2021.11.07

Rd. 7 Race GT300: Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS comes from 5th place to win with a two-tire change

The MOTEGI GT 300km RACE, Round 7 of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series took place on the afternoon of November 7 (Sun.) at Twin Ring Motegi (one lap 4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Prefecture. In the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the final lap of the race to score their second straight win of the series. In the GT300 class, the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata/Takuro Shinohara) came from a 5th- position start to claim victory.

 

 

 

 

　In the GT300 class race, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT starting in 2nd position managed to pass the pole-starting No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 to lead the race in the first half. From there, No. 61 was followed in order by the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3, the No. 88 JLOC LAMBORGHINI GT3 and the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata).

　With the Twin Ring Motegi circuit known as a track where it is difficult to overtake opponents, close battles were expected to continue around the track. But it was on the 6th lap that first upset occurred. White smoke began to pour out of the rear of car No. 18, and it pulled over and came to a stop beside the track. This quickly took one of the race favorites out of the competition. Then, on the 8th lap of the race, the GT500 cars began to catch up with the GT300 back markers. It was on the next lap that the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG collided with a GT500 car in the hairpin and ran off the track. This brought on an FCY (Full course yellow). The race was restarted on the 10th lap only to have another accident occur just three laps later when the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG that had been working its way up steadily through the field collided with the No. 87 GRANSEED LAMBORGHINI GT3, which sent car No. 4 off the track. This caused a second FCY to be called. Just before it was instated, however, car No. 55 overtook car No. 61 to take the lead. Behind No. 61, car No. 88 was closing in.

　After the 20th lap of the race, the GT300 class cars began to make their routine pit stops one after another. Among the leading teams, some were taking different race strategies that would determine the outcome of the race. The leading car No. 55 made its pit stop at the end of the 29th lap of the race and changed drivers from Shinichi Takagi to Ren Sato. Here the team decided to save pit time by changing only the two rear tires. Then cars No. 88, No. 21 and the No. 25 HOPPY Porsche running in 3rd to 5th positions at the time chose the same two-tire change strategy. On the other hand, car No. 61, then running in 2nd position, opted to change all four tires. But when it returned to the race after its pit stop it found itself running behind its championship rival, the No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R. The No. 56 team had opted for a no-tire-change strategy in order to move up all the way from a 7th-postion start.

 

 

 

　In the second half of the race, turned into a battle between two teams that had opted to change only their two rear tires. They were Ren Sato driving car No. 55 and Takuro Shinohara in car No. 21. Taking advantage of the Audi R8 LMS’s reputation as a car easy on its tire, No. 21 was able to pass No. 55 and from there begin to increase its margin of lead.

　Following this, the battle for 3rd place turned into a close standoff between three cars, with No. 56 in front chased at close quarters by No. 61 and No. 88. Behind this, the No. 9 PACIFIC NAC CARGUY Ferrari that started the race from 21st position used the advantage of a 4-tire change to close in and pass car No. 25 and move into 6th position. But before long, No. 9 began to slow down, seemingly with tire trouble. That enabled No. 25 to move back into 5th position.

　Car No. 21 ran on unchallenged in the lead to be first in the GT300 class to cross the finish line. For the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata/Takuro Shinohara), it was the team’s first win since Round 6 at Suzuka in the 2020 season. This also happened to be the first win for Shinohara in his rookie season as a full-time GT300 driver. In 2nd place came the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi/Ren Sato). In the fierce battle for 3rd place, that last spot on the podium eventually went to the No. 56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami /Joao Paulo de Oliveira).

 

 

　The leaders of the Drivers ranking coming into this race, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi), spun out by itself while battling with car No. 88. Although it was able to quickly return to the race, it ended it in 7th place. With this result it was barely able to hold on to its position at the top of the standings going into the final race of the series at Fuji Speedway, but the 2nd ranked No. 56 team closed the point gap to six. So, five cars, ranging from No. 61 to the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R currently 5th in the standings, will be in contention for the season title in the final round.

 

 

 

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