2019.04.13

GT300 class pole for ARTA NSX GT3 rookie Fukuzumi!

Round 1 Okayama International Circuit : Qualifying GT300

The official qualifying for the OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE, Round 1 of the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at the Okayama International Circuit (Okayama Prefecture) on April 13. The qualifying brought a rush of new course records by the top teams in both classes, as the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) won pole position for the GT500 class. In the GT300 class, the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Nirei Fukuzumi) won the class pole position.

 

 

 

The GT300 official qualifying began from 2:45 in the afternoon. This time the GT300 class was divided into two groups (A and B) running for 10 min. each. This measure was taken to reduce the chance of serious congestion on the short Okayama International Circuit with a total of 29 GT300 class cars in the competition. The groups were divided based on last season’s rankings and the teams with the top eight times in each group (16 total) were to advance to Q2. As for the teams that don’t qualify for Q2, the 9th place team in the faster of the two groups A and B in Q1 is assigned to 17th spot on the race starting grid, and the slower 9th-place finisher is assigned the 18th spot, and the sequence continues downward in and alternating manner.

In the A group that ran first, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi) was the first to record a top time of 1’26.464. This then became the target time for the other teams. Of them, it was the team with the fastest time in the morning practice, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB MARK X MC (Hiroki Yoshida) that took a big chip out of the target time with a fast lap of 1’25.393 that would prove fastest in Q1. Second fastest was the No. 88 MANEPA Lamborghini GT3 (Yuya Motojima). Last season’s GT300 champion team, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Haruki Kurosawa) finished in 8th position to barely qualify for Q2.

In the following B group of the GT300 class Q1, the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) was quick to record a time of 1’25.447. After that, no team could beat this lap time and the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 finished top of B group in Q1. Finishing in 2nd place was the No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Keishi Ishikawa), and 3rd place went to the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Kimiya Sato). The former Okayama team No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) finished 8th to qualify for Q2. In contrast, last year’s GT300 class winner of the opening round at Okayama, the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi) was beat out for the last spot in Q2 by car No. 96 by a mere 0.005 sec.

 

 

For the 16 cars that cleared Q1, their 10-minute Q2 session began at 3:38 in the afternoon. Here again the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Nirei Fukuzumi) began its time trials early and was quick to break the former course record for GT300 (1’25.044) with a time of 1’4.889. The driver Fukuzumi who did it is a rookie who had only been entered in one SUPER GT race in the past, Round 5 at SUZUKA in 2015, but had not actually had a turn to drive in either the qualifying or the race that time. So, this is his rookie season as a full-time driver.

The other teams tried to beat this top time by car No. 55, with attack after attack. Among them, Sena Sakaguchi, who makes his SUPER GT debut with the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 team this season, recorded a time of 1’24.905 on his last lap but fell just short of Fukuzumi’s time. As for the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB MARKX MC (Shigekazu Wakisaka) that had been fastest of both the A and B groups in Q1, finished in 3rd position.

This gave the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Nirei Fukuzumi) pole position for the opening round. This PP was the first for both the Honda NSX GT3 and for Fukuzumi. Finishing 2nd in the qualifying was the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Sena Sakaguchi).
Also failing to get pole position by finishing in 3rd-place was the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB MARKX MC (Shigekazu Wakisaka/Hiroki Yoshida). Fourth position went to the 2018 season champions, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Haruki Kurosawa Naoya Gamou). All of the top four cars were running on Bridgestone tires.

 

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