2024.04.14

【Rd. 1 Race　GT300】 Taking advantage of the machine’s strengths, muta Racing GR86 GT comes from behind and holds on to win

The opening round of the 2024 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, the OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE, took place on April 17th at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3,703m × 82 laps). In fine weather conditions that verged on unseasonal heat, the GT500 class saw a perfect win for the pole-starting No. 36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Kenta Yamashita). In the GT300 class, the opening round victory went to the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira) thanks to a successful no-tire-change race strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

　As with the day before, there were clear skies over Okayama International Circuit and the air temperature climbed to 27℃. The action got underway at 1:30 in the afternoon with a parade lap led by five Okayama Prefectural Police motorcycles, followed by the start of the 82-lap race.

　The start of the GT300 class race saw all 24 cars on the grid race into the first turn, except for the pit-starting No. 30 apr GR86 GT (Hiroaki Nagai/Rikuto Kobayashi) and the No. 777 D'station Vantage GT3 (Tomonobu Fujii/Marco Sørensen).

　The first car to come through the first turn was the pole-starting No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Takuro Shinohara). Close on No. 65’s tail came the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Hibiki Taira) and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi). But at the ATTWOOD curve of the first lap, there was a collision between the No. 22 R'Qs AMG GT3 (Hisashi Wada/Masaki Kano) and the No. 48 Datsumou K's Frontier GO&FUN NEKONEKO GT-R (Taiyo Ida/Yusaku Shibata). This resulted in No. 22 running off the track. What’s more, there was an accident involving several GT500 class cars that bought a Safety Car intervention on the very first lap.

　The race was finally restarted on the eighth lap. A three-car battle for the lead developed with car No. 65 in front, a short distance behind which a battle for 4th played out between the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka) and the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Seiji Ara). After the 14th lap, the GT500 class lead group began passing the GT300 class back-markers, throwing the race into crowded confusion. Still, there was no change in the order of the GT300 top group as the race entered the middle stages.

　After the GT300 class race passed the 24th lap, the earlier teams began making their pit stops. The No. 52 Green Brave GR Supra GT (Seita Nonaka) that had been running in 7th position in the early stages opted for its often-used strategy of no tire change. Also, car No. 2 running in 2nd position made its pit stop at the end of the 33rd lap. It also shortened its pit work by not changing tires, placing its chances on a come-from-behind reversal in the second half. What’s more, car No. 4, which had passed No. 61 to move into 3rd position, chose to change only its rear tires. In these ways, the teams played out their different race strategies.

 

 

 

 

 

　While most of the leading cars had made their pit stops before the half-way point in the race, the only one to stretch out is first stint running strongly in the lead was car No. 65. Finally making its pit stop on the 49th lap in the second half of the race and changing drivers to Naoya Gamou, No. 65 chose an orthodox practice of changing all four tires to rely on machine speed in the second half, as is common among the FIA GT3 cars. And while No. 65 was busy in the pit, car No. 2 went past it into the lead, true to its original strategy. Behind No. 2 came car No. 52, while No. 65 returned to the race in 3rd position. In 4th to 6th position at this point came cars No. 7 and two more cars coming on a no-tire-change race plan, the No. 31 apr LC500h GT (Kazuto Kotaka) and the No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Kiyoto Fujinami).

　But these cars running with no tire change would naturally have to struggle to keep pace in the final stages as their tires wore down. It was here that a large-scale battle between seven cars developed behind car No. 5. After the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) passed No. 5, it would also be passed by the other cars in succession. In this process, there was a collision between No. 5 and No. 61 in the second of the Double Hairpin turns. Car No. 5 spun out as a result and came to a stop at track-side unable to move under its own power. This resulted in the first Full Course Yellow (FCY) call of the new season.

　In the final stages of the race, the teams that had made tire changes began closing in on those that had not. This resulted in a succession of overtake battles around the circuit. Particular attention focused on car No. 65 at this point, as it closed in on car No. 52 running in 2nd position. Although last year’s champion car No. 52 held out for a while, No. 65 eventually passed it. Although Gamou in car No. 65 was able to close some of the gap on the leading Tsutsumi in car No. 2, with ten laps left in the race No. 2 still held a lead of some 15 seconds. And though it appeared as if Tsutsumi in car No. 2 was using his machine well to control his pace, Gamou never gave up on the chase.

　Despite the continued pursuit by No. 65, the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira) went on to win the 2024 opening round at Okayama. For Tsutsumi, this was his third win. For Taira, it was not only his rewarding first SUPER GT win but also sweet revenge for the just-missed wins that got away last season.

　After having narrowed the gap down to just under five seconds, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou/Takuro Shinohara) finished 2nd at Okayama just as it had last season. Meanwhile, the fierce battle for 3rd place raged on until the very end. With its faster pace, the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Seiji Ara/Niklas Krütten) kept charging and finally passed car No. 52 to take the last spot on the winner’s podium.

 

 

 

 

 

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