2022.08.28

Rd. 5 Race GT500: Coming from the last spot on the grid, CALSONIC IMPUL Z scores dramatic come-from-behind win! Suzuka becomes a Nissan theater once again

Round 5 Suzuka Circuit : Race GT300

The FUJIMAKI GROUP SUZUKA GT 450km RACE, Round 5 of the 2022 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series took place at Suzuka Circuit (1 lap 5,807m) in Mie Prefecture on August 28 (Sun.). In the GT500 class, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) started from the last position of 15th on the staring grid to charge ahead in magnificent style and take the win. In the GT300 class, the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka) executed a skillful race strategy to take its first win in five years.

 

 

 

 

 

In the morning, a cool wind was blowing Suzuka circuit, but by afternoon the air temperature began to rise. Just before the start at 2:20 in the afternoon, the air temperature was 28℃ and the track temperature stood at 39℃. After a single parade lap led by seven police motorcycles and three patrol cars of the Mie Prefectural Police, followed by the formation lap, the Round 5 race got underway.

During the early stages of the race, the pole-starting No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z took the lead, with the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT and the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT giving chase. Also, during the first lap the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra (Yuji Tachikawa) emerged in 4th place. Soon, however, with its pace beginning to slow, car No. 23 opted for an early pit stop on the 17th lap of the race. As for the other three lead cars, they made their first pit stop between the 26th and 30th laps, which theoretically calculated as roughly 1/3rd the distance of a 77-lap race.

Holding off on their pit stops until the 33rd lap were the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra running in the provisional lead and the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Bertrand Baguette) running in 2nd position. When all of the GT500 cars had completed their first pit stop, it was car No. 16 that found itself now in the lead. Following it about 2 sec. behind came car No. 23, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra that had rising from a 5th position grid start, and car No. 17, which had lost ground due to the length of its pit work.

As for car No. 23 now running in 2nd position, it was still unable to increase its pace after a tire change and dropped to 4th position as a result. In contrast, cars No. 38 and No. 17, running respectively in 2nd and 3rd positions were able to close in on the leading car No. 16. During the middle stages of the race, it would be these three cars that battled for the lead. Behind them, car No. 23 and other would begin making their second pit stop. The regulation for this race required each team to make two pit stops for refueling. Of the three machines in the lead, it was car No. 17 that was first to make its second pit stop before the two running in front of it. Finally, it was on the 49th lap of the race that those two, cars No. 39 and No. 12 (Kazuki Hiramine) made their second pit stop.

 

 

 

 

 

It was on the same 49th lap that a GT300 ran off the track and crashed. The Safety Car had to be brought out until the wreck could be cleared. This intervention allowed a shortening of the gaps between the competitors. This had a negative effect on the cars that had already finished their second pit stop at this point in the race, namely cars No. 16 and No. 38, as well as the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra, No. 37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra.

After the Safety Car withdrew and all of the GT500 class cars had completed their second pit stop by the 60th lap of the race, the leader was now car No. 17, followed by No. 23, No. 12, and No. 39. However, car No. 39 had opted not to make a tire change during its second pit stop, which meant that it could not push at a pace sufficient to threaten the cars in front.

Of the remaining three leading cars, it was Hiramine in car No. 12 that commanded the fastest pace. Although car No. 23 running in 2nd position had more than a 2-sec. lead over Hiramine at that point, he was able to use that pace to close the gap rapidly on No. 23 until he caught up and managed to pull even with it at the entrance to the Degner Curve of the 65th lap of the race when No. 23 got caught behind a GT300 class car. It was there that No. 23 edged toward No. 17, forcing Hiramine to run off the track at one point. Fortunately, however, Hiramine was able to retain control of his car and recover without incident. It was determined that this action by No. 23 constituted dangerous driving and a Drive-through Penalty was placed on No. 23. With this, car No. 12 was now in 2nd position, and Hiramine began closing in on the leading car No. 17.

As for car No. 17, it was unable to maintain a sufficiently fast pace in the closing stages of the race, apparently due to machine trouble. Hiramine in car No. 12 could be seen to close gradually on the leader, and at the hairpin turn on the 75th lap, with just two laps remaining in the race, Hiramine was able to pull up even on the in-side of car No. 17. As for No. 17, it was able to run side-by-side until the Spoon Curve. But the difference in speed between the two machines was evident, and soon No. 12 had moved into the lead, from where it ran on unchallenged to the checkered flag and the win.

Thus, a magnificent come-from-behind victory went to the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette), which had qualified 15th the day before and started the race from the last spot on the grid. For the team and for Hiramine, it was the first win since Round 5 at SUGO the previous year, while for Baguette it was his first win since switching to a Nissan camp team. As for the Nissan Z GT500, it was the second win of the season, following the one by the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z in Round 3. This also marked the fifth consecutive win by Nissan GT500 machines at Suzuka since 2020. The victory also raised the series point total for the Hiramine/Baguette pair to 44.5 points, moving them to the top in the season ranking.

Finishing the race in 2nd place came the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Nobuharu Matsushita). Third place went to the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi/Yuichi Nakayama), which meant that all three makers had one car with a place on the winners’ podium for this Round 5 race at Suzuka.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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