2009 SUPER GT Round4

No.17 KEIHIN NSX Before the start of the race, and unexpected upset came when the pole-sitting No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R developed transmission trouble after taking position on the grid and had to be pushed back to the pit. With amazing speed the No. 1 team fixed the trouble and managed to start the race from the pit, but by that point victory was no more than a distant dream.
This put the 2nd-place qualifying No.3 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli/Hironobu Yasuda) effectively in the top position for the start. Just after the start, Quintarelli in car No. 3 had no trouble holding off the machines behind him trying to jump into the lead, and he went on to come through the first lap holding on to 1st position.
After that, Quintarelli managed to maintain a roughly 2-second lead over the No.18 ROCKSTAR DOME NSX (Takashi Kogure) and handed to the wheel over to teammate Hironobu Yasuda with the lead in tact at the end of lap 30. The No. 3 team's pit work was also fast, taking only 29 seconds and keeping the team effectively in the lead when Yasuda got back into the race.
Meanwhle in 2nd place, Ryo Michigami, who had taken over the driving responsibilities for No. 18, spun out after being bumped from behind by the No. 12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R (Sebastien Philippe). This not only caused a big time loss but also machine damage that dropped No. 18 out of the competition for the lead. This moved the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman/Takuya Izawa) into 2nd place for a while, but Izawa was unable to hold a fast enough pace to ward off a charge from behind by the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX (Toshihiro Kaneishi/Koudai Tsukakoshi), which eventually passed him.

No.8 ARTA NSX Watching this battle for 2nd behind him, Yasuda in car No. 3 continued to run well in the lead. After building up a 20-sec. lead, Yasuda was able to relax and cruise on in full control to a runaway victory.
This was the first GT500 win for the HASEMI MOTOR SPORT team since Round 7 of last year. For Quintarelli it was his second GT win, and for Yasuda it was his first in the GT500 class. For the Nissan GT-R, it marked the third win in four starts this season. This also marked the first GT500 win for a machine on Michelin tires since Round 3 of the 2001 season at SUGO, won by the MATSUKYO ZENT TOM's Supra (Shinichi Yamaji/Wayne Gardner).
Finishing 2nd came the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX (Toshihiro Kaneishi/Koudai Tsukakoshi), for their first podium of the season. It was a race where the spirited driving by Tsukakoshi in his stint in the second half stood out. For Tsukakoshi it was his first SUPER GT podium finish, and for the team it was the first since a 3rd-place in the final round of the 2007 series at Suzuka.

Third place went to the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman/Takuya Izawa). Starting as the 5th-place qualifier, Firman had kept 4th position during the first half of the race. Thanks in part to a 2-tire change [instead of 4] strategy, No. 8 had climbed to 2nd position after the pit stop, but eventually it was passed by Tsukakoshi in car No. 17 on the last curve of lap 48. This fact made it a somewhat disappointing podium.
The ranking leader, No. 24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira/Seiji Ara), finished 5th here in Sepang. Starting with a minimum fuel load, de Oliveira had climbed to 3rd position at one point, but after making the earliest pit stop of the lead pack at the end of lap 20, Ara was unable to hold that position, probably because of the handicap weights the team was carrying. However, the 6 series points gained from the 5th-place finish was enough to keep their lead in the season ranking.
After losing their pole position due to pre-race machine trouble and having to start from the pit area, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) managed to finish the race in 8th position.

The winner of the GT300 class race, the No. 2 I.M JIHAN CO. LTD APPLE Shiden, had won the pole position in Saturday's qualifying only to have it taken away due to a handicap weight infraction that forced it to start Sunday's race from the very back of the grid.
The starting driver, Hiroki Katoh was aided in his effort to move up through the pack when a crash occurred on lap 1 that took several competitors out of the middle of the field and allowed Katoh to move up to 10th position all at once. After that he continued to pass his rivals at a pace of about one car per lap until he stood in 3rd position by lap 9. Still charging, he then took 2nd position on lap 11. Making an early pit stop at the end of lap 20, the team smoothly changed tires, refueled and turned over the wheel to Hiroki Yoshimoto with no time loss.

No.19 WedsSport IS350
The leading No. 19 WedsSport IS350 (Manabu Orido) made its pit stop on lap 25, and despite the mistake-free pit work, the second-stint driver, Tatsuya Kataoka returned to the track to find himself behind Yoshimoto in car No. 2.
From there, the gap between the two lead machines remained unchanged and No. 2 ran on to victory with a 9-sec. margin. This marked the team's first victory since round 6 of the 2007 season, the Pokka 1000km (Suzuka).
Finishing 2nd was the No. 9 WedsSport IS350 (Manabu Orido/Tatsuya Kataoka), whose 15 points moved the team up one position in the season ranking.

No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7 The 3rd-place finishing No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime) is a team that has done well on the Sepang course in years past, but a heavy 74kg of handicap weights this time made racing tough. Nonetheless, the first driver, Taniguchi, managed to work up from 11th position on the class grid to take 6th position by the time of the pit stop. After some fast pit work, the team managed to return to the race and quickly take 3rd position. The points from this finish have moved them into the lead in the season ranking.
The ranking leader up until this round, the No. 3 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi), could only finish 10th this time with its load of 82kg of handicap weights plus a special performance inhibiting handicap. This combined handicap was enough to strip them of the series lead.