2023.10.14

Rd. 7 Qualifying GT300: Perfect Qualifying day for muta Racing GR86 GT, with a course record as well!

Round 7 AUTOPOLIS : Qualifying GT300

The official qualifying for the AUTOPOLIS GT 450km RACE, Round 7 of the 2023 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS (1 lap = 4.674 km) in Oita Pref. on the afternoon of October 14 (Sat.). In the GT500 class, Fukuzumi in the No. 16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Nirei Fukuzumi/Hiroki Otsu) set a new course record to win pole position. In the GT300 class, Tsutsumi in the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira/Hiroki Katoh) also set a new course record to win the class pole position.

 

　The Round 7 Official Qualifying sessions took place on October 14 (Sat.) at AUTOPOLIS, and the drizzling rain that fell in the early morning soon stopped and the track was dry after the start of the morning’s official practice at 9:00 am. And when the GT300 class Q1 began at 3:00 in the afternoon the skies were cloudy and the air temperature stood at 18℃, with the track temperature at 25℃.

　 Of the 13 cars competing in Group A, the first to post a target time was the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou) with a lap of 1’43.619. After that, the other cars ran time attacks to try to better that. It was the fastest car from the morning’s official practice, the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Hibiki Taira), that was the next to claim the top spot with a time of 1’42.600. Following in 2nd position came the current leader in the point standing, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Kohta Kawaai). Group A’s Q1 session ended that way with car No. 2 holding the top time. Standing in 2nd and 3rd positions in the group were cars No. 52 and No. 65 respectively, with the 4th position going to the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi) and 5th position to the No. 50 ANEST IWATA Racing RC F GT3 (Igor Omura Fraga). Last year’s champion and current 4th position holder in the series point standings, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Teppei Natori) finished in 9th position and failed to move on the Q2 for the first time this season.

　The Group B Q1 session began at 3:18 in the afternoon. First to take top position in the session was the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Yuki Nemoto) with a time of 1’43.192, but that spot was soon taken away by the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi) with a time of 1’42.694. The Group B session ended that way with car No. 61 holding the top time to move on to Q2. Finishing 2nd fastest in the group was No. 31 and 3rd fastest with a time of 1’43.437 was the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Syun Koide). Finishing 4th in the group despite this being his first time ever running on the AUTOPOLIS track was Bruno Spengler in the No. 7 Studie BMW M4, while 5th position went to the No. 87 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3.

 

 

 

 

　The GT300 class Q2 session began at 3:53 in the afternoon. As with Q1, the skies remained cloudy and the air temperature virtually unchanged. The first to set a target time of 1’42.141 was Hideki Yamauchi in the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT, who was riding on hopes of regaining his record for most pole positions. Following close behind by a small margin with a time of 1’42.342 came the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Kazuto Kotaka).

　However, just before the end of the session it was Yuui Tsutsumi in the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT that came through to beat both of those times. What’s more, Tsutsumi’s time of 1’42.016 also beat the former course record time (1’42.039). In the end, no one else could beat this time and the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira/Hiroki Katoh) came away with Pole Position. Also, for Tsutsumi it was his personal first Pole Position in SUPER GT competition.

　Finishing the class qualifying in 2nd position was the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi), while 3rd went to the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Koki Saga/Kazuto Kotaka/Yuki Nemoto). As for the point standing leader, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai/Seita Nonaka), its driver Yoshida finished the qualifying in 4th position. If No. 52 can win the race on the 15th, the team has a chance to clinch the season title, depending on the performances of car No. 18 and the other leaders in the current standings, but at least No. 52 will be striving to finish in no worse that their starting position of 4th.

　On the other hand, the current 2nd-place team in the season standings, the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi/Syun Koide) finished this qualifying in 9th position. And the 3rd-ranked No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Seiji Ara/Bruno Spengler) finished today’s qualifying in 11th position, which leaves car No. 52 ahead in the race for the season title.

 

 

 

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