2023.10.15

Rd. 7 Race GT300: SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT wins a fierce battle for its second consecutive win! It will also go into the final round as standing leader

The AUTOPOLIS GT 450km RACE, Round 7 of the 2023 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at the AUTOPOLIS (one lap 4.674 km x 97 laps) in Oita Prefecture on October 15. (Sun.). In the GT500 class, the No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata) started from 12th position on the grid to come from behind and score its second win of the season and climb to the top of the season standing with one round remaining in the series (on Nov. 4th and 5th). In the GT300 class, the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai/Seita Nonaka) scored its second consecutive win of the season and will go into the final round as the leader in the series standing.

 

 

 

 

 

　The No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Hibiki Taira) that stared from pole position expanded its lead in the early stages, while a three-way battle plays out behind it between the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Hideki Yamauchi), the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Kazuto Kotaka) and the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT (Kohta Kawaai) stage.

　It was at the end of the 5th lap of the race that a change took place in this battle for 2nd place. First, the No. 31 apr LC500h GT made an early pit stop and immediately made a tire change. After that, car No. 52 emerged as the victor in the battle for 2nd and quickly began closing on the leading car No. 2 and finally succeeded in overtaking it on the 18th lap. Car No. 52 (Yoshida/Kawaai) had come into this round as the leaders in the Drivers standing and even with a chance of clinching the title here. What’s more, the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Syun Koide) that currently stood in 2nd position in the standing collided with the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta) and ran off the track on the 13th lap. This dropped out of range for collecting any points in this round.

　Now running in the lead, car No. 52 made its first pit stop at the end of the 31st lap. Opting for a strategy of foregoing its initial tire change, meaning that Kawaai would run his second stint with no tire change. Hoping to keep itself in the title race, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Teppei Natori) held off on making his pit stop in order to move into the lead. What’s more, the team opted for a bold gamble of fulfilling it requirement of two pit stops by returning to the pit again after just two laps. In contrast to No. 31, which opted for an “undercut” strategy of making a pit stop in the early stages of the race, cars No. 2 and No. 61 chose a more orthodox three stint pit stop strategy to enable them to chase the fleeing car No. 52 in the second half of the race.

 

 

 

 

 

　The leading car No. 52 made an early second pit stop after just 14 laps, and while changing drivers from Kawaai to Yoshida, adopted a strategy of running a full 45 laps all at once. At around the same time, car No. 31 also made its second pit stop.

　By the time all of the teams had finished their required two pit stops with refueling, car No. 52 was back in the lead again. Chasing it was car No. 2, which had passed car No. 31 after its second required pit stop. The margin between the two leaders was just under four sec. but car No. 2 had the faster pace and was gradually closing in on No. 52. Some distance farther back, No. 31 and No. 61 were in volved in a close battle for 3rd position. What’s more, the No. 56、No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka) following as well.

　Withing the space of just seven laps, the leading No. 52 and the chasing No. 2 were now running nose to tail, and this tight battle would continue all the way goal. What’s more, the tight battle for 3rd place between cars No. 31 and No. 61, as well as the battle between No. 56 and No. 4 combined with those of the GT500 cars to create thrilling scenes around the track.
　The battle between No. 52 and No. 2 that continued into the final lap of the race ended with Yoshida in car No. 52 desperately holding on to his lead all the way to the goal. Falling short by a mere 0.612 sec., car No. 2 finished the race in 2nd place. For the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT, this was the team’s second win in a row, following the one in Round 6 at SUGO, while also being their second consecutive win at AUTOPOLIS after their 2022 win. For No. 52’s driver pair of Yoshida/Kawaai, they kept their lead in the Drivers standing and will go into the final round at MOTEGI with a 20-point lead over the 2nd ranked team.

　Finishing the race in 2nd place was the 2nd No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT, but at the same time the team rose to 2nd place in the Drivers standing. This means that the race for the title will come down to the same two teams and that the No. 2 team will be aiming for a come-from-behind championship title win, because it has no victories this season, No. 2 will have to win pole position and the race in order to have a chance for the title.

　Third place went to the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Koki Saga/Kazuto Kotaka/Yuki Nemoto) that succeeded in holding off a fierce charge by car No. 61, and in doing so, they won the first podium finish of the series for their new LC500h car that debuted this season.

 

 

 

 

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