2017.08.06

ARTA BMW M6 GT3 of the same team scores perfect GT300 win

Round 5 Fuji Speedway : Race GT300

The FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 5 of the 2017 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Pref.) on August 6. In the GT500 class the ARTA NSX-GT driven by Tomoki Nojiri and Takashi Kobayashi, while the GT300 class winner was the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Sean Walkinshaw) of the same team, with both cars racing from pole position to their first win of the season in their respective classes, a first in SUPER GT history.

 

 

 

At the start of the GT300 race, the pole-sitting No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) got away well into the lead, followed by the No. 7 Studie BMW M6(Seiji Ara), the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka) and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi), all passing through the TGR Corner in their qualifying (grid) order. Behind them, there was a collision involving the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG (Hiroki Kurosawa) and the No. 3 B-MAX NDDP GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino). Car No. 3 ran off the track at the second turn as a result. A damaged suspension ended the race for No. 3 at that point.
In the early stages of the race, Takagi in the ARTA BMW M6 GT3 began to gradually pull away from another BMW M6 GT3 in 2nd place, car No. 7, and by the 20th lap Takagi had built up a 20-second margin of lead. Behind No. 7, car No. 4 followed less than one second, keeping the pressure on, but unable to overtake No. 7. A battle for 4th position developed between car No. 61 and the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Rintaro Kubo) that saw car No. 31 nose in front, but No. 61 staying closely engaged.

The strategic maneuvering began when car No. 31 in 4th position chose to be the first of the lead group to make its routine pit stop at the end of lap 22. Here, the team decided to go without a tire change, thus getting the second stint driver Koki Saga back in the race in just about 21 seconds. On the next lap, car No. 7 also made its routine stop, but the team opted for a tire change that took about 40 seconds and thus let car No. 31 get in front of it. Car No. 4 running in 2nd position made its pit stop at the end of lap 27, and car No. 61 followed suit on lap 30.
In contrast, running consistently at a lap pace of just around 1’41, car No. 55 continued to extend its first stint, holding off on its pit stop. Just past the halfway point of the race, the leading car No. 55 finally made its pit stop on lap 35. The teams mechanics did their pit work of changing all four tires and refueling and sent the second stint driver Sean Walkinshaw back into the race without mishap.

 

 

Although the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Walkinshaw) had effectively held its lead through the pit stop, the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga) that had moved up with a fast no-tire-change pit strategy was now just two seconds behind. But Walkinshaw worked hard to stay in front and gradually began to increase his lead over No. 31. Seeing this, No. 31 was now more concerned about the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi) moving up on its tail than giving chase to the leader. And on lap 41, No. 4 succeeded in passing No. 31 and began chasing the leading car No. 55.
By lap 43, all of the GT300 cars had finished their routine pit stops. This put car No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Walkinshaw) in the lead again, chased by car No. 4 about four seconds behind. Just as it looked like the veteran Taniguchi might begin closing on the rookie Walkinshaw, it was Walkinshaw who made a charge, recording the fastest lap of the race (1’40.121). Rather than closing on the leader, Taniguchi was actually losing ground. With about 10 laps left in the race, the gap between the two leaders was more than seven seconds. Eventually, by the final lap the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 had built up a lead of almost 10 second over car No. 4 in second place. And, due in part to the timing of the finish of the GT500 class-winning No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT, No. 55 became the only GT300 car to finish more than 62 laps.

 

 

With this, the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Sean Walkinshaw) won its first victory since last year’s Round 5 at Fuji Speedway. This win gave Takagi his 18th career victory in the GT300 class, bringing him into a tie with his senior Morio Nitta (No. 50 Ferrari 488 GT3) for most wins in the class. And for the rookie Walkinshaw, it was his first SUPER GT victory in only his fifth race in the series. Also, in the GT500 class race, the winner was the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT of the same AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI, bringing the team the first “double win” in SUPER GT history with two cars from the same team winning both classes in the same race.
Finishing 2nd was the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka) that had chased car No. 55 to the end despite fear of running out of gas. Although it was a disappointing result for the No. 4 team, the 2nd-place finish moved Taniguchi and Kataoka to the top of the Drivers Championship ranking with 50 points. Finishing 3rd after a late-race battle between two JAF-GT300 cars was the No.31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga/Rintaro Kubo) and 4th place went to the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi).
The No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Kenta Yamashita in the first half, Takamitsu Matsui in the second half) that had led the ranking through the last round, which had used its signature no-tire-change strategy to try to move up from its 12th position grid start and indeed managed to move up as far as 7th position, then suffered electrical system problems that forced it to return to the pit on lap 46. Eventually, the car was unable to return to the race, thus ending the day with no points. As a result, the Matsui-Yamashita pair dropped to 2nd place in the ranking, nine points behind the car No. 4 pair of Taniguchi and Kataoka. Moving up to 3rd place in the standings with 39 points is this day’s winners, the car No. 55 pair of Takagi and Walkinshaw.

 

 

 

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