2018.09.16

SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT also takes a perfect win in GT300 class

Round 6 Sportsland Sugo : Race GT300

The SUGO GT 300km RACE, Round 6 of the 2018 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held on September 16 at Sportsland SUGO (one lap: 3,704 m x 81 laps) in Miyagi Prefecture. In the GT500 class the pole-starting No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Jenson Button) was victorious. For the former F1 champion Button it was a memorable first GT win. In the GT300 class as well, it was the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) starting from pole position that went on to take a perfect win.

 

 

 

Starting the GT300 race from the class pole position, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi) entered the first corner of the race in the lead. Behind it, the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Sho Tsuboi) starting from 2nd-position on the grid gradually dropped back in position as it was passed by the No. 9 GULF NAC PORSCHE 911 (Keishi Ishikawa) on the first lap and the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Hiroki Yoshida) on the second lap. It was car No. 10 that had the most momentum, however, and it passed No. 9 on the first turn of the third lap and started chasing the leading No. 61.
Having fallen back to 3rd position, No. 9 was soon being chased down by the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Richard Lyons). No. 21, which has had a string of bad luck this season, finally managed to pass No. 9 on the Rainbow Corner of lap 12. This put it in 3rd position until the 17th lap, where tire trouble forced it to make a pit stop. Then, no sooner had No. 21 returned to the race than it began to pour out white smoke! That forced another pit stop, as the team’s bad luck continued.

Perhaps because of the unseasonably hot weather, many of the machines were having tire trouble in the early stages of the race. For this reason, after passing the 22nd lap of the race, which is the minimum number of laps (1/3rd of the race length) that the first driver had to clear before the required routine pit stop and driver change could be made, cars like the No. 0 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka) and No. 5 MACH SYAKEN MC86 Y's distraction (Natsu Sakaguchi) that were competing among the leaders began to make their routine pit stops immediately and change drivers.

 

 

Having run strongly from the start, No. 61 had built up a lead of more than 10 seconds over 2nd-place car No. 10 by the 20th lap of the race, and it went on to make its routine pit stop after the 31st lap. There was a driver change from Yamauchi to Takuto Iguchi, and it was back in the race after 43.3 seconds of pit work. Of course this stop allowed some other cars to get temporarily ahead until their own pit stops, but No. 61 had effectively held its lead in the race, and over the second half of the race it continued its domination.
One of the last among the leaders to make its routine pit stop was car No. 25, which had lost ground in the early stages of the race. It was finally after the 42nd lap that it made its pit stop and changed drivers from Sho Tsuboi to Takamitsu Matsui. Adopting a No-tire-change strategy that the team is known for, the team had jumped back up to 5th position when it returned to the race. But, on the 56th lap it suddenly began to slow down. Apparently trouble in the suspension caused it to return to its pit garage and end the race there.
As the race went on, No. 61 continued to lead into the final stages, but on the in-side of the SP Corner on the 61st lap trouble struck. The No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Kohei Hirate) currently ranked 2nd in the season standings hit the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) while battling for 10 position. No. 31 crashed into the wall, and this brought out the Safety Car to control the race as a safety measure.

 

 

With this, Iguchi in the leading car No. 61 lost what had been a nearly 15-second lead, and the 2nd-place car No. 10 (Kazuki Hoshino) was now right on Iguchi’s tail. When the race was restarted, it was in the 70th lap of the GT300 race. But, car No. 61 managed to resume its fast pace, and before long it was pulling away from car No. 10 and racing on to take the checkered flag and the win. For the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) it was their first win of the season and their first since Round 6 at SUZUKA in the 2016 season. Finishing 2nd and taking their first podium finish of the year was the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino/Hiroki Yoshida).
The battle for 3rd came down to the final lap, which saw car No. 0 (Taniguchi) and the No. 88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Marco Mapelli) battling head to head. Also in the scrap was the No. 34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Hiroki Otsu), but it was car No. 0 that held out for the last spot on the podium by a margin of just 0.057 sec. at the finish line. Car No. 34finished 4th just 0.008 sec. ahead of No. 8 in 5th.

 

 

 

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