2023.11.05

Rd. 8 Race GT500: au TOM'S GR Supra takes a second come-from-behind win in a row! Tsuboi/Miyata pair win title before their ecstatic fans

The MOTEGI GT 300km RACE GRAND FINAL, Round 8 and the last race of the 2023 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on November 5 (Sun.) at Mobility Resort Motegi (4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Prefecture. In the GT500 class, the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata) won its second race in a row to claim the series title with three victories on the season. In the GT300 class, the driver pair of Takashi Kogure/Yuya Motojima drove the No. 88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3 to their first win in the class. In the GT300 class title race, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai) raced steadily through the tough conditions to finish in 7th place and be crowned champions for the first time.

 

 

 

　The final race of the 2023 series at MOTEGI, started at 1:00 in the afternoon with a traffic safety promotion parade lap run behind five police motorcycles and five patrol cars of the Tochigi Prefectural Police, followed by a formation lap leading into the start of the race.

　Before the start of this race, the leader in the Drivers point standing was the No. 36 pair of Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata with 69 points, while the 2nd-ranked No. 3 pair of Katsumasa Chiyo/Mitsunori Takaboshi had earned one point with yesterday’s pole position win for a total of 63 points. This meant that the Tsuboi pair could clinch the title by finishing 2nd or better in this race regardless of the positions of the other teams, but to win the title, the Chiyo/Takaboshi pair would have to win the race and have the Tsuboi/Miyata pair finish 3rd or below. Also, although they still had a chance for the title, the No. 16 pair of Nirei Fukuzumi/Hiroki Otsu would have to win the race, which would be very difficult from their starting position on the grid of 9th.

　Starting from pole position with strong determination to win, the No. 3 Niterra MOTUL Z (Katsumasa Chiyo) pulled away steadily from the pack in the early stages, building a lead of 2.009 sec. over the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Nobuharu Matsushita) in 2nd place by the end of the 3rd lap and 3.915 sec. by the end of the sixth lap of the race. Meanwhile, a fierce battle developed between car No. 17 and the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi) that had started from 3rd position on the grid. This nose-to-tail duel between these two cars continued for more than 20 laps, until No. 36 drew even on the out-side of No. 17 on the third turn of the 23rd lap. However, Matsushita didn’t give up easily. The two continued to run side-by-side through the fourth corner and though the fifth corner to pass under the overpass. It was finally at the “V” corner that No. 36 succeeded in pulling ahead to take 2nd position.

　While this was going on behind it, the leading car No. 3 managed to build up a lead of 6.107 sec. by the 22nd lap before making its first pit stop on the 25th lap. Cars No. 36 and No. 17 followed suit by returning to the pit on the 26th lap to refuel and change drivers. But, at this point, car No. 17 pulled into the pit on the 27th lap, and in doing so, it allowed the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) that had already finished its pit work to move ahead of it in the race order.

 

 

 

 

 

　By the end of the 35th lap of the race, the leading car No. 3 had opened up a lead of 12.223 sec. over the pursuing car No. 36. However, it was around this time that the rraich which had been falling on and off until then began to fall harder.

　By the time all of the cars had finished their pit stops and No. 3 was back in the lead on the 41st lap, the gap between it and car No. 36 in 2nd place was 10.796 sec. and by the 55th lap that advantage had narrowed to 7.680 sec. After the 50th lap of the race, the raindrops were getting larger and causing nearly wet track conditions to form some sections of the course. The contesting between the two cars in the lead, Takaboshi in car No. 3 and Miyata in car No. 36, remained tense as it shifted now and then as they passed over slippery areas of the track but stayed roughly the same at just under 7 sec.

　Just as it began to look as if car No. 3 was on its way to the win on the 59th lap, No. 3 lost its footing in a wet spot in the “S” curve and ran off the track. What’s more, its tires began to spin in the loose gravel, preventing the car from getting back on the track immediately. Although it was eventually able to get back on the track with the help of the race marshals, No. 3 suffered a big delay that left it far back in the pack, from where it would eventually finish the race in 13th place and fail to win any race points.

　This put car No. 36 in the lead. The driver for this stint of the race, Miyata, was able to run the last four lap to the finish unchallenged. For the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra （Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata) this was their second consecutive win, following the one in Round 7 at Autopolis, and their third win of the season. Finishing 2nd was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli), giving Michelin Tires the present of a podium finish in what would be its last GT500 race as a tire supplier. Finishing 3rd was the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Nobuharu Matsushita) that had moved up through the lead pack after making an early change to rain tires. The No. 17 was also fortunate to end what would be the last race for the retiring NSX-GT with a podium finish as well. As for the No. 16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Nirei Fukuzumi/Hiroki Otsu) that tried to move up initially by means of a no-tire-change strategy and then changing to rain tires in the latter stages, eventually finished the race in 12th position.

　With these results, the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra was crowned with the 2023 series title for their driver pair of Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata. For Tsuboi, this was his second title, following the one in 2021, while for Miyata it was his first title since coming to SUPER GT.

　As for Yuji Tachikawa, who has announced his retirement from the GT500 class as of this season, he drove the second stint of this race in the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra （Yuji Tachikawa/Hiroaki Ishiura). In it he fought aggressively to run at one point in 9th position, before eventually finishing his last SUPER GT race in 11th place.

 

 

 

 

 

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