2018.10.20

HOPPY 86 MC takes GT300 class pole for second year in a row

Round 7 Autopolis : Qualifying GT300

The official qualifying for the AUTOPOLIS GT 300km Race, Round 7 of the 2018 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS circuit (Oita Pref.) on October 20. In the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT driven by Tomoki Nojiri and Takuya Izawa ran a course record to win pole position for the second time this season following the one at Round 3 at Suzuka. In the GT300 class, the No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui/Sho Tsuboi) that won the AUTOPOLIS race from pole position last year took its second consecutive the pole for the race.

 

 

The first to leave the pit at the start of the GT300 class Q1 session was the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Yuichi Nakayama). As the cars completed their warm-ups and began their timed laps, the GT300 rookie Ritomo Miyata in the No. 60 SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 was the first to post a lap time of 1’43.542 at a relatively early point in the session with eight minutes still remaining. This became the target time as the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG (Naoya Gamou) joined in with a time of 1’43.816 and the No. 88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Kazuki Hiramine) clocking a 1’43.873 lap.
With five minutes remaining in the session, just as the times were about to come down further, the No. 22 R’Qs AMG GT3 (Hisashi Wada) spun out at the exit to the fifth turn and was almost hit from behind by the No. 87 LEGAL FRONTIER LAMBORGHINIGT3 (Yuya Motojima). The cars came to a stop blocking the track, which immediately brought out the Red Flag to halt the session. The two cars were able to get running again and the session was restarted after five minutes at 2:44.

After the restart, it was the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi), which had recovered from machine trouble in the morning practice, that improved its time to 1’43.559 to move into 2nd position and ensure the team a place in Q2. Also, the No. 0 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka) came in with a 1’44.078 time to move up to 7th position. When the Q1 session ended, the No. 60 SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 was on top. In 2nd position was the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT, followed by the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG. Fourth position went to the No. 88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 and 5th position to the No. 34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Ryo Michigami). On the other hand, the current leader in the season standings, the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Sean Walkinshaw) could only manage a time in 22nd position, and the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga) was back in 28th position, meaning that the ranking leaders had failed to make it to Q2.

 

 

After the GT500 class Q1, the GT300 class’ Q2 session began at 3:20. Just after coming out on the track, the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG (Haruki Kurosawa) suffered a spin but was able to get back on course and resume the session without bringing out the Red Flag. With four minutes remaining in the session, the teams were beginning their timed laps when the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Hiroki Yoshida) recorded a lap of 1’42.976, breaking the course record.

But this time was soon beaten by the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC, which Takamitsu Matsui had barely managed to qualify for Q2 by finishing Q1 in 13th position. It was now his teammate Sho Tsuboi who beat the freshly set course record with a time of 1’42.498 that put him on top in the session. After this, no other car was able to match Tsuboi’s time. For No. 25, this gave the team its second consecutive pole position here at AUTOPOLIS, and for both the team and Tsuboi it was their second pole of the season following the in one Round 5 at Fuji.

Qualifying in 2nd position was the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R. Third position went to the Kyushu-based (Fukuoka Pref.) No. 5 MACH SYAKEN MC86 Y's distraction (Yuya Hiraki). Taking 4th position after continuing his timed laps until the checkered flag ended the session was Fukuoka native Takuto Iguchi in No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT, while 5th position went to the No. 0 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi).

 

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