2022.05.28

Rd. 3 qualifying GT300：Kondo in the Studie BMW M4 gets first pole position!

Round 3 Suzuka circuit : Qualifying GT300

 

 

　The qualifying Q1 sessions began 10 minutes behind schedule at 2:55 in the afternoon. The teams were divided into groups A and B based on their team rankings after the previous round, with each group running a 10-minute Q1 session.
　Group A of the GT300 class Q1 was competed by 14 cars, and they began making their timed attacks from their third lap on the track. The first to post a top time was the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) with a time of 1’57.297. With this as the target time, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) recorded a lap of 1’57.337 to move into 2nd position, and then the No. 87 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3 (Natsu Sakaguchi) ran a 1’57.632 lap the take 3rd position. Unlike the other cars, the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Seiji Ara) didn’t run a flying lap until its fourth lap on the track and recorded a time of 1’57.179 just before the checkered flag was shown to take the top position in Q1 and qualify on to Q2. Finishing Q1 in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively were car No. 96 and car No. 56.
　The 13 cars competing in Group B took to the track from 3:13 in the afternoon. First it was the No. 244 HACHI-ICHI GR Supra GT (Kimiya Sato) that recorded a time of 1’57.523. Next, the No. 360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R (Yusaku Shibata) ran a lap of 1’57.449 to move into the top spot. But beating that time was that a team that always does well at Suzuka, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi). Its time of 1’57.14 turned out to be the fastest of the session and move the team on to Q2. Finishing the session in 2nd and 3rd place were cars No. 360 and the No.5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Yusuke Tomibayashi), respectively. Meanwhile, car No. 244 had its fastest lap disqualified for driving off the track, which meant that last year’s winner here at Suzuka could only qualify in 13th place and miss out on Q2.

 

 

 

　The 10-minute GT300 class Q2 session began at 3:48 in the afternoon. As the cars began to make their time attacks from their third lap on the track, the No. 360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R (Takayuki Aoki) was first to top the time board with a lap of 1’57.680, and that time was then quickly beaten by the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) with a time of 1’57.415. 　Then, with just one minute remaining in the session, the No. 10 TANAX GAINER GT-R (Riki Okusa) posted a top time of 1’56.552. Meanwhile, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi) that had recorded the fastest time in the Q1 Group B session, developed machine trouble that forced it to quit its timed lap in sector 3 and return to the pit. Its qualifying effort ended there in a disappointing 16th position.
　On the lap when the checkered flag was shown, the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Tsubasa Kondo) that had recorded the fastest lap in Group A’s Q1 session came home with a lap of 1’56.743 but failed to beat the times of No. 10 and No. 88 and had to settle for the 3rd spot. With this, it looked as if the winner of Round 2 of the series, car No. 10, had won pole position. However, in the post-qualifying car inspections a violation (in minimum road clearance) was found in car No. 10 and its qualifying time was thus disqualified. What’s more, the car that had finished the session with the second fastest time, the No. 88 Weibo Primez LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Takashi Kogure), also had its best time disqualified for driving off the track.
　This meant that the 3rd fastest qualifier, the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Seiji Ara/Tsubasa Kondo) ended up winning pole position. For the driver Kondo and for the BMW M4 GT3, this was their first pole position. Finishing the qualifying in 2nd and 3rd places respectively were the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) and the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira).

 

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