2020.07.19

KeePer TOM'S GR Supra comes from behind to take 2020 opening round pole position!

 

　Qualifying for the Takanokono Hotel FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 1 of the 2020 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on the morning of July 19 at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture. The GT500 class Pole Position was won by the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy), while the GT300 class pole went to the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou/Togo Suganami).

 

 

　The GT500 class Q1 was a 10-minute session, from which the teams with the top eight times would qualify for Q2. The session became a battle between the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Nirei Fukuzumi) and the No.100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) that had run so strongly in yesterday’s Official Practice. The first of the two to set a top time was car No. 100 with a 1’26.937 lap.
　However, car No. 8 bettered that with a time of 1’26.433 to take the tentative pole position. Third fastest was the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate), and next came the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra Nick Cassidy) in 4th position. Also, the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT with SUPER GT rookie driver Ukyo Sasahara performed well to finish in 5th position.
　As for the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) and No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), neither was able to advance to Q2 after finishing in 9th and 10th positions respectively.

 

 

 

　The GT500 class Q2 also started on schedule. When the serious time attacks began in the latter minutes of the session, the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Tadasuke Makino) emerged in the top spot with a time of 1’26.905. But the GT500 rookie Sacha Fenestraz driving the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra bettered that time with a 1’26.794 lap. That was also beaten however by the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) with a time of 1’26.665.
　When it began to look like this would be the clincher, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa) came through on the checkered-flag lap with a brilliant run of 1’26.550 to grab the Pole Position.
　With this, the top four qualifiers were the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy), the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi), the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi/Sacha Fenestraz) and the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino). The fastest qualifier among the NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 cars was the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate/Katsumasa Chiyo) driven by Chiyo to finish in 7th position.

 

 

 

 

Pole Position Driver Comments

 

No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra
Ryo Hirakawa
“The condition of the car has been very good since the Official Test just prior to this opening round, and in yesterday’s Official Practice we were able to concentrate well on the set-up. Also, because of the tires we had chosen, when the temperature rose before Q2, I thought we had a good chance of getting pole position. Normally this would be a time to feel happy about winning pole position, but since in this round we have the race to run this afternoon, I want to begin concentrating on that right now.”

Nick Cassidy
“Hirakawa-san ran spectacularly for us in Q2. And since the team has done such a wonderful job with the car coming into the season, I was able to drive with assurance.”

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