 1’10.516. Then the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Yuji Tachikawa) made an all-out attack but failed to beat No. 6’s time. Next, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) recorded a fast time of 1’10.705, but likewise failed in bettering Oshima’s time.
In the end, no one was able to equal Oshima’s time and the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR RC F claimed its first pole position since the opening round of the 2014 season at Okayama. Consistently strong at SUGO, the LEXUS TEAM LeMans WAKO'S team proved their reputation, and as a smiling Oshima shook hands with teammate Andrea Caldarelli and team manager Juichi Wakisaka, he admitted that he hadn’t felt as much pressure as this day’s in quite a while.
Qualifying 2nd to claim its best grid position of the season thus far was the 2 No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT. In 3rd and 4th positions came the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F and No. 36 au TOM'S RC F respectively, followed in 5th by the No. 15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT, thus giving the top positions on the starting grid to RC F and Honda NSX CONCEPT- GT cars.

 

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