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Race Report
2019.04.14
In Bad Weather, K-tunes RC F GT3 Wins at Home Track in Okayama

In Bad Weather, K-tunes RC F GT3 Wins at Home Track in Okayamaの画像

Round 1 Okayama International Circuit : Race GT300

The Okayama GT 300 Km Race, opening round of the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3,703 m x 82 laps) on April 14. The race was held in tough conditions due to heavy rain and two race stoppages due to accidents, and with no improvement expected in the weather, the race was finally concluded after just 31 laps. As a result, the GT500 class win went to the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Takuya Izawa), and the GT300 class win went to the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3. Because the race did not reach the required minimum lap limit, only half the normal series points are awarded.

 

Race  Weather: Rain; Track: wet; Air/Track surface temperature at start: 12℃/14℃ Mid-race: 15℃/15℃ Final stages: 14℃/14℃

 

 

 

K-tunes RC F GT3’s Nitta takes lead in Most Career GT Wins

After three laps run behind the Safety Car the race got off to a start on the fourth lap, and in the lead happened to be two rivals for the record of most career wins in GT300, the pole-starting Shinichi Takagi in the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 and Morio Nitta in 2nd position in the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3, and now they were battling side-by-side. Behind them came the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Kimiya Sato) that started from 5th grid spot but lost control in the first turn and bumped into the No. 5 ADVICS MACHSYAKEN MC86 (Yuya Hiraki) on its inside. This caused car No. 25 to crash on the inside of the turn, while the No. 5 ADVICS MACHSYAKEN MC86 also ran off the track, resulting in the Safety Car coming out to stop the race.

 

 

The race was restarted as it entered the 11th lap. After this the contest between the two veteran drivers continued. Takagi in car No. 55 was having trouble picking up the pace while Nitta in car No. 96 was pushing hard to close the gap. No. 96 caught and passed No. 55 on the second corner of lap 12. Following in 3rd and 4th positions were the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB MARKX MC (Shigekazu Wakisaka) and the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine) respectively.

Then on the 13th lap, No. 10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino) lost control coming out of the second corner and at the same time the No. 88 MANEPA Lamborghin GT3 (Takashi Kogure) had pulled up side-by-side going into the Moss S turn, which caused No. 10 to veer and crash into the sponge barrier on the outside. As No. 10 bounced back from that and the No. 7 D'station Vantage GT3 (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) got caught up in the accident. When the No. 33 Eva RT Test Type-01 X Works GT-R (Marchy Lee) swerved to avoid parts scattered on the track from this crash, it hit the urethane wall, making for a multi-car crash. The Safety Car came out to slow the race, but because of the heavy rain and the large number of parts scattered around at the Moss S curve area, the Red Flag was shown to stop the race.

 

 

Bad track condition cause race to be cut short. K-tunes RC F GT3holds on to win

With the rain now lightening, the race was restarted at 3:45. But on the 23rd lap there was a collision between the two leading GT500 class cars, causing a car to come to a stop on the gravel. And with the rain getting heavier at the same time the Safety Car came out for the fourth time in the race. During this no-passing run, the No. 50 EXE AMG GT3 (Ryosei Yamashita) also crashed at the Moss S curve. Though the Safety Car continued, after about 4:00 the rainwater on the track was so bad that it was causing the racecars to lose grip due to aquaplaning even at the slow SC-controlled speed. This caused the Red Flag to come out again on the 31st lap to stop the race again. With the rain refusing to let up after that, a team manager meeting was called and the decision made to end the race as of the 30th lap.

 

 

This made the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Sena Sakaguchi) the race winner. This was the team’s third GT win and it fortuitously came at the team’s home track of Okayama. Finishing 2nd was the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT 3(Shinichi Takagi/Nirei Fukuzumi), and 3rd went to the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB MARKX MC (Shigekazu Wakisaka/Hiroki Yoshida), which meant that teams on Bridgestone tires had swept the top three. Because the race had not covered 75% of the original race distance, the regulation dictates that only half the normal series points were to be awarded.

 

 

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