ARTA NSX-GT First Win of the Season by Wide Margin

As last year’s Kyushu round was canceled due to the coronavirus, this was the first time for the Class-1 FR-layout NSX-GTs to race under the new regulations at Autopolis.

Qualifying on Saturday proceeded under clear skies. Free practice in the morning was red-flagged several times, pushing the start of Qualifying to 1:55 pm. Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Toshiki Oyu), Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Hiroki Otsu), ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Nirei Fukuzumi) and Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Koudai Tsukakoshi) proceeded from Q1 to Q2, with Oyu and Otsu setting lap records along the way. Top-ranked STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Naoki Yamamoto), carrying the heaviest success ballast of 100 kg, found the elevation changes of the track problematic, and unable to proceed to Q2, qualified P13.

In Q2, Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Ukyo Sasahara) set the fastest time, taking pole position. Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Takuya Izawa) was third-fastest, ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Tomoki Nojiri) was fourth, and Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Bertrand Baguette) was seventh on the starting grid. This was the first time that the Sasahara / Oyu team had taken pole.

The race started at 1:30 pm under clear skies, although conditions were cooler than the previous day. Although the #14 car, starting from P2, led the start of the race, it would be penalized for changing engines before the race, making Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Oyu) the actual race leader. Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Izawa) and ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Fukuzumi) moved up one place from theirgrid positions to second and third respectively, giving the NSX-GTs the top three in the early stages of the race.

On Lap 5, the #14 car pitted from its race-leading position to serve its engine penalty, handing the top three spots on the track to the NSX-GTs. On Lap 18, however, after a full-course yellow (FCW) and a safety car, race leader Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT #16 (Oyu) lost its right rear tire, and was out of the race. Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Izawa) was handed the lead, with ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Fukuzumi) now up to second place.

Oyu’s incident prompted the safety car once again onto the track, one-third of the race complete by this stage. As the race restarted on Lap 24, cars began to enter the pits for new drivers. Once Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Otsu) left the pits on Lap 29, ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Nojiri) who had pitted three laps earlier was right behind. On colder tires, the #64 NSX-GT not only relinquished the lead, but was sent back a few more places to fourth.

Once the tires had heated up, Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Otsu) regained pace, and by Lap 32 had taken back two spots, and was challenging race leader ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Nojiri). The two cars increased their gap to the rest of the field as the battled for the win, but on Lap 40, Modulo NSX-GT #64 (Otsu) had lost pace due to tire wear, and moved further down the field.

ARTA NSX-GT #8 (Nojiri) on the other hand maintained a comfortable lead to win the 65-lap race. This was the first time since 2007 (ARTA NSX (Daisuke Ito / Ralph Firman)) that Honda had won at Autopolis. STANLEY NSX-GT #1 (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) finished sixth from P13, and Astemo NSX-GT #17 (Tsukakoshi / Baguette) eighth, both scoring championship points. Yamamoto kept his lead and Makino second place in the drivers’ championship, as they head into Round 7 Twin Ring Motegi where success ballasts will be halved.

GT500 Race Result

GT300 Race Result

GT500 Standing

GT300 Standing