2019.09.08

Rd. 6 GT500 Race: DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 Skillfully Endures Difficult Conditions to Take the Win

Round 6 Autopolis : Race GT500

The AUTOPOLIS 300km RACE, Round 6 of the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS Circuit (one lap 4,674 m x 65 laps) in Oita Prefecture on September 8. With rain falling part way through the race and the lead changing hands numerous times, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama) won the GT500 class race, while in the GT300 class, the No. 60 SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 (Hiroki Yoshimoto/Ritomo Miyata) grabbed a dramatic come-from-behind win.

 

 

 

 

 

Race day for Round 6 of the series at AUTOPOLIS had cloudy skies until noon, but no rain. Meanwhile, several incidents had occurred. First, driver James Rossiter of the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R had fallen ill and been taken to the hospital at the end of yesterday’s qualifying, and was told not to compete any further by the doctor. The team asked Katsumasa Chiyo, who had competed in the GT500 class until last ear to fill in for Rossiter. The race committee observed Chiyo’s driving in the warm-up period and gave the OK for him to compete. Due to this change of drivers, however, the regulation called for the No. 12 team to be allotted a 10-sec. penalty during the race’s routine pit stop. Furthermore, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT, which had recorded the fastest lap time during the Warm-up session suddenly came to a stop near the end of its run. An electrical part had to be replaced in the throttle mechanism before the race started.

When the race started at 2:30 in the afternoon, no rain had fallen yet. The pole-starting No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) lost the lead spot to the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Takuya Izawa) at one point, but soon recovered it and began to increase its margin of lead over car No. 8 in 2nd position. Meanwhile, No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto), which had started the race from 12th place, ran off the track while battling with the No. 16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Hideki Mutoh) and crashed into the tire barrier, which ended its race in the first lap. And this crash brought out the Safety Car (SC) at this early stage in the race.

The SC run reduced the lead that car No. 17 had built up, but after the race was restarted it began to pull away in the lead again. While being left behind, car No. 8 was unable to pick up the pace and began to lose position in the field, leaving the No. 24 REALIZE CORPORATION ADVAN GT-R (Jann Martenborough) in 2nd place. In the early stages it was these two cars that led the race.

About 1/3rd of the way into the race, rain began to fall in the area of the first corner. With this, the teams struggled with the questions of whether it would be just a passing shower or whether the rain would continue and force them to change to rain tires, and when to time their pit stop and the tire change. After passing the 33rd lap of the race, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Nick Cassidy) that had been running in 5th place on lap 29, and the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Kazuki Nakajima) that was running in 3rd, were the first among the lead group to make their routine pit stops, abut at this point they continued to run on slick tires.

Then the rain got stronger and the leading car No. 17, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Hekki Kovalainen), No. 38 ZENT CERUMO LC500 (Yuji Tachikawa), No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Yuji Kunimoto) and also car No. 8 and the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Daiki Sasaki) and the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima) all returned to the pit at once just on lap 34, just before the SC made its second appearance. A traffic jam developed on the pit road, and as the cars backed up to turn into their pits there were mechanics dodging cars in confusion. There was also a collision between car No. 19 and a GT300 car that had suddenly pulled out.

 

 

 

 

When the SC was brought out, the pit lane was closed as to regulation. The No. 24 car in the lead, the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) were then unable to make their pit stops SUPER GT and had to keep circling the track. When the SC was withdrawn on the 41st lap, these three cars in the lead finally made their pit stops. With this, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Bertrand Baguette) took over the lead, but with slick tires on, it couldn’t pick up the pace. So it was the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Yuichi Nakayama) that took over the lead in turn. Behind it came two LC500 cars, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO LC500 (Hiroaki Ishiura) and the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Sho Tsuboi), to fill out the top three.

After that, a GT300 car ran off the track, bringing out the SC on lap 43 for the third time in the race. The race was restated with 15 laps remaining, and it was the leading car No. 39 that made a strong spurt into the lead. The No. 16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Daisuke Nakajima) immediately behind was on slick tires and couldn’t hold a fast pace, and because of this, car No. 38 then in 2nd place quickly fell 11 seconds behind the leading car No. 39.

 

 

 

 

Then, car No. 17 made its second pit stop of the day on lap 42 to change to rain tires began pushing toward the front, passing car No. 38 on the 53rd lap into 2nd place. The gap between car No. 39 in the lead and the chasing car No. 17 gradually narrowed to a margin of about 3 sec. Nakayama in car 39 is a GT500 rookie, but he has a career record of seven wins in GT300. Keeping cool with his eyes on the gap to the chasing No. 17, Nakayama was able to hold out for the win. This was the first win for the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 (Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama) since Round 4 of the 2018 season inn Thailand. For Heikki Kovalainen this was his fourth win, while for Yuichi Nakayama it was his first win in the GT500 class. This was the fifth win in a row this season for the LC500 starting from Round 2. Finishing in 2nd place came the No.17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette).

The race for 3rd place became a crowded one in the final stages after the rain stopped. As the track dried out, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa) that had been struggling on slick tire in the wet now could pick up the pace. On the last lap of the race, Hirakawa passed the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kenta Yamashita) running in 6th position and was able to pass both car No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) and then No. 38 to finish in 3rd place.

 

 

 

 

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