Race
SUPER GT 2021
Round 4

STANLEY NSX-GT Wins from Pole at Twin Ring Motegi

jp Mobility Resort Motegi

Round 4 of the 2021 SUPER GT Series was held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi, over the July 17 - 18 weekend. Five NSX-GTs and three NSX GT3s ran in the GT500 and GT300 classes respectively.

STANLEY NSX-GT Wins from Pole at Twin Ring Motegi

Round 3, which was planned to be held in late May at the Suzuka Circuit, was delayed until August due to the coronavirus, making Twin Ring Motegi the de facto third round.

Qualifying sessions began on 2:15 pm on Saturday under clear skies. STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Tadasuke Makino), Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Toshiki Oyu) and Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Hiroki Otsu) proceeded to Round 2, in which STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Naoki Yamamoto) took pole position, Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Ukyo Sasahara) was third fastest, and Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Takuya Izawa) finished sixth.

The sunny weather continued through to Sunday, and under under blistering sunshine on a blistering track, the 63-lap race started at 1:16 pm. STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Makino) held on to the lead for the first seven laps, until the #19 car moved ahead. STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Makino) gradually lost ground but held on to second place until Lap 24, when they pitted for a driver change.

With Yamamoto behind the wheel, STANLEY NSX-GT #1 regained the lead on Lap 28 when the #19 car had issues in the pits, giving the #1 car a 4-second advantage. The #19 car was no slouch however, and by Lap 37 was 0.1 s behind Yamamoto. After that, two FCYs (Full Course Yellows) due to GT300 accidents ensured that there were no overtakes, well into the late stages.

With ten laps to go, #19 was once again on Yamamoto’s tail, but concentrating on his racing lines, the #1 car managed to increase the gap, and take the checkered flag. Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Sasahara / Oyu) was fourth, and ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri / Nirei Fukuzumi) was fifth from 9th grid, scoring championship points.


GT500 Race Results

Pos.

Num.

Machine

Drivers

Laps

Time/Gap

1

1

STANLEY NSX-GT

Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino

63

1:54'03.865

2

19

WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra

Yuji Kunimoto/Ritomo Miyata

63

+3.221

3

36

au TOM'S GR Supra

Yuhi Sekiguchi/Sho Tsuboi

63

+11.88

4

16

Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT

Ukyo Sasahara/Toshiki Oyu

63

+29.226

5

8

ARTA NSX-GT

Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi

63

+30.521

6

3

CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R

Kohei Hirate/Katsumasa Chiyo

63

+54.164

14

17

Astemo NSX-GT

Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette

49

+14 Laps

RT

64

Modulo NSX-GT

Takuya Izawa/Hiroki Otsu

43

+20 Laps


GT300 Race Results

Pos.

Num.

Machine

Drivers

Laps

Time/Gap

1

2

muta Racing Lotus MC

Hiroki Katoh/Ryohei Sakaguchi

58

1:54'05.407

2

11

GAINER TANAX GT-R

Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda

58

+1.576

3

52

SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT

Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai

58

+1.819

4

244

Takanoko-no-yu GR Supra GT

Atsushi Miyake/Yuui Tsutsumi

58

+10.821

5

4

GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG

Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka

58

+15.287

6

25

HOPPY Porsche

Takamitsu Matsui/Kimiya Sato

58

+35.614

10

18

UPGARAGE NSX GT3

Takashi Kobayashi/Teppei Natori

58

+1'14.820

17

34

Yogibo NSX GT3

Ryo Michigami/Shogo Mitsuyama

58

+3'09.975

23

55

ARTA NSX GT3

Shinichi Takagi/Ren Sato

56

+2 Laps


GT500 Standing

Pos.

Num.

Drivers

Machine

Pts

1

14

Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita

ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra

35

2

1

Naoki Yamamoto

STANLEY NSX-GT

32

3

1

Tadasuke Makino

STANLEY NSX-GT

29

4

37

Ryo Hirakawa/Sena Sakaguchi

KeePer TOM'S GR Supra

27

5

17

Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette

Astemo NSX-GT

26

6

36

Yuhi Sekiguchi/Sho Tsuboi

au TOM'S GR Supra

26

10

8

Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi

ARTA NSX-GT

13

11

16

Ukyo Sasahara/Toshiki Oyu

Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT

8

13

1

Hideki Mutoh

STANLEY NSX-GT

3

16

64

Takuya Izawa/Hiroki Otsu

Modulo NSX-GT

1


GT300 Standing

Pos.

Num.

Drivers

Machine

Pts

1 65 Naoya Gamou/Togo Suganami LEON PYRAMID AMG 25
2 11 Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda GAINER TANAX GT-R 25
3 56 Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R 24
4 60 Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 23
5 52 Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT 22
6 2 Hiroki Katoh/Ryohei Sakaguchi muta Racing Lotus MC 21
9 55 Shinichi Takagi/Ren Sato ARTA NSX GT3 11
17 18 Takashi Kobayashi/Teppei Natori UPGARAGE NSX GT3 3

Masahiro Saiki
Masahiro Saiki
In the intense heat, we new tires would be key. We managed to win because Yamamoto and Makino took pole position. It’s also in part due to the fact that we worked hard on the car, taking advantage of the long interval from Round 2, and went over details that we otherwise wouldn’t have the time for. There were cars with problems, however, so we’ll be double-checking everything in time for Suzuka. We haven’t won there since 2018, so we’ll be giving it everything we have.

Naoki Yamamoto
Naoki Yamamoto 1
TEAM KUNIMITSU
It was an enthralling win. It went according to plan perfectly, and we got the perfect results. I honestly didn’t think we would get in front of the #19 car. They caught up to us soon enough, but instead of trying too hard, I kept them close to reduce their downforce and raise their tire temperature. There were some close calls, but I think I did a good job. This win gives us the overall lead! Under the current regulations, Makino missed Round 1 so we can’t win the drivers’ championship, but we can still defend the team championship. We did well at the track tests at Suzuka, so I’m looking forward to it.

Tadasuke Makino
Tadasuke Makino 1
TEAM KUNIMITSU
I’m really glad we could take the win from pole position, as we planned. I drove the first half, and despite a few mistakes, I managed to keep my cool and set up the second half of the race. We managed to win thanks to Yamamoto. I’m grateful to the team for their top class pit work as well. I think the real challenge in the season starts when the cars have weight handicaps, so I’ll do all I can to help us defend the championship title.

Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image Gallery image