The FUJIMAKI GROUP MOTEGI GT 300km RACE, Round 7 of the 2020 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held on the afternoon of November 8 (Sun) at Twin Ring Motegi (one lap 4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Pref. In the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) took the lead from a 2nd-position start to run away to its first win of the season. In the GT300 class, the No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) took its second win of the season.

　At the start of the GT300 class race, the pole-starting No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi) led the charge through the first corner. Starting from 2nd position on the grid, the No. 244 Takanoko-no-yu RC F GT3 (Rintaro Kubo) found the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda) drawing up on its shoulder but No. 244 managed to keep its position. However, due to it having to change to a new chassis after a crash in the official practice in Round 6 at Suzuka, No. 244 carried a penalty that required it to make a pit stop of 15 sec. that dropped it back in the field.

　In the front, car No. 61 managed to gradually increase its lead in the early going. But car No. 11 running in 2nd place found itself under pressure from behind by the No. 360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R (Takuya Otaki), which had already passed the No. 25 HOPPY Porsche (Kimiya Sato) on the first lap of the race. Also moving up into 4th position was No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami), followed by car No. 25, the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka), the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Toshiki Oyu) and the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Kosuke Matsuura), all battling closely.

　A big development occurred in the race when the GT500 class was entering the 22nd lap of the race. The No. 5 MACH5G GTNET MC86 MACHSYAKEN (Natsu Sakaguchi) came to a stop in front of the green of the “V” corner. On the 24th lap, the Safety Car came out to control the race until car No. 5 could be removed. Many of the GT300 class cars had not made their pit stops at this point, but the cars that had entered the pit before that, including cars No. 4, No. 56 and No. 18 would find themselves with a big advantage when the Safety Car finally withdrew. The No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Togo Suganami) had made its pit stop before the Safety Car appearance but had opted for a no-tire-change strategy to help it jump up into the points range, but when the Safety Car entered just in front of it, that attempted gain went for nothing.

　The race was restarted on what would be the 29th lap for the GT500 class. Within the next three laps after that, the GT300 machines that had not yet made their pit stops began to return to the pits to do so. By the time all the cars had completed their pit stops, Taniguchi was in the lead in car No. 4 followed by de Oliveira in car No. 56 and Kobayashi in car No. 18. However, due to a penalty acquired during its pit stop, No. 18 was given a drive-through penalty, and now in 3rd positions after making its pit stop after the Safety Car withdrawal and electing for no tire change was the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida).

　Among the cars that had made their pit stops after the Safety Car withdrew, Iguchi in the No. 61 car that had led in the early stages of the race now stood in 4th position. Car No. 25 had adopted a strategy of completing all of its pit work except the required driver change while the Safety Car was on the track, so the team quickly returned to the pit to change drivers to Matsui after the Safety Car withdrew and with that was able to rise to 5th position. Meanwhile, Hiranaka in car No. 11 had won a battle with Aoki in car No. 360 and was now closing in on car No. 25.

　In the middle stages of the race the battle for the lead intensified. From the 31st lap into the 32nd lap, Taniguchi in car No. 4 and de Oliveira in car No. 56 were in a side-by-side fight with neither giving any ground. Eventually it was car No. 56 that emerged in the lead. In the final stages of the race, the race for 3rd place heated up. Gradually losing pace after opting for no tire change, car No. 52 was now receiving pressure from cars No. 61 and No. 11, while car No. 360 was also closing in to make it a four-car fight. In the 55th lap this contest took an unexpected turn. As cars No. 61 and No. 11 battled through the 5th corner, the two collided and after a spin and a quick recovery found himself back in 6th position.

　The battle for the lead went right down to the line with about a 1-sec. gap between the two, but the No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) was able to hold its lead all the way to the finish line and thus take its second win of the season after the one in Round 5 at Fuji. With this, No. 56 will also go into the final round of the season as leader in the Drivers title ranking. Finishing 2nd was the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka), claiming its second consecutive podium finish. And finishing 3rd by passing car No. 52 in the final lap of the race came the No. 360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R (Takayuki Aoki/Takuya Otaki), which gave the team its first podium finish.

　Fourth place went to the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai). Finishing in 5th place was the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda), but due to a penalty for the collision with No. 61, its position was dropped to 9th place. Still, No. 11 stands in 3rd place in the title standings and within reach of a reverse title win in the final round. With these results, the 5th-place No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) will also have a shot at the title in the final round. Having won no points in this race, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou/Togo Suganami) drops to 2nd position in the standings, while No. 56 will have a 5-point lead as it tries to win back the season title.