2017.08.27

The last SUZUKA 1000km race is won by the Epson Modulo NSX-GT, in a second straight victory for the NSX-GT!

Round 6 Suzuka Circuit : Race GT500

On August 27, the “46th INTERNATIONAL SUZUKA 1000km”, Round 6 of the 2017 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture. In this, the last running of the race as the SUZUKA 1000km, the winner of the GT500 race was the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT driven by Kosuke Matsuura and Bertrand Baguette. In the GT300 class, the winner was the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG driven by Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou.

 

 

 

Race day dawned with clear skies and would be a hot day for racing. The track surface temperature before the start of the race had climbed to 50℃, meaning that a long and tough race lay ahead.
Being the last holding of this race as the “SUZUKA 1000km,” a large turnout of some 45,000 fans were gathered to watch the signal turn green to start the race at 12:38 in the afternoon.

The SUZUKA 1000km was scheduled to be competed over 173 laps of the circuit or until the time limit of 18:28 in the evening. At the start, the No. 24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira) dashed into the lead, followed in order by the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Yuhi Sekiguchi), No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT (Bertrand Baguette), No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Katsumasa Chiyo) and No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Jann Mardenborough).
The early stages of the race would be a competition between these six machines, and among them it was 3rd-position starter car No. 17 driven by Tsukakoshi that made one overtake after another to move into the lead by the 13th lap. With ensuing upsets like the crash of car No. 46 after being pushed off the track when three cars emerged from the Hairpin on the 15th lap running side-by-side, the leading car No. 17 was able to build up a growing margin of lead over car No. 19 in 2nd place and the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, the pole-starting No. 24 was unable to pick up its pace and dropped back gradually through the field. By the end of the 30th lap of the race, when all of the GT500 cars had finished their first routine pit stop, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Takashi Kogure) was still in the lead. Behind it the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) had been making a spectacular charge through the pack from a starting position of 12th on the grid. Fast pit work moved No. 23 further through the field to stand in 5th position after the pit stop.
Just before 2:00 in the afternoon, a GT300 car spun out at the last turn and came to a stop on the track. This brought out the Safety Car to control the race just as the leading cars were entering the 43rd lap. This erased the margin of lead that car No. 17 (Takashi Kogure) had built up, but Kogure succeeded in holding the lead and begin building a new margin over the pack when the race was restarted. Entering the third stint of the race with Tsukakoshi at the wheel again, car No. 17 maintained its lead. As the car No. 19 continued to lose ground, it was the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT (Kosuke Matsuura to Baguette) that moved into 2nd position and once again began building a big margin of lead over the trailing No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda to Ronnie Quintarelli).

 

 

With the race entering its second half after the 86th lap, car No. 17 still held on to the lead. As car No. 23, having worked its way up to 4th position, was leaving the pit to begin its 4th stint on the 89th lap of the race, it nearly collided with a GT300 car in the pit lane. Due to this, it was given a drive-through penalty that dropped it back from 2nd position after the pit stop all the way back to 12th place in the field at one point.
On the 130R curve of the 94th lap, a GT300 machine crashed and the Safety Car was brought our to control the race again, and once again the margin of lead that car No. 17 had built up to nearly 10 seconds was erased in the process. Although there were no big changes in the running order after the Safety Car left the track and the race was restarted, the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) running in 9th position made a concerted dash to the front at this point that brought it up to 2nd position by the 112th lap of the race.
With the teams in their 5th stint, car No. 64 was in the lead, followed by No. 17 and No. 19, having recovered ground, and then came the No.1 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Heikki Kovalainen) and car No. 100. After the 140th lap, as the cars were retuning to their pits for the last stint of the race, car No. 17 suffered a burst tire and crashed on the 147th lap when it was planning to make its final pit stop after extending its second-to-the-last stint longer than the others. This ended the 1000km race for car No. 17 after leading it for so long.

 

 

This upset put Matsuura in car No. 64 suddenly in the lead and running strong. In 2nd place now was Tsugio Matsuda in car No. 23, which had recovered ground after its drive-through penalty. The cars from 3rd place back were also close behind, with Naoki Yamamoto in car No. 100 moving up to pass 4th-place Yuhi Sekiguchi in car No. 19 and then catch 3rd-place Kohei Hirate in car No. 1. After repeatedly trying to get past Hirate in the chicane, Yamamoto finally took advantage of a moment when Hirate’s wheels ran slightly off the track in the chicane of the 165th lap to make his move and grab 3rd position.
The two Safety Car interventions after accidents meant that the race would reach the 18:28 time limit before reaching the 173rd lap and notice was given to the cars as they entered the last lap. When the checkered flag was waved to end the momentous “SUZUKA 1000km THE FINAL”, it was the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT that took the win. For the NAKAJIMA RACING team this would be their first SUPER GT win in 10 years, since its last win on the final round of the 2007 season at Fuji Speedway. For Kosuke Matsuura it was his second SUPER GT win and for Bertrand Baguette it was his first.
Finishing 2nd was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) and 3rd place went to the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Takuya Izawa). With these results, this year’s dominance by the LC500 was finally ended in the sixth round of the season, with not even a spot on the podium. The first finisher among the LC500 cars was the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Yuhi Sekiguchi/Yuji Kunimoto/Kamui Kobayashi) in 4th place.
As for the season’s point standings, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) moved up to top the ranking, with the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy) sitting in 2nd position and the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima/Andrea Caldarelli) ranked 3rd.

 

 

 

 

 

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