2021.11.19

Round 8 Fuji Speedway: Preview This is the conclusion of title contention! Don't miss the final race in Fuji!!

2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT is reaching its final round at last. The stage is set at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture on November 27th (Sat) and 28th (Sun). This season's title will finally be decided at Round 8 "FUJIMAKI GROUP FUJI GT 300km RACE". Freed from the success weight, 6 teams of GT500 class and 5 teams of GT300 class will take on one last battle for the supreme position. Teams who could not survive in the title contention would also be challenging for the highest position, the last victory of the season. Without a doubt, all teams will be fighting with full thrust at the final round in Fuji. Will it be joy or sorrow?　Excitement or heart-touching?　What kind of a finish are we going to see this year? You can't miss every moment of the final round.

Teams are mandated to change 4 tires when changing drivers during the race (except if the race were started with rain tires).

 

※Photo above is from Round 2 Fuji Speedway of 2021.
※Please follow the measures put in place to avoid the spread of COVID-19 by the regional government and/or the circuit while you are at as well traveling to/from the circuit.

 

 

　GT500 class driver ranking is led by Yamamoto of defending champion No.1 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino). Since Makino at second in the point standing is driving for No.1 car, he will not have a chance at all if he enters the upcoming event with the same teammate, therefore, he should be removed from the candidate list, at least for now. Followers of No.1 car are No.8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Nirei Fukuzumi) at 5 points behind and No.17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi / Bertrand Baguette) at 8 points behind, and, after all, the rivals standing in the way of No.1 car to a consecutive championship are 2 teams of the same NSX-GT. No.1 car can clinch the title by capturing 1 point granted to the pole position (PP), even if the car finishes in second place in the race. Second-place finish is not good enough for No.8 car if No.1 car finishes in third place or No.17 car wins. They would want to get the 1 point with pole position. No.17 car has to complete a pole-to-win and see where No.1 and No.8 cars end up. Sparks could be flying among these 3 NSX-GTs from qualifying in their quest for pole position.
　No.16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Ukyo Sasahara / Toshiki Oyu) and No.64 Modulo NSX-GT (Takuya Izawa / Hiroki Otsu) are also a candidate for pole position as well as winner, thus, the competition can get fierce just among the NSX-GT squad.

 

 

   

 

 

　There are 3 other candidates for the title: No.36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi / Sho Tsuboi), No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine / Nobuharu Matsushita), and No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima / Kenta Yamashita). Due to the point deficit from the top ranker No.1 car, they have to win and depend on the situation of 5 rival cars.
　Fuji is the home to the TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 squad, and the car has been successful on the track. Possibility is quite high for No.36 and No.14 cars to win and, if the upper positions were dominated with other GR Supras, there could be a comeback.
　Contrastingly, Fuji is not a very favorable circuit to NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500. However, No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine / Nobuharu Matsushita), who won Round 5 SUGO and showed strong performance at previous race in Motegi where they had the win in their hand until the last lap, could make something happen at upcoming Fuji. If the weather conditions became rough and the game had to rely on the skill and guts of the driver, then a victory by No.12 car is possible. This is SUPER GT which possesses a possibility of things happening on the main straight in the final lap. If the team does not give up, then the fans rooting the team should not give up either until the checker flag.

 

 

   

 

 

　GT300 class driver title is now narrowed down to from the top ranked No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) to No.11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka / Hironobu Yasuda) at 20 points behind. Sixth ranked No.88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Yuya Motojima) can tie the points with No.61 car if they complete a pole-to-win at the final round, but they cannot be ahead of No.61 car due to the number of upper-position finishes, thus, they have no chance to claim the title.
　No.61 car will be coming in to the final round Fuji with one hand on SUBARU's ambitious GT300 crown. BRZ GT300 qualified first and finished second at Round 2 held at Fuji. Although falling short of a win, the car finished in an upper position multiple times in the 4 races held at Fuji last year, thus, Fuji Speedway can be called as a favorite track to the car. Podium at the final race is very possible especially when there will not be any success weight. Undisputed if pole-to-win, and even a second-place finish can nail it if pole position is obtained. Biggest rival can be the 'pressure' of first title.
　However, in terms of match up with Fuji, there are many other car models other than BRZ that favor the track of Fuji. TOYOTA GR Supra and NISSAN GT-R NISMO are certainly in there. ARTA also has a good track record at Fuji. It is only coincidence, but these car models/teams are remaining as the rival standing in the way to the first title of No.61 car, and, thus, the final race is predicted to be a furious competition especially since they, too, are the candidates for the win.

 

　First up would be second ranked and defending champion No.56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami / Joao Paulo de Oliveira). The team must be fighting with full thrust from the qualifying because they do not want to allow No.61 car to take even 1 point granted for pole position. They need to target to finish in second place or above and be in front of the rivals at least. There is nothing but to get pole-to-win for No.55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Shinichi Takagi / Ren Sato), No.244 TAKANOKONOYU GR Supra GT (Atsushi Miyake / Yuui Tsutsumi), and No.11 car at third to fifth positions in the point standing, respectively. If No.55 car accomplishes its target, then the possibility vanishes for No.56 car, and No.61 car will need second place or higher. If No.11 car fails to capture pole position, then the car will not be able to clinch the title even if it wins the race due to the difference in the number of upper-position finishes.
　In terms of the race winner, GR Supra users No.52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida / Kohta Kawaai) and No.60 SYNTIUM LMcorsa GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshimoto / Shunsuke Kohno) are candidates too. Victory would be a minimum requirement for No.244 car, but No.52 and 60 cars can be the greatest supporter if these 2 cars climb on the podium.
　No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou / Togo Suganami) fielding a Mercedes AMG GT3 is a team to watch out since they have successful records at Fuji. No.2 muta Racing Lotus MC (Hiroki Katoh / Ryohei Sakaguchi) could be seeing their second win of the season since there is no success weight. Finally, we should engrave every movement of No.10 GAINER TANAX with IMPUL GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino / Keishi Ishikawa) in our memory as this will be Kazuki Hoshino's last race in SUPER GT.

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

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