The Takanokono Hotel FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 5 of the 2020 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the Fuji Speedway (one lap 4,563m×66 laps) in Shizuoka Prefecture on October 4 (Sun). In the GT500 class, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra (Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama) came from 5th place on the starting grid to run away in the final stages and take its first win of the season. In the GT300 class, REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) gave team manager Masahiko Kondo’ team its first class victory.

　Due to an accident by two GT500 class cars on the first lap of the race, the Safety Car had to be brought out early on. Meanwhile, in the GT300 class, the pole-starting Ryohei Sakaguchi in the No. 6 ADVICS muta 86MC kept his lead. He was followed by Yuhki Nakayama in the No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT and Hideki Yamauchi in the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT.

　The race was restarted after the Safety Car left the track on the 5th lap. Big excitement came early on as Kiyoto Fujinami in the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R charged forward from a 6th-position start to take 4th position after the restart and then press on to pass car No. 61 on the 9th lap and No. 31 on the 12th lap. Finally, on the 15th lap Fujinami passed car No. 6 to take the lead. Behind the now leading car No. 56 there was one battle after another back in the pack throughout the early stages of the race. Another car that had been moving up at a fast pace was the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT driven by Kohta Kawaai. Emerging successfully from battles with car No. 31 and others, Kawaai was now in position to go for a podium finish.

　As the race passed its 19th lap, the teams began to make their pit stops. Making its pit stop on the 20th lap, was the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 running 9th position, and their driver change was made from Shinichi Takagi to Toshiki Oyu. The other teams in the lead group made their pit stops one after another between the 21st and 29th laps. Among these teams were ones that saved pit time by reducing the number of tires they changed.

　The leading car No. 56 made its pit stop at the end of the 29th lap and changed drivers from Fujinami to Joao Paulo de Oliveira while also changing all four tires. Meanwhile, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG that had continued to run on and move up to 3rd position finally made its pit stop at the end of the 32nd lap. The team changed drivers from Togo Suganami to Naoya Gamou and then opted to change only the cars two left-side tires. Also, car No. 52 waited till the end of the 33rd lap before making its pit stop and changing driver from Kawaai to Yoshida, while opting to change none of its tires for a big reduction in pit time. By the time all of the teams had finished their pit stops, car No. 52 that had chosen a no-tire-change strategy was in the lead, with cars No. 56 and also No. 65 giving chase. Running in 4th position was car No. 55 that had opted for an early pit stop, and behind that came No. 6 (Kotaka).

　Car No. 52 continued to run in the lead, but because of its no-tire-change strategy, it was beginning to struggle to keep up the pace. What at one point had been a lead of almost 10 seconds was now being cup away by Oliveira in car No. 56, first by one second a lap and then by two. It was on the TGR (first) corner of the 47th lap that No. 56 finally caught and passed No. 52. Once having regained the race lead, No. 56 kept its fast pace ad began to run away with a visibly growing margin over No. 52.

　Running on this way to a big lead, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami /Joao Paulo de Oliveira) crossed the finish line first to give the KONDO RACING team its first victory in its second year of competition in the GT300 class. For Oliveira, it was his first GT300 class win, while for Fujinami, it was his first victory in a year, following his win in Round 5 at Fuji in the 2019 series.

　The battle for 2nd place saw car No. 65 close in fast on car No. 52. Then, during a fierce battle between the two cars, car No. 55 also caught up to make it a 3-way fight. On the 60th lap, as cars No. 52 and No. 65 were maneuvering to block each other, Oyu in car No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 ceased a chance to slip past both cars at once and go on to finish the race in 2nd place. On the final lap of the race, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG succeeded in passing No. 52 to take 3rd place. This left the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB GR Supra GT in a disappointed 4th place.

　With these Round 5 results, the Drivers standings have the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG pair of Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami on top with 50 points. By finishing this day’s race in 10th place and getting one series point, the No.11 GAINER TANAX GT-R pair (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda) hold on to 2nd position in the standings. Thirst place in the standings goes to today’s winner, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R pair of Fujinami and Oliveira.