2021.10.24

Rd. 6 Race GT300: No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT takes an impressive win from pole position!

The AUTOPOLIS 300km RACE, Round 6 of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS (one lap 4.674 km x 65 laps) in Oita Prefecture on the afternoon of October 24 (Sun). In the GT500 class race, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) started from 4th position on the grid but managed to run away to victory in the second half for their first win of the season. In the GT300 class, the No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT (Koki Saga/Yuhki Nakayama) ran from pole position to the win in impressive style.

 

 

 

 

Before the start of the Formation Lap, the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG developed machine trouble while entering the course and came to a stop. After making repairs it was allocated to a pit start.

Staring from pole position, the No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT (Yuhki Nakayama) took the lead in the race. It was followed by the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi) and the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Kohta Kawaai), and these three cars gradually pulled away from the pack.

As the GT500 cars entered the 9th lap of the race, an accident occurred in the second hairpin turn. It was a crash by the No. 22 R’Qs AMG GT3 (Hisashi Wada), which had qualified 27th in the GT300 class. The crash resulted in serious damage to the car’s front end that left parts scattered across the track that immediately initiated a YCF (Full Course Yellow) and eventually brought out the Safety Car.

The race was restarted as the GT500 class entered the 16th lap, but soon another crash occurred. As they were battling for position, there was contact between the No. 35 arto RC F GT3 (Sean Walkinshaw) and the No. 48 SHOKUMOU Ks Frontier GT-R (Yuta Uchida) that caused car No. 48 to lose control and run off the track. Once again, the collision left parts scattered on the track. This led to a second intervention by the Safety Car, during which it was prohibited for the teams to make their routine pit stop and driver change, but when the pit lane was opened again some teams were seen to return to make only a change of tires. The strategy for this move was that although another stop would be necessary at the point when driver changes became possible, they would save time in the pit work necessary.

When the Safety Car finally left the track for the second time, about nine cars rushed back to the pit all at once for their routine stops. Then, a lap latter car No. 52, which was running in 3rd position at that point, also made its pit stop. Sometime later, the leading car No. 31 made its stop on the 29th lap and car No. 61 running in 2nd position made its stop on the 30th lap, where they did their routine pit work and driver changes.

 

 

 

By the time the leaders had all finished their pit stops, car No. 31 (Koki Saga) was still in the lead. Meanwhile, the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 had moved up into 2nd position thanks to some fast pit work, but it was still far behind No. 31 by a margin of more than 15 seconds. Behind No. 96 came car No. 61, and a close battle developed between them. Entering the latter stages of the race, however the margin between them widened again as pulled away. As for No. 61, it soon came under pressure from behind from the pursuing car No. 52, which then developed into an increasingly heated contest for 3rd place.

Further to the rear, the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R that had opted to delay the timing its pit stop had succeeded in moving up into 5th position. Also, moving up to follow the lead group were the No. 10 GAINER TANAX with IMPUL GT-R that had made a tire change during the Safety Car’s run and the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG that had been forced to start the race from the pit. Commanding a faster pace, No. 4 was soon able to pass No. 10 to take over 5th position.

Meanwhile, the No. 31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT (Koki Saga/Yuhki Nakayama), which had shown consistent speed throughout the race with its frequent upsets, continued to run unchallenged in the lead to win the race. For Saga and the team, it was the first win since Round 4 of the 2016 season, and for Nakayama it was his first win since joining the team.

 

 

Finishing 2nd came the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Sena Sakaguchi) in its first podium finish of the season. The contest for 3rd place came down to a fierce contest between car No. 61, with its local Kyushu native driver Iguchi, against Yoshida in car No. 52, but in the end the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) held its position to take the 3rd spot on the podium.

This 3rd-place finish by No. 61 kept its driver pair of Iguchi and Yamauchi on top in the series Driver standings. They also succeeded in widening their points gap over the 2nd-ranked drivers Kiyoto Fujinami and Joao Paulo de Oliveira (No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R), who finished out of the points this time, and the 3rd-ranked pair of Atsushi Miyake and Yuui Tsutsumi (No. 244 Takanoko-no-yu GR Supra GT).

 

 

 

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