Astemo NSX-GT #17 Clinches Win From 11th Grid
Fuji SpeedwayRound 2 of the 2021 SUPER GT Series was held at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka, over the May 3-4 long weekend. Five NSX-GTs and three NSX GT3s ran in the GT500 and GT300 classes respectively.
The 500km round was longer than most by 200km, with two pits including driver changes required.
Qualifying began at 2:30 pm on the sunny Monday afternoon. NSX-GTs had difficulties performing in Q1, with ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri /Nirei Fukuzumi) being the only NSX-GT to proceed to Q2. In the second qualifier, the #8 car set a 1 min 26.499 s lap, the second-fastest of the session, just 0.003 s shy of pole position, giving the NSX-GT a spot on the front row.
Sunny weather continued into Tuesday, with the 110 lap, 500 km race beginning at 2:30 pm. ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Fukuzumi) accelerated ferociously once the lights turned green, and was first to the first turn from the outside, setting up a commanding lead for the remainder of the lap,
After the safety car came on track on Lap 3, ARTA NSX-GT #8 was overtaken on the restart, and was in second position. Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Koudai Tsukakoshi), who started from 11th on the grid after an unsuccessful fast lap, pitted early on Lap 31, handing the car to Bertrand Baguette. The new FCY (Full Course Yellow) rule was then invoked to remove a stopped car from the track, and due to most cars except for the #17 NSX-GT pitting at this time, Baguette found himself the de facto race leader. By the time all GT500 cars had pitted and changed drivers on Lap 44, Astemo NSX-GT #17 was in the lead.
Baguette maintained a commanding lead, and on Lap 68 sensing fading tire grip, came into the pits for new tires and a driver change. During this time, ARTA NSX-GT #8 with Fukuzumi behind the wheel from Nojiri regained the lead, the #17 car chasing. As the race drew to a close, Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Tsukakoshi) was unable to improve his pace, and was overtaken on Lap 87.
On Lap 97 the third FCY was declares, and the race restarted with 13 laps remaining. The car running second retired due to mechanical issues, giving the NSX-GTs the top two places once again. ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Fukuzumi) was given a drive-through penalty for ignoring a yellow flag, giving the lead to Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Tsukakoshi), who fended off challenges to reach the checkered flag first, winning the race by 0.831 s.
STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino), who started the race from the back of the GT500 grid after a disastrous Qualifying, made a comeback to finish fourth. ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Nojiri / Fukuzumi) were set back to eighth after the drive-through penalty. Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Takuya Izawa / Hiroki Otsu) were tenth, within the points.
It’s good that we managed to win the second race. The #17 was lucky to pit when it did because of the FCY, but Tsukakoshi put in a determined race after that as well. Overall, we once again saw how SUPER GT is difficult, with the results depending on how well the selected tires performed according to changes in track conditions. We’re slower on the straights than the competition, so we’ll be looking into catching up. We won this race, but there are issues that we need to address.
I made a mistake in Qualifying, so we were far back on the grid, but we pitted at a lucky time. I don’t have many fond memories from previous 500km races, and Qualifying didn’t go well either. I couldn’t find the pace during the race due to traffic. The timing of the FCY was pure chance, but we made the most of it. We didn’t have the speed, but we had the grit to win. We’ll aim to win with speed at the next race.
I’m glad to race another 500km round. It’s also great that although limited, there were spectators this time. It’s always great to drive in front of the fans. I think I drove a solid stint. The timing of Tsukakoshi pitting was lucky and I was in the lead, but we had a tough race until then. I pushed during my stint, but my tires suddenly lost grip, and there was not much more I could do. I called in saying we needed to change tires quickly, so Tsukakoshi took over the car with a different compound, and he went on to drive really well to give us the victory.
GT500 Race Result
|
Pos. |
Num. |
Machine |
Driver |
Time/Gap |
|
1 |
17 |
Astemo NSX-GT |
Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette |
3:03'07.846 |
|
2 |
14 |
ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra |
Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita |
+0.831 |
|
3 |
37 |
KeePer TOM'S GR Supra |
Ryo Hirakawa/Sena Sakaguchi |
+1.117 |
|
4 |
1 |
STANLEY NSX-GT |
Naoki Yamamoto/Hideki Mutoh/Tadasuke Makino |
+1.552 |
|
5 |
3 |
CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R |
Kohei Hirate/Katsumasa Chiyo |
+34.102 |
|
6 |
39 |
DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra |
Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama |
+36.390 |
|
8 |
8 |
ARTA NSX-GT |
Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi |
+45.083 |
|
10 |
64 |
Modulo NSX-GT |
Takuya Izawa/Hiroki Otsu |
+1'20.667 |
|
11 |
16 |
Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT |
Ukyo Sasahara/Toshiki Oyu |
+1'26.826 |
GT300 Race Result
|
Pos. |
Num. |
Machine |
Driver |
Time/Gap |
|
1 |
60 |
SYNTIUM LMcorsa GR Supra GT |
Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno |
3:04'16.736 |
|
2 |
61 |
SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT |
Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi |
+0.712 |
|
3 |
55 |
ARTA NSX GT3 |
Shinichi Takagi/Ren Sato |
+1.286 |
|
4 |
65 |
LEON PYRAMID AMG |
Naoya Gamou/Togo Suganami |
+21.580 |
|
5 |
10 |
GAINER TANAX with IMPUL GT-R |
Kazuki Hoshino/Keishi Ishikawa |
+1 Lap |
|
6 |
88 |
JLOC Lamborghini GT3 |
Takashi Kogure/Yuya Motojima |
+1 Lap |
|
9 |
18 |
UPGARAGE NSX GT3 |
Takashi Kobayashi/Teppei Natori |
+1 Lap |
|
19 |
34 |
Yogibo NSX GT3 |
Ryo Michigami/Shogo Mitsuyama |
+2 Laps |
GT500 Standing
|
Pos. |
Num. |
Driver |
Machine |
Pts |
|
1 |
14 |
Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita |
ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra |
35 |
|
2 |
17 |
Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette |
Astemo NSX-GT |
26 |
|
3 |
37 |
Ryo Hirakawa/Sena Sakaguchi |
KeePer TOM'S GR Supra |
23 |
|
4 |
36 |
Yuhi Sekiguchi/Sho Tsuboi |
au TOM'S GR Supra |
15 |
|
5 |
39 |
Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama |
DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra |
13 |
|
6 |
1 |
Naoki Yamamoto/Hideki Mutoh |
STANLEY NSX-GT |
11 |
|
7 |
1 |
Tadasuke Makino |
STANLEY NSX-GT |
8 |
|
9 |
8 |
Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi |
ARTA NSX-GT |
7 |
|
13 |
64 |
Takuya Izawa/Hiroki Otsu |
Modulo NSX-GT |
1 |
GT300 Standing
|
Pos. |
Num. |
Driver |
Machine |
Pts |
|
1 |
56 |
Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira |
Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R |
24 |
|
2 |
60 |
Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno |
SYNTIUM LMcorsa GR Supra GT |
23 |
|
3 |
65 |
Naoya Gamou/Togo Suganami |
LEON PYRAMID AMG |
23 |
|
4 |
61 |
Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi |
SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT |
16 |
|
5 |
55 |
Shinichi Takagi/Ren Sato |
ARTA NSX GT3 |
11 |
|
6 |
52 |
Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai |
SAITAMA TOYOPET GB GR Supra GT |
11 |
|
14 |
18 |
Takashi Kobayashi/Teppei Natori |
UPGARAGE NSX GT3 |
2 |
