2019.11.23

[Dream Race : Race 1] KeePer TOM'S LC500's Cassidy Wins First Dream Race in Japan from Pole Position

SUPER GT × DTM Dream Race : Race 1

Race 1 (55 min. + one lap) of the “AUTOBACS 45th Anniversary presents SUPER GT×DTM Dream Race” was held on Saturday afternoon. In this first race between GT500 and DTM cars in Japan, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 driven by Nick Cassidy ran clear from pole position to win the race. Among the DTM cars, the best finisher (6th place) was the No. 21 Audi Sport Japan RS5 DTM driven by Benoit Treluyer, who has experience winning the GT500 class championship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In an unexpected turn of events, Duval in car No. 28 ran off the track and crashed coming off the 300R curve on his way to the starting grid. The front of the machine was damaged badly enough to force the team to give up hopes of racing. Also, Alessandro Zanardi in the No. 4 BMW M4 DTM suffered transmission trouble which was repaired in time for the race but required him to start from the end of the starting grid.

At 2:31 in the afternoon, the 55-minute Race 1was started from a two-file line in an Indy style start. Due to the absence of Duval in the 2nd grid position, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) move up to fill the spot next to the pole position starting No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Cassidy). At the ADVAN (hairpin) Corner, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Takuya Izawa) spun out and fell far back in the pack, which was just one example of the changes taking place in the eventful opening lap. Also, since the track had mostly dried out, most of the cars had started on slick tires, the No. 64 Modulo Epson NSX-GT (Tadasuke Makino) and No. 11 BMW M4 DTM (Marco Witmann) that had opted for rain tires returned to the pit after the first lap to change to slick tires, thus using their required pit stop early.

Despite having moved into 2nd position at one point, car No. 23 was unable to keep pace and was soon passed by the No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto), the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Yuhi Sekiguchi) to fall back in the order. A battle for 2nd place developed between the two NSX-GT cars while No. 37 in 1st place gradually increased its lead over the field to build a 4-sec. margin of lead by the end of lap six. Behind it, a side-by-side battle for 4th place was raging between the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Yuhi Sekiguchi), the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Sho Tsuboi) and the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kenta Yamashita).

Meanwhile, among the DTM cars, the No. 99 Akrapovic Audi RS 5 DTM (Mike Rockenfeller) that had qualified in 5th position had dropped back and been replaced as leader of the DTM machines by the No. 33 Audi Sport RS 5 DTM (Rene Rast) that took 8th position on the seventh lap of the race.

 

 

 

 

Around the end of the 13th lap of the race, the race leaders began making their routine pit stops. By the time all of the cars had finished their pit stops, the race order had the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Cassidy) in 1st place. About 4 sec. behind it came the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto). In 4th position came the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 (Sho Tsuboi), and after this the gaps between these cars began to widen over the second half of the race.

With nine minutes remaining in the race, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Daiki Sasaki) running in 16th position came to a stop near the pit exit at the end of the straight. This brought out the Safety Car at 3:18 with eight minutes remaining in the race. The margin between the leading No. 37 and car No. 17 in 2nd place had grown to 7 sec. at this point, while the other cars had been running alone with several seconds separating each, but with the appearance of the Safety car, all of these margins were erased.

 

 

 

 

The race was restarted from the 33rd lap with 1 minute and 52 seconds remaining in the race, with all the cars remaining in their race order for an Indy style start. This gave all the cars a chance to improve their position. But Cassidy in car No. 37 was able to keep his lead. The result was that victory in Race 1 of the “SUPER GT×DTM Dream Race” went to Nick Cassidy in the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 in what turned out to be a pole-to-finish win. Finishing in 2nd place was the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi).

Since some cars had been lapped before the restart of the race, the No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) that had been in 3rd position was unable to improve on its position to overtake No. 17, thus finishing the race as it was in 3rd position. Unlike the top three who maintained their positions, from there back there were changes in the order. Car No. 19, which had run strongly throughout the race was passed at the end by Kenta Yamashita in the No. 6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 to move up into 4th place. Also, the No. 21 Audi Sport Japan RS 5 DTM driven by Benoit Treluyer that had been running in 13th position before the restart made a powerful dash at the restart to move up on the tail of the No. 36 au TOM'S LC500 (Yuhi Sekiguchi) running in 6th position. On the last lap Treluyer managed to pass No. 36 to finish the race in 6th position as the leading DTM car. Of the BMW cars, the No. 00 BMW M4 DTM (Kamui Kobayashi) had the best finish in 14th place.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel great. I’m very happy. Because we have finally had this chance for teams from the SUPER GT and DTM categories to race together here in Japan. I hope opportunities like this will continue in the future, and as the do the difference between the two will lessen and we will see really close racing. For me personally, this was a perfect day. While the track conditions changed constantly, I am satisfied that I was able to show what I could do. I am happy to have been able to win this first exchange race, but more than that, I think it is great that this Dream Race was able to take place. Most of all, I have really been enjoying this race weekend. I have been watching DTM racing ever since the days when I was racing in F3 in Europe, and I was wishing that someday I could step up to the category. It is a series with fantastic drivers and fantastic manufacturer, so I am very glad for this opportunity to compete together with them. This time the race format was different from what I am used to, and I enjoyed the way holding the qualifying and race in the same day made it possible for one driver to drive the whole day.

 

 

 

 

 

What a thing it is for me to finish on top among the DTM competitors! To be honest, I’m really surprised (laughs). When I learned that I would be able to compete at Fuji in this exchange race I never thought it would turn out like this. That said, I am also very happy for Audi Japan and WRT Hitotsuyama Team Audi Sport for getting this good result. I feel I was able to give 120% of my potential in the race and I am very happy that I have been able to pay something back to all the people who have helped me with this result. Just before the race the track condition was really difficult and it a big surprise to see what happened to Loic [Duval] (the fastest DTM driver in the qualifying in car No. 28 Duval, who crashed on the way to the starting grid and couldn’t start the race). But as you know, I am one who likes conditions like this. That said, I haven’t had any great races yet, and since we didn’t have a chance to run any tests before this, I didn’t feel any stress and I was able to run at a pretty good pace. Being able to use a second set of tires in the race, I was glad that I could run at a faster pace than those around me. At the end I had to battle with GT500 drivers and I was able to enjoy that part (Smiles).

 

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