2019.09.21

Rd. 7 Qualifying GT300 : SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT sets a new course record to win the SUGO pole position two years running!

Round 7 Sportsland Sugo : Qualifying GT300

The official qualifying for the “SUGO GT 300km RACE,” Round 7 of the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at Sportsland SUGO circuit in Miyagi Prefecture on September 21. In the GT500 class, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT driven by Koudai Tsukakoshi and Bertrand Baguette won their second straight pole position after Round 6. In the GT300 class, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT driven by Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi won their second straight SUGO class pole. Both poles were won with new course records this time.

 

 

 

Due to the shorter overall length of the SUGO course, the GT300 class cars in the Q1 qualifying were divided into two groups (A and B) to run separately for 10 minutes each for the first time since the season’s opening round at Okayama.

Starting at 2:00, the group A Q1 session saw the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi) record a time of 1’18.935. The No. 720 McLaren 720S GT3 (Alex Palou) soon beat this time with a 1’18.124 lap. Then, the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) also came in with a time of 1’18.641, followed by the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R (Sacha Fenestraz) with a 1’18.655 lap. The other teams of group A continued to run time attacks through the 10-minute session, but none succeeded in beating Palou’s time of 1’18.124, thus making the No. 720 McLaren 720S GT3 the top qualifier in group A of Q1. The No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 qualifies 2nd in group A and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT 3rd. Meanwhile, the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda) and the No. 87 T-DASH Lamborghini GT3 (Andre Couto), winners of this season’s Rd. 2 and Rd. 5 respectively, failed to qualify to Q2.

After an interval of eight minutes, the group B Q1 session began at 2:18, in which the No. 34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Hiroki Otsu) was first to set a target time of 1’18.325. Following with the 2nd to 4th fastest time were the No. 60 SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 (Ritomo Miyata), No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi) and the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Kimiya Sato). On the next lap, Otsu in car No. 34 improved his time to 1’18.181 to qualify at the top of group B for Q2. Also, No. 4 recorded the second fastest time with a 1’18.357. The 3rd fastest time was recorded by the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Kimiya Sato) and the 4th fastest by the No. 35 arto RC F GT3 (Sean Walkinshaw) just before the session ended. Meanwhile, the season’s 3rd ranked No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) that had recorded the fastest time in the morning practice failed to qualify to Q2 when it ended group B’s Q1 in 9th position.

 

 

 

The GT300 class Q2 began after the end of the GT500 class Q1 at 2:53 in the afternoon. With 3 min. remaining in this 10-min. session, it was the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi) recorded a course record time of 1’16.834, beating the old record of 1’17.493.

After that, the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Nirei Fukuzumi) also broke the old course record with a time of 1’17.189 but it wasn’t fast enough to top that of No. 61. Then the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui) moved into the 3rd spot, just missing its own record from 2016. This ended the session with the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) taking its second consecutive SUGO pole position.

For Yamauchi, this was his third PP, all three of which have come at SUGO. Qualifying in 2nd position was the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Nirei Fukuzumi), which currently ranks 2nd in the season standings as well. Third position went to the No. 25 HOPPY 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui) and 4th to the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R, while 5th position went to the No. 7 D'station Vantage GT3 (Joao Paulo de Oliveira).

 

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