2009 SUPER GT Round3

Weather:Clear | Course:dry | Air Temp. 22°C | track surface Temp. 41°C

The winning No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R started from the pole position with Satoshi Motoyama at the wheel.
On the hairpin turn of lap one there was a collision between the No. 12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda) qualifying in 4th position and the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman). In the meantime the No. 24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira) moved up into 2nd position. Then, on the first corner of lap nine De Oliveira in No. 24 also caught and passed Motoyama in car No. 1 to take the lead. From there the battle for 3rd position was between two SC430 machines and it was the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Andre Lotterer) that prevailed on lap 20.

On this lap car No. 24 (De Oliveira) and car No.1 (Motoyama) made their first routine pit stop. The pit work for car No. 1 was faster and when they returned to the course Benoit Treluyer in car No. 1 was ahead of Seiji Ara in No. 24.
Next, Lotterer in car No. 36, who had taken the lead in the meantime, made his pit stop on lap 29. Changing drivers to Juichi Wakisaka, No. 36 returned to the track in front of No. 1 (Treluyer).

No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 When all the cars in the GT500 class had finished their first pit stop, No. 36 (Wakisaka) was in the lead followed by No.1 (Treluyer) in 2nd and No. 24 (Ara) in 3rd.
At the end of lap 58, Wakisaka brought No. 36 in for its second routine pit stop. Changing drivers, No. 36 returned to the course with Lotterer at the wheel. On the next lap Treluyer brought No. 1 in for its second pit stop. Between these two leaders, the pit work for No. 1 was 10 seconds faster than No. 36, and when No. 1 returned to the track with Motoyama at the wheel it had taken the lead away from No. 36.
Meanwhile, No. 24 fell off the pace in the middle stages of the race while running in 3rd position, and after changing drivers from Ara to De Oliveira again, it lost ground and allowed itself to be caught by No. 8 (Firman > Takuya Izawa > Firman), which was gaining ground again after being set back by a collision in the early stages of the race. Finally on lap 69, Firman in car No. 8 caught and passed No. 24 (De Oliveira) on the Coca Cola corner to return to 3rd position. At this point the order of the top three was No. 1 in the lead followed by No. 36 and No. 8.

No.8 ARTA NSX This order stayed the same for the top three until the final lap. There was a moment of tension on the final lap when No. 1 (Motoyama) got trapped behind some back-lappers, enabling No. 36 (Lotterer) to move up on its tail, but Motoyama managed to keep his lead and bring No. 1 home for the win.
This gave the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) their first victory of the season. This victory gave Motoyama his 11th GT career win and put him back in the tie for most career wins that Yuji Tachikawa (ZENT CERUMO SC430).

In the GT300 class, the pole-starting No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi) was passed shortly after the start by the No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari (Takayuki Aoki) moving up from 2nd position on the class grid. Using his Ferrari's speed on the straights, Aoki in No. 81 tried to pull away and open up a lead, but Takagi in No. 43 was able to catch up during the sequence of turns in the third sector of each lap. And finally, on the Dunlop Corner of lap 15, Takagi managed to take the lead back. Behind them, the 5th-position starter, Nobuteru Taniguchi in the No. 7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 had moved up into 3rd position.

No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari
These three leaders made their first routine pit stop in quick succession around lap 30. The No. 43 team changed drivers to Morio Nitta, No. 81 to Tomonobu Fujii and No.7 to Ryo Orime. During this pit stop, the No. 43 team changed all four tires but No. 81 and No. 7 cut their pit time by not changing tires. Nonetheless, the time they saved wasn't enough to change the running order.
At the second pit stop the No. 43 (Nitta > Takagi) team finally changed all four tires. No. 81 (Fujii > Aoki) elected to only change the two left-side tires. In contrast, the No. 7 (Orime > Taniguchi) team chose to stay with the same tires in a bold attempt to move to the front. However, the shortened pit stop wasn't enough to catch No. 43, and when all the teams had finished their second pit stop the order remained the same, with No. 43 in the lead followed by No. 81 in 2nd and No.7 in 3rd.

No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7
The finish checkered came out when the GT500 class leaders finished lap 88 to end the race. This gave the No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) team their first win of the 2009 season. And this victory extended Morio Nitta's record for most career wins in the GT300 class to 17.
Taking 2nd place in the race was the No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari (Takayuki Aoki/ Tomonobu Fujii). By coming home 3rd, the No. 7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime) team mounted the podium for the third consecutive race this season.