2016.08.07

CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R Runs Pole-to-Win for First Victory of the Year!

Round5 Fuji Speedway : Race GT500 Review

On the afternoon of August 7, the FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 5 of the 2016 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Pref.). The winner of the GT500 class race, for the first time this season, was the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R driven by Hironobu Yasuda and Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira. In the GT300 class, the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 driven by Shinichi Takagi and Takashi Kobayashi won from pole without ever effectively giving up the lead.

 

 

 

With the air temperature at 33℃ and track surface temperature at 49℃, Round 5 of the 2016 SUPER GT series at Fuji Speedway was run in some of the hottest conditions in recent years for SUPER GT. A parade lap led by nine Shizuoka Prefectural Police motorcycles and four patrol cars commenced at 2:35 pm.
Next came the formation 1-lap leading into the start, where the pole-starting No. 12 CALSONICIMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) made a good start, followed by the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama). Also, holding 3rd position was the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), meaning that the top-qualifying trio of Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 cars all held their grid positions.
As soon as they began to come up on GT300 class back markers, however, trouble befell the GT500 leaders. On the eighth lap, the No. 15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT (Hideki Mutoh) running in sixth position began streaming white smoke, probably due to a collision with the GT300 class No. 360 RUNUP Group&DOES GT-R. Then, the No. 64 Epson NSX CONCEPT-GT (Bertrand Baguette) running in 14th position suddenly returned to the pit.
Next, it was the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S RC F (James Rossiter) that, having lost its rear wing, overran the TGR (first) corner and ran off the track. Running in about 11th position at the time, the 11 No. 37 KeePer TOM'S RC F immediately returned to the pit to repair the wing. This resulted in a big time loss.
Unconcerned by the mishaps occurring behind, the No. 12 CALSONICIMPUL GT-R had built up a lead of more than 10 seconds over the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R in 2nd place. Perhaps because of the accumulating effects of the 84 kg of handicap weight, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R in third position was being caught by the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT (Takashi Kogure) and the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT (Naoki Yamamoto).
But, as the GT500 class leaders were on their 18th lap, there was an accident involving two GT300 class machines, the No. 9 GULF NAC PORSCHE 911 and No. 22 R’Qs SLS AMG GT3, at the TGR corner. From this accident, the No. 22 R’Qs SLS AMG GT3 ran to the Coca Cola Corner when its hood came off and fell onto the track. And with other mishaps like the No. 7 Studie BMW M6 slowing down, the decision was made to bring the Safety Car out to control the race.
With this, the lead that the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R had pushed to build up immediately dissolved, but with another good start when the races was restated on the 25th lap, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R began to pull away from the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R and build another substantial lead.

 

 

After the race was restarted theGT500 class teams began making their routine pit stops. Among the leaders, the Honda NSX CONCEPT-GT cars began making their stops as early as the end of the 28th lap for the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT and the 29th lap for the No.100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT. Then on the 32nd lap the 2nd-place running No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R made its stop, followed by the leading No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R and the 3rd-place No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R at the same time.
By the time all these cars had finished their pit stops, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT (Takuya Izawa) pounced on the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda) that had taken a little longer to finish its pit work, and succeeded in moving ahead of it. Then a battle raged between the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT and the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT, with the latter coming out on top to move into 3rd position.
As the race entered its latter stages, it looked as if the two Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 cars in front would be followed by the two trailing Honda NSX CONCEPT-GT cars, but on the TGR Corner of the 35th lap, Katsumasa Chiyo in the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R suffered a high-speed crash. Fortunately, Chiyo left the cockpit unharmed, but he crash took one of the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500s out of the race.
The leading No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R ran on toward the checkers with a big margin of lead reminiscent of those of the team manager Kazuyoshi Hoshino in his heyday, but behind it were two Honda NSX CONCEPT-GT cars engaged in an increasingly fierce battle of their own. When Takuya Izawa in the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT moved out in front, Koudai Tsukakoshi in the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT pushed hard to counter. Racing side-by side, they thrilled the fans around the circuit, until the 51st lap, when Tsukakoshi finally overtook Izawa to take command of 2nd position.
The No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R running in the lead managed to keep up its high pace to the end and take the checkers first. Having gotten revenge for the Round 2 at Fuji when his car came to a stop suddenly just as victory awaited, Yasuda returned to the pit and a gratifying handshake from team manager Hoshino. Finishing 2nd was the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT, while 3rd went to the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT, giving the Honda NSX CONCEPT-GT its first podium of the season, for not one but two cars. The ranking leader, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, finished 4th, while the best finish for the RC F camp was the 5th place by the No. 36 au TOM'S RC F that had risen steadily through the field.

 

 

 

 

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