2018.04.08

KEIHIN NSX-GT triumphs! Button and the RAYBRIG NSX-GT finish 2nd

Round 1 Okayama International Circuit : Race GT500

The OKAYAMA GT 300 Km RACE, opening round of the 2018 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3,703 m x 82 laps) on April 8. In the GT500 race, No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Takashi Kogure) won the race from a pole position start. Finishing 2nd was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Jenson Button) to give the Honda NSX-GT a one-two finish. In the GT300 class, the No. 18 UPGARAGE 86 MC (Yuhki Nakayama/Takashi Kobayashi) rose from a 9th-position grid start to bring the team their first win.

 

 

   

 

Race day dawned with cloudy skies over the Okayama International Circuit. The weather was unseasonably cold and unstable with rainclouds passing overhead, but after noon the sun was shining through intermittently and the fear of rain was gone.
During the 20-minute warm-up session before the start of the race, the teams made a final check of their setting for the dry track. The fastest time in this session were recorded by the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Jenson Button), the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Felix Rosenqvist) and the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Jann Mardenborough), which meant one car from each of the three makes was in the top three.
As with each year, two motorcycle patrol officers of the Okayama Prefectural police led the parade lap before the formation lap for the start of the 82-lap race at 2:46 in the afternoon.
The start saw the pole-starting No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Takashi Kogure) sprint out into the lead, followed by two Nissan GT-R machines that had jumped up in the order, the 8th-position starting No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) and the No. 24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) that had started from 6th grip position and would be penalized to drop back in the order. And these two were followed by the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Felix Rosenqvist) and the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama).

 

 

Meanwhile, after starting the front row, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) had dropped to 10th position and the 5th grid-starting No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Jenson Button) fell back to 8th position.
In the early going, cars No. 23 and 24 put the pressure on No. 17 in the lead, but the race officials judged that the two GT-R drivers had jumped the start and gave them each a drive-through penalty. This would send the two GT-Rs way back in the order and out of contention for the lead.
Replacing the GT-Rs to chase No. 17 came the No. 1 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Nick Cassidy), who had moved up from 9th position on the grid. Cassidy in car No. 1 continued to close the gap on leader Kogure in car No. 17until they were racing side-by-side through the hairpin turn of lap 36. Although the two machines bumped each other, Kogure held on to the lead. But when the Cassidy in car No. 1 persisted and the two cars bumped again two laps later, this time it was Cassidy who moved into the lead on the same hairpin of lap 38. It looked like No. 1 might be on its way to a second consecutive win at Okayama.

 

 

At the end of lap 37, it was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT that made an early routine pit stop. Thanks to Button’s efforts to save wear on the tires while running consistently in 8th to 6th position, Naoki Yamamoto was able to start the second stint after a very quick pit stop as the team decided to forego the tire change. The time saved in this way moved the RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Yamamoto) way up in position. And when the KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) returned to the track after making its routine pit stop on the 40th lap, No. 100 had seized the lead. But Tsukakoshi, now at the wheel of No. 17 managed to pull up alongside Yamamoto and then take the lead again.
Past the halfway point in the race, all of the GT500 cars had finished their routine pit stops by the 46th lap. At this point, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) had regained the lead. A 5-second margin behind was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto), but it was from here that Yamamoto in car No. 100 began to mount a furious charge to the front, and within six laps he was just over one second behind the leading No. 17.

Over the last ten laps of the race, Tsukakoshi was having trouble keep up the pace in his No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT, and unknown to him there was a piece of carbon plate sticking out of his front grill. Apparently he had been hit by this piece that came loose in another car’s crash. Meanwhile, No. 100 Yamamoto was gradually losing tire performance and picking up rubber from the track to further slow his charge. Over the last ten laps the two leading NSX-GT machines ran on with about a 1-second gap between them as they both fought to keep pace.
Eventually, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT ran clear to the win having started from pole position. Second place went to the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT, giving the NSX-GT a one-two finish. For the KEHIN REAL RACING team and Tsukakoshi it was their first win since Round 5 at SUGO in 2011 and their second in all. For Kogure it was his tenth win overall and his first since 2013. For Button (No. 100) it was a rewarding first podium finish in only his second GT500 start and the first race of his debut season as a full-time GT500 driver.
Last year’s Okayama winners, the No. 1 KeePer TOM'S LC500, had fallen behind the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima) at one point due to slower pit work, but Ryo Hirakawa, known for his prowess at Okayama managed to battle back, passing No. 6 to take a podium finish in 3rd.

 

 

 

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