Astemo NSX-GT Fifth in SUPER GT Okayama Season-Opener

Last season, the new Class 1 regulations necessitating a drastic change to an FR layout, combined with COVID-19 hampering development efforts, caused several setbacks for the NSX-GT, but yet it won the series. This season, changes to the aerodynamics are prohibited, so the car looks the same, but engine performance and settings-wise, progress was made, evident at the off-season joint tests.

Each year, the average speed of GT500 racing cars has been increasing. The Okayama International Circuit, absent from last season’s calendar, was run without weight handicaps, necessitating measures to decrease speed. For GT500 cars, fuel flow restrictions were decreased from 95.0kg/h to 90.2kg/h, and a special BoP was applied to restrict engine output. In the GT300 class, weight handicaps were applied according to vehicle category.

In the 105-minute practice session held on the Saturday morning under clear skies, the NSX-GTs performed well, with ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri /Nirei Fukuzumi), Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Ukyo Sasahara / Toshiki Oyu) and STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Naoki Yamamoto / Hideki Mutoh) finishing the session first through third respectively. The #1 car, last year’s winner, had planned to be driven by the same drivers, but due to Tadasuke Makino falling ill, Mutoh filled in as Yamamoto’s partner.

After the practice session and lunchtime, the track temperature continued to rise, and by the time the GT500 Q1 session began at 2：33 pm, it was uncomfortably hot. The change in track conditions worked against the NSX-GTs, Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Toshiki Oyu) and Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Hiroki Otsu) being the only two making it into the Q2 session, fifth and sixth respectively. The NSX-GTs did not improve in Q2, Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Sasahara) finishing sixth, and Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Takuya Izawa) seventh. #16’s lap time was discounted due to a off-track infringement, leaving Modulo NSX-GT #64 and Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 sixth and seventh on the starting grid.

The weather kept up on the following day. The 82-lap race started in humid conditions at 1：30 pm. At the end of the opening lap, Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Izawa) was sixth, Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT#16 (Sasahara) was eighth, and Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Bertrand Baguette) was ninth.

Baguette’s pace was good in the opening laps, taking him up to seventh, the leading NSX-GT, and positioned him to aim higher up. On Lap 33, a GT300 car stopped on the track, bringing in the safety car, triggering a flurry of cars entering the pit lane for tires and fuel. At this stage, Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Koudai Tsukakoshi) was up to sixth, closing in on the frontrunners.

On Lap 68, Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Tsukakoshi) took the inside at the end of the back straight to move up to fifth, and despite a determined effort to move further up, the #17 car crossed the finish line fifth, the best performance from an NSX-GT. ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Fukuzumi) was seventh from a 14th place start, and STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Yamamoto) was eighth from an 11th place start. These three were within the points.

GT500 Race Result

GT300 Race Result

GT500 Standing

GT300 Standing