2018.10.21

GT300 Winner Is K-tunes RC F GT3 for Second Time This Season

Round 7 Autopolis : Race GT300

The AUTOPOLIS 300km Race, Round 7 of the 2018 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS circuit (Oita Prefecture) on October 21. In the GT500 class, the No. 1 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy) climbed steadily through the field from a 5th-position grid start to take the lead in the final stages of the race and win its first victory of the season. This win also moved the Hirakawa pair to the top of the Drivers championship standings. In the GT300 class, the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Yuichi Nakayama) employed a skillful race strategy to come from 10th position on the starting grid and take the win.

 

 

 

In the GT300 class race, the pole-starting No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Sho Tsuboi) built a lead in the early going, chased by the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Hiroki Yoshida) and the No. 5 MACH SYAKEN MC86 Y's distraction (Natsu Sakaguchi).
The early stages of the race saw an increasingly fierce battle for 2nd among cars No. 10, No. 5 and No. 61 (Subaru). On the eighth lap it was No. 5 that emerged in 2nd place and went on to close the gap behind the leading No. 25.

The race continued without mishap until the GT500 cars were entering their 20th lap and suddenly the No. 30 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Hiroaki Nagai) suffered a spin on the last turn and ended up stopped with part of the car still on the track, which meant that the Safety car had to come out and control the race until the No. 30 could be removed.

After a run of four laps behind the Safety Car, the race was restarted. After that a hot battle for 3rd place developed. Behind car No. 10 came No. 61, the No. 34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Ryo Michigami) and No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Yuichi Nakayama) in fierce contest.

 

 

As the leaders finished their 26th lap, the leading No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC, car No. 61 in 4th place, car No. 36 in 5th place and the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda) all made their routine pit stops. Then, the No. 5 running in 2nd place made its somewhat longer pit stop on the 31st lap. In contrast, the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Nakayama) running in 6th position delayed its tire change and pushed on hard in the lead while the rivals made their pit stops, until finally making its pit stop at the end of the 39th lap and changed drivers from Nakayama to Morio Nitta. With some fast pit work, Nitta was able to return to the race with their lead in tact.

Meanwhile, following the pit stop the pace of the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui) began to slow, seemingly the result of having changed only its two front tires, and soon it was passed by the No. 87 LEGAL FRONTIER LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Kimiya Sato), which moved into 2nd place. Behind them came the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda), which had also benefitted from some fast pit work. Bad luck continued for car No. 25 when a collision caused it to spin out. Forced to return to the pit after that accident, No. 25 lost its chance to pick up any points from the race.

 

 

In this way, JAF-GT300 cars that had led the race in its early stages lost pace later on in the race, while FIA GT3 cars moved to the front in the second half. In this Round 7 AUTOPOLIS race that showed completely different developments in its first and second halves, Nitta was able to hold his lead until the end and the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) its second win of the season. For Nitta, this was his 20th GT win, which brought him into a tie for most wins with Shinichi Takagi (No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3).

Finishing 2nd and taking its second podium finish since Round 6 of the 2017 season was the No. 87 LEGAL FRONTIER LAMBORGHINIGT3 (Yuya Motojima/Kimiya Sato). Emerging on top in the tough battle for 3rd place on the first corner of the 58th lap was No. 34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Hiroki Otsu), bringing the NSX GT3 and Otsu himself a first-ever podium finish.

 

 

 

 

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