2019.09.22

Rd. 7 GT500 Race: CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R Grabs a Momentous First Win with a Show of Speed in the Rain!

Round 7 Sportsland Sugo : Race GT500

The SUGO GT 300km RACE, Round 7 of the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at Sportsland SUGO circuit (one lap: 3,704 m x 81 laps) in Miyagi Prefecture on September 22. Despite the rain that started to fall just before the start and threw the race into confusion, the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R driven by Kohei Hirate and Frederic Makowiecki emerged to win in the GT500 class race, while in the GT300 class the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 driven by Shinichi Takagi and Nirei Fukuzumi was victorious, as both teams came from behind to take their first win of the season.

 

 

 

As with the previous round at AUTOPOLIS, Round 7 race day also began with worries about the weather. The track had remained dry all day for Saturday’s official qualifying, and that showed in fine performances as three GT500 teams broke the former course record. On race day, as well, the skies were cloudy but the track remained dry in the morning. Rain didn’t fall on the warm-up session just after noon. But, when the time came for the cars to line up on the dummy grid, rain finally began to fall. As the track gradually got wet, the teams were forced to make a crucial decision between racing on slick or wet-use tires. The 81-lap race was finally started behind the Safety Car at 2:00 in the afternoon.

While many teams had chosen wet tires, the pole-sitting No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) had elected to start the race on slick tires. After the 3-lap Safety Car run and the signal came on to start the real racing from the fourth lap, the rain still falling. With the track now completely wet, car No. 17 was soon passed, first by the 2nd-place grid starting No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Jenson Button) and then by the 4th-place grid starting No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Nick Cassidy) and began to fall back through the pack along with the other three cars that had opted for slick tires.

After taking over the lead, No. 1 ran strongly in the early going and gradually began to pull away from the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Nick Cassidy). Running behind No. 37 was the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Kazuki Nakajima), which because of opting to use its third engine of the season had to take a 10-sec. pit stop penalty at the end of its seventh lap, after which it was out of contention for the lead. In its place, the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate) that had started from 7th place on the grid moved up into 3rd position.

 

 

 

 

After one-third of the race distance was passed, the No. 37 car running in 2nd place made its routine pit stop. After changing drivers to Ryo Hirakawa, it was sent back into the race immediately without changing tires. At the same time, the No. 64 Modulo Epson NSX-GT, which had spun out while running alone in 5th position and dropped to 7th position as a result, made its pit stop and changed drivers from Narain Karthikeyan to Tadasuke Makin. From this point on, many of the teams began making their routine pit stops.

Car No. 1 still running in the lead made its pit stop on the 36th lap and changed drivers to Naoki Yamamoto. Although it was still behind No. 1 by what seemed to be a considerable margin, car No. 37 that had opted not to change tires was now moving up on the leader. Meanwhile, car No. 1, which had chosen to change its tires, was unable to hold off No. 37. Still unable to pick up the pace, No. 1 gradually dropped out of contention for the lead. Just after that, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Daiki Sasaki) running in 11th place ran off the track and came to a stop on the gravel. This brought out the Safety Car on the 39th lap to control the race.

After the race was restarted, four cars began to pick up the pace, No. 1, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda), the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kenta Yamashita) and the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Frederic Makowiecki) that had quickly taken 2nd place. No. 3 then began to close on car No. 37. What had been a 7-sec. gap between the two cars on the 48th lap was shaved down lap by lap until No. 3 finally took the lead from No. 37 on the 54th lap.

 

 

 

 

After this, car No. 37, which had not changed its tires at the routine pit stop, began to slow down. Next, it was passed by the No. 64 Modulo Epson NSX-GT (Tadasuke Makino), which had just succeeded in passing car No. 23 at a high pace. No. 37 was then passed by No. 23 as well to fall back into 4th position. At this point, the top three race leaders were No. 3 followed by No. 64 and No. 23, and the order stayed this way. As the laps went by, the margins between the top three began to widen until all three were running alone. This was eventually how the rainy race came to conclusion at the end of 81 laps.

This result gave the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate/Frederic Makowiecki) team its first win, and it also gave the NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 its first win of the season. And for both Hirate who with this has nine wins in the GT500 class and for Makowiecki who has three, this was their first win in the GT-R. For a Michelin tire team, it was the 20th GT500 victory, and the first since Rd. 2 at Fuji in the 2018 season.

Finishing in 2nd place was the No. 64 Modulo Epson NSX-GT (Narain Karthikeyan/Tadasuke Makino), in what was their first podium finish of the season. Finishing 3rd was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli), which moved the Matsuda/Quintarelli pair into 3rd position in the Driver championship ranking and gives them a shot at the championship title in the final round at MOTEGI.

By finishing 6th today, car No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 and their driver pair of Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita retained their position at the top of the ranking and a chance to win their first championship title in the final round. By finishing this race in 4th place, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy) will go into the final round ranked 2nd in the standings with a chance of reclaiming the title. In the final round at MOTEGI, none of the GT500 cars will be carrying any handicap weights, so it is sure to be a hotly contested race.

 

 

 

 

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