Japanese
The 41st International Pokka 1000km, Round 5 of the 2012 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on the afternoon of August 19 at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture. In the GT500 class, victory went to the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Masataka Yanagida / Ronnie Quintarelli), while in the GT300 class race the No. 66 triple a vantage GT3 (Hiroki Yoshioto / Kazuki Hoshino) emerged with the win.
Weather: Clear Course: Dry
Temperature/track temperature: Beginning of the race: 32°C./50°C., Midpoint: 31°C./52°C., Endpoint: 29°C./37°C.
S Road REITO MOLA GT-R loses ground temporarily despite good start
With the race distance returned to 1,000 km after a shorter distance last year, the start of the 41st International Pokka 1000km was moved up to 12:30 in the afternoon. Under clear mid-summer skies, the air temperature at the start of the 173-lap race was 32˚ C. and the track surface temperature soared to 50˚ C. At the start there were no big changes in the order of the leading cars, as the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) started well from pole position and led into the first turn, followed by the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura), the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Daisuke Ito) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama).
On the fifth lap, however, a series of upsets began as the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Kohei Hirate) running in 8th position spun out at the spoon and lost a full lap. Then on lap nine, the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Loic Duval) suffered a burst right rear tire. Duval made it back to return to the pit but the decision was made to retire from the race. Behinds the leading No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R, No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 and the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430, a 3-way battle for 4th place took shape between the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda).
The fast pace of the leading No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R didn’t slow even after it began to encounter back markers from the seventh and eighth laps, and it gradually extended its lead over the pursuers. In contrast, the competition was growing hotter from 2nd position on down. The first to make a decisive move was the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R, which passed the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 on the hairpin of lap 21 to take over 3rd position.
As the track surface temperature climbed to 52˚ C, many of the teams began to be troubled by excessive tire wear and make their first routine pit stops starting from around lap 30. The No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R 30 running in 3rd position made its pit stop on lap 32, followed by the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R on the next lap, where it changed drivers from Quintarelli to Masataka Yanagida. The No. 24 D'station ADVAN GT-R (Bjorn Wirdheim), which had climbed to 4th position by this point also made its pit stop on this 33rd lap, followed by the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 on lap 34 and the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 on lap 35.
Things look to be going well for the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Yanagida) by the time all of the teams finished their pit stops after the 37th lap. The pursuing No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) and No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka) were unable to close the gap on the leader, which was actually growing instead. Then trouble struck Yanagida, as his car hit a GT300 back marker on the Deguna turn of lap 41, forcing his to return to the pit for an emergency stop on lap 43.
This put the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Oliveira) in the lead. Mishaps continued as the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Kazuya Oshima) suffered a burst right front tire on the 50th lap, sending it back to the pit and out of the race.
Trouble struck again on the entrance to the chicane of the 59th lap when the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 (Takashi Kobayashi) collided with the No. 52 GREEN TEC & LEON SLS (Haruki Kurosawa). The No. 52 GREEN TEC & LEON SLS ran off the track and struck the guardrail, which brought out the Safety Car on the 61st lap. The leading No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R took this opportunity to make a pit stopand change drivers to Tsugio Matsuda. This move put the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka) in the lead, but only until it was caught and passed by the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Yanagida) on lap 67 after the Safety Car had left the track.
Young drivers prevail in the last ten lap’s battle for podium position
After a pit stop on lap 76, the steering wheel of the leading No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R was once again in the hands of Quintarelli. In the interim the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Motoyama) had taken the lead, only to suffer a slow puncture on lap 81 that sent it back to the pit. About the same time, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 (Ishiura) developed drive train trouble near the exit of the pit lane that took it out of the race as well. These events left the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Tsukakoshi) in the lead until its rear tire burst on the home straight of lap 93. This was followed by an emergency pit stop for the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa) on lap 98 due to a radiator leak that cost a big time loss. The series of upsets seemed to settle down by the 100th lap and the lead order stood firm again with the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R in the lead followed by fellow GT-R machines in the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R and the No. 24 D'station ADVAN GT-R. Trouble struck again on the 158th lap as the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Tsukakoshi) that had climbed to 6th position suffered a big crash on the 130R turn resulting from a burst right rear tire. This brought out the Safety Car for a second time and allowed the gaps between the competitors to close rapidly once again. Taking this opportunit, the No. 35 KeePer Kraft SC430 (Yuji Kunimoto) made a charge at the leading GT-R machines. Kunimoto managed to pass the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R on lap 165 to move into 3rd position. He then overtook the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R with a bold move on the 130R turn of the 167th lap to claim 2nd position. Behind Kunimoto, the No. 24 D'station ADVAN GT-R (Wirdheim) also made a move and overtook the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R on the first turn of lap 170 to take 3rd position. This action kept the spectators on the edge of their seats right down to the last laps of the spectacular 1,000 km race. But, in the end the winner was the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R, showing it had speed to spare with a succession of fastest laps in the final stages of the race. This impressive pole-to-win performance made up for the team’s disappointing loss here last year, while bringing its much-awaited first win of the season. Following the No. 35 KeePer Kraft SC430 and No. 24 D'station ADVAN GT-R in 2nd and third places came the No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R in 4th and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R in 5th. Finishing 6th was the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430. As many of the top teams in the season ranking fell by the wayside in this tough race, the point-leading No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 held on to finish 9th and barely hold on to its lead in the ranking.
No. 0 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW’s early lead comes to a sudden stop
The start of the GT300 race saw the pole-starting No. 16 MUGEN CR-Z GT (Hideki Mutoh) quickly passed after brilliant starts by the 2nd and 3rd position No. 0 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW (Tatsuya Kataoka) and No. 3 S Road NDDP GT-R (Yuhi Sekiguchi). After that, No. 16 was unable to increase its pace but still managed to stay within shot of its first series points in 10th position until the end of the race when drive train trouble finally dropped it to 11th position, just out of the points.
After passing No. 16, Kataoka in car No. 0 had the lead and was chased by Sekiguchi in car No. 3. Meanwhile, the attention of many of the spectators was focused on the amazing exploits of another car far back in the field. That car was the No. 66 triple a vantage GT3 (Kazuki Hoshino) that had been forced to start from the very last position on the class grid after its record-breaking top qualifying time had been erased due to a violation found in the post-qualifying car inspection. After just eight laps of the race, Hoshino had climbed through the pack and now was closing in on car No. 3 in 2nd position and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Kota Sasaki) just behind it. By lap 10 Hoshino was locked onto Kataoka in car No. 0. It only took Hoshino (No. 66) six laps to erase a 6-second gap and finally take the lead on lap 15. Due to the poorer fuel economy of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the fast pace of the charge Hoshino had made up through the pack, it was clear that the triple a vantage GT3 was going to need one more pit stop than its rival, car No. 0. Knowing this, Hoshino continued to press hard once in the lead and open up a gap over the competition. In contrast, the strategy of the GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW was to conserve fuel and take the lead back at the end with one less fuel stop. However, just before making its first pit stop, the BMW came to a sudden stop on the S-turn of lap 34. It appeared to have miscalculated its fuel reserve and the mistake took it out of the race.
This left it up to the No. 3 S Road NDDP GT-R (Sekiguchi > Katsumasa Chiyo) and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Sasaki > Tetsuya Yamano) to chase No. 66.But, neither machine was able to keep ace with No. 66 (Hoshino > Hiroki Yoshimoto), and by the 50th lap the leader had opened up a margin of nearly 60 seconds. Then, on the hairpin of lap 53, the No. 52 GREEN TEC & LEON SLS (Haruki Kurosawa) collided with the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 (Takashi Kobayashi) as the two machines battled in 7th and 8th place. As No. 8 was moving to the inside to try to pass the car in front of it, the moved pushed Kurosawa in car No. 52 into the guardrail and up onto it, causing it to crash. To clear up this accident the Safety Car was brought in and all the cars were brought to a stop on the main straight in their race order. Fortunately, Kurosawa was not injured seriously.
An accident-ridden survival race takes shape
After the race was restarted, the leading No. 66 made its routine pit stop (Hoshino>Yoshimoto), leaving Sasaki in car No. 61 with the lead. Having won consecutive Suzuka races in 2010 and 2011, the LEGACY B4 was expected to be the number one rival for car No. 66 in this race. But, on the 130R turn of lap 93, No. 61 suddenly came to a stop. As with No. 0, the team apparently tried to push their advantage too far and ran out of gas.
Running at an unfaltering pace, Yoshimoto in car No. 66 now had only one rival still giving chase, Chiyo in car No. 3. However, as the race passed the 100th lap, the gap between No. 66 and No. 3 was more than 60 seconds. After that, both No. 66 and No. 3 came up on back markers. But, No. 66 was going to need one more pit stop than No. 3, and that stop was made on lap 137 (Hoshino > Yoshimoto). The margin between the two cars was one minute and 20 seconds at that point, which appeared to be more than enough to carry Yoshimoto in car No. 66 on to victory.
Now attention focused on a third driver, the former GT500 champion Richard Lyons, who had been climbing through the pack with outstanding driving in the No. 21 ZENT Audi R8 LMS (Lyons > Akihiro Tsuzuki > Lyons). Now Lyons (No. 21) had closed to within six seconds of 2nd-place Sekiguchi in car No. 3. But, as Lyons pushed to close the gap further, his Audi R8 LMS (No. 21) suddenly came to a stop with fuel system trouble on the 145th lap. This left car No. 66 and the 2nd-place car No. 3 alone and unchallenged in the lead. And, it looked as if that was how the race would end.
Shortly afterwards, however, the GT500 class No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 had a big crash. The Safety Car came out again and Yoshimoto in car No. 66 lost his margin of lead all at once. Meanwhile, Sekiguchi in car No. 3 made his last pit stop during the SC run. When the race was restarted with 11 laps remaining, it was a head-on-head battle between the fleeing Yoshimoto in car No. 66 and the pursuing Sekiguchi 13 seconds back in car No. 3. Suddenly, No. 66 was struck by engine trouble that allowed No. 3 to close the gap steadily. Just when it looked like the race would come down to an exciting last-lap contest, Sekiguchi in car No. 3 was given a 10-second penalty stop for passing another car in a yellow-flag zone. Because Sekiguchi still had a one-lap lead over the No. 88 Monepa LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Takayuki Aoki) in 3rd place, he was able to hang on to 2nd place, but any chance of catching No. 66 was now gone. This secured a fine pole-to-goal victory for the No. 66 triple a vantage GT3. But, after the finish the toll that the fierce race had taken on No. 66 became evident during Yoshimoto’s winning lap, when the car developed engine trouble and a fire started under the floor. Everyone watched anxiously as Yoshimoto and the course officials rushed to put out the flames.
Finishing in 2nd came the No. 3 S Road NDDP GT-R and the No. 88 Monepa LAMBORGHINI GT3 came home in 3rd place.
This win moved the No. 66 drivers Hiroki Yoshimoto and Kazuki Hoshino into first place in the drivers’ ranking, just one point ahead of 2nd-place No. 3 drivers Yuhi Sekiguchi and Katsumasa Chiyo. Overcoming machine trouble and a penalty, the No. 11 team drivers Tetsuya Tanaka and Katsuyuki Hiranaka (GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS) managed to finish 5th and stand in 3rd place in the ranking. Having retired from the race and no-pointing, the No. 0 drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka now stand 6th I the ranking, 12 points behind the leaders Yoshimoto and Hoshino.
GT500
No.1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R
Ronnie Quintarelli
"When the safety car came out the first time I had a 50-second lead coming out of the pit, but I never dreamed that the safety car would come out a second time. But, I just concentrated on the restart. In the end I didn’t worry about the fuel consumption and just pushed hard. I really enjoyed it. I also got lots of power from the Nissan cheering section. I tried to show my gratitude by answering with the engine sound I made after finishing the winning lap.”
Masataka Yanagida"I have long dreamed of winning the legendary Pokka 1000km, so I am especially happy with this result. When I had the collision with the GT300 machine I almost lost hope for a while, but I was able to keep running without losing my concentration and I believe that is what contributed to this result. In the next race I plan to carry the handicap weights we get from this win like a medal of honor and do the best I can.”
GT300
No.66 triple a vantage GT3
Kazuki Hoshino
"The car was in good condition from the very start on Saturday morning. And it was great through the qualifying, but then that (disqualification and having to start from the back of the grid) happened and, to tell the truth, I had almost given up hope. But, after a good night’s sleep, I woke up this morning and said to myself, ‘I’m never going to give up.’ The car and the tires were simply the best. It was a really good weekend.”
Hiroki Yoshimoto
"The car was in good condition from the very start on Saturday morning. And it was great through the qualifying, but then that (disqualification and having to start from the back of the grid) happened and, to tell the truth, I had almost given up hope. But, after a good night’s sleep, I woke up this morning and said to myself, ‘I’m never going to give up.’ The car and the tires were simply the best. It was a really good weekend.”
| 4/13-14 | Round1 OKAYAMA | |
| 5/03-04 | Round2 FUJI | |
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6/01-02 | Round3 SUZUKA |
| 8/03-04 | Round4 FUJI | |
| 8/31-9/01 | Round5 SUZUKA | |
| 9/21-22 | Round6 SUGO | |
| 10/19-20 | Round7 AUTOPOLIS | |
| 11/02-03 | Round8 MOTEGI |