2021.07.17

Rd. 4 The Qualifying GT500: No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT dominates the qualifying! Yamamoto pleased with first Pole Position at Motegi

The qualifying for the MOTEGI GT 300km RACE, Round 4 of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series took place at Twin Rings Motegi in Tochigi Pref. on July 17 (Sat). In the GT500 class, the No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) won pole position. In the GT300 class, Yasuda in the No.11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda) won his first SUPER GT pole position.

 

 

 

　With the Round 3 Suzuka race originally scheduled for May postponed until August 21-22, there was a two-month break in SUPER GT action after Round 2 at Fuji before the holding of this Round 4 at Motegi as the third race of the 2021 season. The end of rainy season having been officially announced for the Kanto region the day before, meant summer weather finally arrive in time for this round. The air temperature just before the start of the GT300 class Q1 qualifying rose to 33℃, and with the track temperature at 45℃, the teams had to rethink their tire choices and take some measures with their machine settings.

GT500 class Q1 session started at 2:48. With eight minutes remaining in the session, the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto) was the first to take to the track. Following close behind it came the pole-sitter from last season’s Round 7, the No. 64 Modulo NSX-GT (Hiroki Otsu). As the clock ticked down to seven minutes remaining in the session, the rest of the machine entered the track one after another.

 

 

　With two minutes remaining in the session, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) was the first to post a top time of 1’38.676 that became the target for the other teams. Next to set a new top time of 1’38.364 was Katsumasa Chiyo in the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R that had recorded the fastest in the morning’s official practice (at the hands teammate Hirate). However, the top spot was soon taken away by the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Toshiki Oyu) with a time of 1’38.125. Then the pole position winner from the previous round at Fuji, car No. 19 recorded a time of 1’38.210, falling just short of No. 16’s to stand in 2nd position. Also coming home with a fast time to take 4th position was the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa).
　 As the session neared its finish and it appeared that No. 16 would keep the top position, Tadasuke Makino, who had returned to the No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT in the previous round, nearly broke into the 37-sec. range with a time of 1’38.001 to grab top position. The No. 38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura) that had continued its time attacks into the checkered flag lap also fell short of the leader to finish the session in 7th position. That meant that Makino in car No. 1 came out of Q1 with the fastest time. Second and third positions went to cars No. 19 and No. 16 respectively. Meanwhile, No. 8 failed to improve on its time ended the session in 9th position and thus failed to move on to Q2, as did the winner of the previous Round 2 at Fuji, the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi), had to settle for 14th position in Q1.

 

 

 

　As the clock approached eight minutes remaining in the GT500 Q2 session, Takuya Izawa in the No. 64 Modulo NSX-GT and Ritomo Miyata in the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra were the first to take to the track. The other six cars joined them on the track as the clock neared six minutes remaining.

　During the last minute of the session, seven cars were doing their best to try to beat the top time of 1’38.436 set by Kohei Hirate in the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R. First, car No. 64 beat it with a time of 1’38.401, before Miyata in car No. 19 raised the bar into the middle of the 37-sec. range with a time of 1’37.549.

　However, just as the session was about to end, Naoki Yamamoto in the No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT beat that time with a lap of 1’37.498 to move into the top spot. The next to cross the finish line was the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Ukyo Sasahara) with a time of 1’37.768 that put it in 3rd position.

　This gave pole position to the No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino). For Yamamoto it was his third career PP and fist one since Round 6 at SUGO in September of the 2018 season. There was added joy in this PP for Makino, since he grew up in Utsunomiya City, the gateway to Twin Ring Motegi, and this was his first taking pole position here. As he got out of the car, he proudly pumped his fist in the air, before returning to the pit and giving his teammate Makino a big victory hug.
　Taking 2nd position in the qualifying was the No. 9 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto/Ritomo Miyata), while 3rd position went to the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Ukyo Sasahara/Toshiki Oyu). The top qualifier among the NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 teams was the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate/Katsumasa Chiyo) in 7th position.

 

 

 

Page Top