2017.05.21

The au TOM'S LC500 Comes From Behind for First Win of the Season!

Round 3 Autopolis : Race GT500

The SUPER GT in KYUSHU 300 km, Round 3 of the 2017 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS (Oita Prefecture) on May 21. In the GT500 race the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Kazuki Nakajima/James Rossiter) came from seventh position at the start to take their first win of the season. It was the third straight victory of the season for a Lexus LC500 machine. In the GT300 class, the 2016 champion No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui/Kenta Yamashita) ran from pole position to take the win by the slightest of margins.

 

 

 

 

Race weekend at AUTOPOLIS was blessed with fine weather. This AUTOPOLIS circuit where the SUPER GT in KYUSHU 300km RACE is held is known as one of the most challenging courses to race in the series, and this would be the first round run here in two years due to last year’s Kumamoto Earthquakes.

Just before the start of Sunday’s race, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT had to come to a stop at trackside, just as it had in the opening round of the season and under the same conditions (according to driver Tomoki Nojiri). The subsequent repair work then prevented the No. 8 car from making it to the starting grid in time. Also, in order to make a tire change, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Takashi Kogure) was forced to make a pit start, leaving just 13 machines on the GT500 class starting grid.
After a one-lap parade lap led by five police motorcycles and two patrol cars of the Oita Prefectural Police, followed by the usual one-lap Formation Lap, the start of the 65-lap race got off at 2:07 in the afternoon.

There were no changes in the running order at the start, and a deadlock prevailed as the machines moved out. On the second lap, the pole-starting No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) recorded the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’35.661 to begin moving away from the pack at a fast pace. Its lead over the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama) in 2nd place quickly opened up to 3.468 sec. by the end of lap two, 4.820 sec. by the end of lap three and 6.019 sec. by the end of lap four, giving No. 100 a runaway lead.
However, on the fifth lap of the race the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Takashi Kobayashi) that was moving up from a pit start spun out by itself on turn #17 (last turn). It was immediately hit by the GT300 class No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT and then by the No. 18 UPGARAGE BANDOH 86. This left cars No. 8 and 31 stopped on the track, which brought the Safety Car out on the track to control the race. This unfortunately took away the margin of lead that car No. 100 had built up. On the other hand, it proved to be good luck for car No. 17, which been working up from behind the entire GT300 class after its pit start.
When the race was re-started on the 14th lap, No. 100 again tried to run away from the pack, but this time the No. 46 car in 2nd position managed to stay in contact. But when they began to come up on GT300 class back markers, now the No. 1 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Heikki Kovalainen) in 3rd position was also able to join in the chase. But on the 21st lap, car No. 46 was passed by both car No. 1 and the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (James Rossiter), dropping it immediately back to 4th position.

 

 

As the 65-lap race reached around the 30th lap, the teams began to make their routine pit stops. The No. 100car running in the lead made its pit stop on the 33rd lap. At the same time, the No. 1 car in 2nd position made its stop as well. But the crew of No. 100 took more time in their pit work and it would be car No. 1 that made it back into the race first. Car No. 36 that was temporarily running in the lead held off on its pit stop until the 35th lap and was able to returned to the race in front of No. 1
After all the cars finished their routine pit stops, the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Kazuki Nakajima) was in the lead, followed in order by the No. 1 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Kohei Hirate), No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Takuya Izawa), No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Katsumasa Chiyo), No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi), No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda).
Behind the No. 36 and No. 1 cars running in front a group of five cars were battling intensely for 3rd position. Then the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa) that had been in 8th position joined what then became a 6-car fray. But, this battle for 3rd was letting the two leaders pull away to a 30-sec. lead by the 49th lap.
Then on the 51st lap car No. 1 pulled up alongside No. 36 going into the 14th turn, but after holding an advantage for a short time, the two cars collided in the 16th turn. This caused car No. 1 to spin and run off the track. When it tried to return to the track, No. 1 was then hit from behind by the No. 50 Ferrari 488 GT3. This forced No. 1 to retire from the race.

 

 

Meanwhile, Kazuki Nakajima in car No. 36 managed to keep running alone in the lead and went on to take the checkered flag and the win with a lead of 26 sec. This gave the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 its first win of the season. And it was the third victory in a row from the opening round by Lexus LC500 machines.
In the final stages of the race a battle for 2nd developed between the No. 100 car and the No. 17 car chasing it. On the 53rd lap, No. 17 managed to move into 2nd position. After that, the No. 100 car now in 3rd position was being chased by car No. 46, and on the 57th lap they were joined by the No. 23 car that had moved up to 5th position, which left Izawa in No. 100 being chased by two GT-Rs.
With three laps remaining in the race, No. 46 finally caught No. 100 on the first turn of the 62nd lap, but then, when a GT300 car ran came to a stop beside the track at the 2nd turn, a Yellow Flag was displayed. This forced No. 46 to hold back temporarily. When it tried to begin moving toward the front again, however, this time there was a car stopped by machine trouble on the 11th turn, which once again brought out the Yellow Flag. With No. 46’s passing points being taken away like this, No. 100 gained the advantage and managed to hold on to 3rd position.
Finishing the race in 2nd place was the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT that had worked up all the way from a pit start, and struggling on to hang on to a 3rd-place finish was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT. This gave the Honda NSX-GT its first podium finishes of the season with 2nd and 3rd place.

 

 

 

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