2019.10.25

[Round 8 Preview] Who'll grab the crown? Final battle of 2019.

Round 8 Twin Ring Motegi : Preview

2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT is finally reaching its last stop at Round 8 "MOTEGI 250km RACE." Held on November 2nd (Saturday, Qualifying) and 3rd (Sunday, Race), the final battle will be staged at Twin Ring Motegi. Contention of this season's drivers' title has come down to between No.6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 and three other teams in the GT500 class and No.55 ARTA NSX GT3 and four other teams in the GT300 class. However, being the last series race of the season, anybody would be wanting to take home the victory or finish the race as close to the top as possible which usually builds up intensity on the field. Who will be in bliss after the intense battle of competition with most of the cars loading no handicap weight? It will definitely be the race you cannot miss the most this season.

 

 

There are still three teams that can possibly claim the crown in the driver title contention of the GT500 class at the final round Motegi. The point standing is led by No.6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima / Kenta Yamashita) with No.37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa / Nick Cassidy) and No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) following at 7 points and 20.5 points behind, respectively.
No.6 car can take the title in their hands by finishing the race at second place or above regardless of the results of the rivals. With two wins up to this point, they are still in advantageous position even in a dead heat since they would be considered above over the rivals in terms of the number of wins. Therefore, for No.6 car, a second or higher finish or, in the worst case, being right behind No.37 car and securing even one point will bring the first title to the Oshima / Yamashita duo.

 

 

For No.37 car, on the other hand, even a pole-to-win will not give them the title if No.6 car finishes the race at second place. Furthermore, they would need a fourth place finish or higher even if No.6 car ends with no points. Although they have not won at Motegi, No.37 car has been strong at the track in past years, so what the team would need to do is to make sure they are in front of No.6 car from the qualifying and stay at a position within the victorious range during the race to put pressure on the duo driving No.6 car who both do not have an experience of winning the title.
Putting the title contention aside for a moment, upcoming race will be the last race with LC500 for the LEXUS LC500 squad who will be fielding GR Supra from next season. No.38 ZENT CERUMO LC500 (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura), No.36 au TOM'S LC500 (Kazuki Nakajima / Yuhi Sekiguchi), and all other LC500 teams must be keen to be the winner of such historical race.

 

 

No.23 car is still within the range of clinching the title, however, they have to complete a pole-to-win plus having No.6 car finishing with no points and No.37 at fifth place or below, thus, the road ahead is not so easy. However, the duo in No.23 car has done pole-to-win at the final round in Motegi in 2014 as well as 2017. They were a finalist in both of the years, and, in 2014, they passed the point leader and successfully completed a come-from-behind title. Considering the huge point gap this time, they may not put too much focus on their rivals and just let the car as well as drivers to attack at full mode from the qualifying.
It's no different for all other NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 teams beside No.23 either that this is a race they are eager to win. We should keep our eyes on No.3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate / Frederic Makowiecki) looking for a winning-streak from previous SUGO race and former Motegi winner No.24 Realize Corporation ADVAN GT-R (Mitsunori Takaboshi / Jann Mardenborough).

 

 

It has been an unfortunate season for the Honda NSX-GT fleet who is already out of the title contention before going into the final round. Despite the disappointment, they would want to win in front of the huge crowd of fans who will be rooting for the fleet at Honda's home track Twin Ring Motegi. We should not take our eyes away from all five Honda teams including No.1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Jenson Button) who would want to show what defending champion is all about, No.8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Takuya Izawa) who's pole-to-win at last year's final round Motegi still remains fresh in the memory, and No.17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi / Bertrand Baguette) who's speed has been impressive throughout the season this year.

 

 

 

Four teams still remain in the battle for the drivers' title of GT300 class: No.55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi / Nirei Fukuzumi) at the top of ranking, No.96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta / Sena Sakaguchi) trailing 14.5 points behind, No.4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi / Tatsuya Kataoka) with 20 points gap, and No.56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine / Sacha Fenestraz) at 20.5 points from the front-runner.
Point leader No.55 car can claim the title unconditionally by finishing at fourth place or higher. Even if No.55 car finishes with no points, No.96 car would need a second or higher place finish whereas No.4 and No.56 cars would need a pole-to-win to accomplish come-from-behind title.

 

   

 

As you can see, No.55 car has a comfortable lead in terms of points and, in a sense, they already have one hand on the title. However, the team knows how a nightmare can be from their own experience from last year where they let the title slip away by sinking down below in the race despite starting off as the point leader with 12 point gap. They have a new machine this year, but, like Takagi commented "NSX GT3 is not fast enough on the Motegi track if you compare with the rivals," the situation seems to be not as easy as what others think for the crew of No.55 car.
Then, we need to step back and look for a machine or team that holds a good track record at Motegi. First up would be the winning car of last year and a year before, Mercedes AMG GT3. No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou / Togo Suganami) with a chance for three consecutive wins is definitely a favorite. GAINER team as a whole is known to be strong at Motegi, and, therefore, No.11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka / Hironobu Yasuda) and No.10 GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino / Keishi Ishikawa) are the cars to watch along with last year's pole-sitter, No.88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Yuya Motojima). Out of the JAF-GT300 cars, No.25 HOPPY 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui / Kimiya Sato) and No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) could be showing speed at the track.

 

   

 

 

For the teams who have participated in all races up to this point, the handicap weight will be 0kg at the final round which means the key teams that are closer to a win or the title can fully exert the potential capability of their respective car. Also, the race distance of 250km, the shortest in the series, would basically require teams to execute their tactics earlier than usual. Final round at Motegi is known to be very intense in both classes every year, and, with the title contention involved, it will for sure showcase a dramatic finale to the fans once again this year.

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