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.

　　This Round 4 race became the first SUPER GT race to be run with a 350km format. The race got underway at 2:30 in the afternoon with nine Shizuoka Prefectural Police motorcycles and four patrol cars leading a running traffic safety promotion parade run followed by the 42 participating SUPER GT race cars and then one formation lap before bursting into action at the start of the 77-lap race to battle in the blazing summer heat.

　Taking the lead at the start from pole position was the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita). Following in 2nd position came the No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) and in 3rd position the No. 64 Modulo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Takuya Izawa/Riki Okusa) to complete the opening lap in their respective qualifying positions.

　From that first lap, Nojiri in car No. 8 began to pull away from the pack to build a lead of 3.3 sec. by the 15th lap and expand it to 4.3 sec. by the 25th lap of the race. Behind the leaders, a GT300 car came to a stop in the run-off area of the Dunlop Corner. This led to the calling of an FCY (Full Course Yellow) until the 29th lap, and after the restart of the race car No. 8 continued to hold its fast pace and expand its lead over 2nd place.

　After starting the race from 8th position on the grid, the No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima/Nirei Fukuzumi) came through the 1st lap in 6th position and then went on to catch and overtake the No. 12 MARELLI IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) on the 13th lap to move into 5th position. At the TGR (1st) Corner of the 21st lap, No. 14 went on to pass the No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura/Toshiki Oyu), and then on the Panasonic (last) corner of 26th lap it overtook car No. 64 to move all the way up into 3rd position.

　The leading car No. 8 made its pit stop on the 34th lap of the race. After refueling and changing tires, it returned to the track with Matsushita now at the wheel and still maintaining the lead. Meanwhile, car No. 100 running in 2nd position had already finished its pit stop by the 32nd lap, and with second driver Yamamoto now at the wheel, he began charging at a high pace from his first lap on the track and started closing in on the leading car No. 8. Eventually, No. 100 was able to close to within 1.281 sec. of No. 8 by the 43rd lap. Continuing that charge, No. 100 further closed the gap with the leader to 0.417 sec. by the 47th lap.

　With this development, Matsushita in No. 8 also began to pick up the pace. But still, No. 100 continued to hold on. The two cars raced on while passing GT300 class cars, and by the 48th lap, the gap between them was 0.932 sec. And on the 49th lap it narrowed to 0.762 sec. and widened again to 0.970 sec. on the 50th lap and then back to 0.724 sec. on the 51st lap what continued as a see-saw battle.

　This intense battle continued to the 53rd lap, after which it appeared as if the tires of car No. 100 were beginning to show wear as it continued to chase No. 8, and after the gap widened to 1.335 sec. on the 54th lap, No. 8 began to pull away in the lead. That lead continued to grow to 2.512 sec. on the 61st lap and 3.338 sec. by the 64th lap and wider still to 4.386 sec. by the 69th lap. From this point onward it became a defensive battle to victory for Matsushita in car No. 8.

　In the end, the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita) finished the 77 laps of the race with a lead of 3.277 sec. over car No. 100. For the ARTA car No. 8, it was the first victory since last season’s Round 5, and for Nojiri it was his 10th victory overall. For Matsushita, who joined the team from this season, it was his third victory and the first since Round 7 of the 2022 season. Also, for the new Honda CIVIC TYPE R-GT that debuted this season, it was the momentous first victory in only its fourth race.

　Though eventually failing to catch No. 8, the No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) finished the race in 2nd place. With this second podium finish since the one in the opening round, the No. 100 team maintained its ranking of 2nd in the Drivers standing.

　The battle for 3rd place that continued through the second half of the race was one between two TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 cars. After starting from 4th position on the grid, car No. 38 was passed for a while by car No. 14 and fell to 5th position. However, by making an earlier pit stop than its rival, No. 14 sought to pull off an undercut and regain its former position. On his first lap on the track as the second driver, Oyu, succeeded in passing the car No. 64 that had been running strongly since the qualifying. Then he went on to pass No. 14. In this way, the No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura/Toshiki Oyu) managed to take its first podium finish in just its fourth race under the leadership of its new manager, Yuji Tachikawa.

　As for the No. 12 MARELLI IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) that had started the race from 6th position on the grid, it managed to finish the race in 5th position, as the fastest of the Nissan Z NISMO GT500 cars.

　Meanwhile, the leader in the series point standings, the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Kenta Yamashita), which had to start the race from a difficult 14th position on the grid, once again showed its strength by working up steadily through the field. Especially over the second half of the race, climbing up from outside the series point range, it passed one car after another, and on the final lap of the race managed to pass the No. 17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Kakunoshin Ohta) to finish in 7th place. With this, the team claimed a valuable four series points to maintain its lead in the standings, apparently aiming eventually for consecutive titles.