Japanese
The FUJI 350km RACE, Round 4 of the 2024 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on August 4th (Sun.) at Fuji Speedway (one lap 4,563 x 77 laps) in Shizuoka Prefecture. In both classes there were outstanding wins from pole position. In the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita) got the first win for the new CIVIC TYPE R-GT in just its fourth race. In the GT300 class, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou/Takuro Shinohara/Haruki Kurosawa) got its first win of the season.
○Spectators: Aug. 4th (race day) 31,600 / 3rd (qualifying day) 20,600
Round 4 this time was a 350km race, somewhat longer than the standard 300km races, and just before the start the air temperature had risen to a mid-summer high of 33 degrees C. to fuel fear of difficult race conditions. Despite this, however, the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri) starting from pole position got a good start and proceeded to pull away steadily to build up a solid lead.
When the wheel of the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 was turned over to Nobuharu Matsushita at the first pit stop, he returned to the track with the team’s lead still intact. However, for a while the No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) running 2nd position narrowed that lead to within less than a second. But from there, Matsushita in car No. 8 began to gradually pull away in the lead once again until he had a lead of more than three seconds with ten laps remaining in the race, and with a few laps remaining he had widened the gap to a 5-sec. lead. After that, he took advantage of that margin to take the checkered flag and the give the Honda CIVIC TYPE R-GT that debuted this season its first win in just its fourth race.
Finishing the race in 2nd place was the No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT to give the Honda camp a 1-2 finish, while the No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura/Toshiki Oyu) came home in 3rd place. Among the Nissan Z NISMO GT500 cars it was the No. 12 MARELLI IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) who finished fastest in 5th place.
In the GT300 class, Takuro Shinohara started from pole position in the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG and began to pull away from the field and build a run-away lead. Then a car that came to a stop on the track due to machine trouble caused a Full Course Yellow (FCY) call that limited the speed of the race, Shinohara made the smart decision to return to the pit. This enabled an even bigger margin of lead, and when the team’s ace driver Naoya Gamou took the wheel in the second half, he ran on strongly to finish first. Finishing 2nd after battling strongly in the second half of the race and holding out to the finish was the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka). Third place went to the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Daiki Sasaki/Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira).
■ Winner Comments
GT500 Class
No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8
Tomoki Nojiri
“Until now we have had some hard times, but I came into this race as the starting driver with the aim of putting that all behind us. Since I was able to do that, it is very satisfying. But when car No. 100 started to close in on Matsushita-san from behind, I had fears for a while of the old ghosts returning. But in the closing laps he was able to run strongly and pull away in the lead. Matsushita-san, I love you for that!”
Nobuharu Matsushita
“I just want to say first of all that it is great to have gotten the first win for the CIVIC TYPE R! I am really glad we have gotten this win. Nojiri-san gave us a big margin of lead, but Yamamoto-san in car No. 100 was very fast. I thought that he might catch us, so I switched gears, put the metal to the floor and charged ahead with all I had. And the car was able to keep pace, and the tire performance was also good, so we were able to take the win. I want to thank everyone for this.”
GT300 Class
No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG
Naoya Gamou
“Luck was on our side (with the good timing of the pit stop, etc.), but I am especially glad because we were able to put together a race that really satisfied us. We were able to get this win in front of my family and many other fans, so I really feel good. I thank everyone so much!”
Takuro Shinohara
“We were able to pull away at the start and were also helped by the good timing of our pit stop. And then Gamou-san did a fantastic job for us in the second half. I am so glad for all this. Regarding the pit stop, all I did was report the condition of the car that had stopped over the radio, and it was the decision of people in the pit to have me come in. But that decision was very important, so I am glad I made that call.”
| 4/13-14 | Round1 OKAYAMA | |
| 5/03-04 | Round2 FUJI | |
| 6/01-02 | Round3 SUZUKA | |
| 8/03-04 | Round4 FUJI | |
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8/31-9/01 | Round5 SUZUKA |
| 9/21-22 | Round6 SUGO | |
| 10/19-20 | Round7 AUTOPOLIS | |
| 11/02-03 | Round8 MOTEGI |