2020.10.25

Rd. 6 race GT300: Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS takes come-from-behind win! A happy first win for Kawabata and Kondo

The FUJIMAKI GROUP SUZUKA GT 300km RACE, Round 6 of the 2020 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series took place at Suzuka circuit (one lap 5,807m × 52 laps) in Mie Prefecture on October 25 (Sun). In the GT500 class, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) came from the very back of the pack after a Qualifying crash to take a magnificent second straight win at Suzuka thanks to great pit stop timing. The GT300 class race saw the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata/Tsubasa Kondo) grab a come-from-behind victory from 6th position on the grid.

 

 

 

　The No. 244 Takanoko-no-yu RC F GT3 (Rintaro Kubo/Atsushi Miyake) that had suffered a crash in the previous day’s official practice could not be repaired in time to compete in the race this time. At the start, the pole-sitting No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) was able to maintain the lead, followed by the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi). A bit farther back came the No. 6 ADVICS muta 86MC (Ryohei Sakaguchi) and the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi) battling for 3rd position. But on the 4th lap, car No. 18 seemed to be struck by machine trouble that forced it to slow down and come to a stop on the Spoon Curve.

 

　Approaching the 7th lap of the race, car No. 61 was closing in on the leading No. 96, and on the 8th lap No. 61 emerged in the lead. With No. 96 unable to maintain pace, it was also passed by car No. 6 on the 8th lap. After that No. 96 continued to drop back in position gradually.

 

　As the race continued, the front order remained with No. 61 in the lead followed by No. 6 and then the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda). But in the meantime, the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Tsubasa Kondo) had been closing in on No. 11, and the No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT (Yuhki Nakayama) was also closing on the two cars in front of it.

 

　By the time the leading car No. 61 had finished the 18th lap of the race, the 2nd-place car No. 6 made its pit stop and changed drivers from Sakaguchi to Kotaka. After this, the other cars also began making their pit stops one after another. In the meantime, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB GR Supra GT (Kohta Kawaai) had run off the track at the “S” curve and crashed into the sponge barrier. This accident brought out the Safety Car to control the race. This was unlucky development for the lead group cars No. 61, No. 11 and No. 31 that had not made their routine pit stops before the start of the Safety Car run.

 

 

 

　The race was restarted as the GT500 class cars entered the 27th lap. With this, No. 61 and the other lead group cars rushed to make their routine pit stops and change drivers. And as expected, this caused No. 61, No. 11 and others a big loss in position in the field.

 

　This gave the race lead to the No. 6 ADVICS muta 86MC (Kazuto Kotaka) that had finished its pit stop on the 18th lap before the Safety Car run began. But moving up rapidly right behind it was the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata) that had also completed its pit stop early on the 19th lap. It was at the first turn of the 27th lap that No. 21 caught and passed No. 6 to take the lead.

 

　Behind these two, running in 3rd position was the No. 5 MACHSYAKEN GTNET MC86 MACH GO (Natsu Sakaguchi). And behind No. 5 came the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi) charging at a fast pace after having passed the No. 87 T-DASH LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Shinnosuke Yamada). It was on the 36th lap that No. 4 finally managed to pass No. 5 and begin chasing car No. 6 running 3 sec. ahead of it at that point.

 

 

　Having also been blessed by good pit stop timing and then going on to run strongly in the second half of the race, the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata/Tsubasa Kondo) ran unchallenged in the lead to finish the 49th lap of the GT300 race and claim the win. For both Kawabata and Kondo, it was their first victory in the GT300 class. For the Audi Team Hitotsuyama, it was their first win since Round 6 at Motegi in 2016.

 

　Finishing the race in 2nd place was the No. 6 ADVICS muta 86MC (Ryohei Sakaguchi/Kazuto Kotaka). Finishing 3rd came the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka) that had chased down car No. 6 in the end. It had been another difficult race for the No. 4 team, but they finally got their first podium finish of the season.

 

　In the Drivers ranking, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG driver pair of Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami that managed to finish in 10th place and earn one series point this day were thus able to hold onto their lead in the ranking. While finishing 15th in this race and earning no points, the No. 11 driver pair of Hiranaka and Yasuda now stand 10 points behind the ranking leaders in 2nd place. And, by winning points for their 7th-place finish this day, the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 pair of Shinichi Takagi and Toshiki Oyu moved up to now stand 13 points behind in 3rd place in the season standings.

 

 

 

 

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