Astemo NSX-GT and STANLEY NSX-GT Finish 1-2
AUTOPOLISThe 7th round of the 2022 SUPER GT series was held at Autopolis International Racing Course (Oita Pref.) on October 1 (Sat) - 2 (Sun), in which five NSX-GTs and two NSX-GT3s participated in the GT500 and GT300 class respectively.
Autopolis in the race week was blessed with fine weather and both the ambient and road surface temperatures hiked up. During the free practice session in Saturday morning, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Nobuharu Matsushita) who had marked superb times till then veered off the track and damaged the front parts. It was feared at one time that the #17 car won’t be able to take part in qualifying, however, team’s swift efforts to repair the damage avoided such mishap, and the entire brigade of NSX-GT proceeded to the Q1 session in the afternoon.
As the result from Q2, #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) took the 2nd grid, #8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) 6th, and #64 Modulo NSX-GT (Takuya Izawa/Hiroki Otsu) 7th. As for #17 Astemo NSX-GT having been repaired in time for qualifying albeit insufficient set up adjustment, Matsushita made it through to Q2 and Koudai Tsukakoshi captured 4th grid, thus maintained high hope to the race on Sunday.
Yet another fine weather on the race day saw the ambient temperature went up to 26℃ and so did the road surface to 46℃ at the peak, and at 1:30 p.m., the 65-lap race was green-flagged. While #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Makino) kept its 2nd slot, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Matsushita) launching from 4th grid soon closed in on #19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra, and passed it to 3rd place on lap 19.
#100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Makino) running 2nd came in for new tires and refueling after 22 laps, the minimum stint that allows driver change without penalty, and handed the car over to Yamamoto. Did the same on a lap later, switching from Matsushita to Tsukakoshi, the #17 car benefited from a little bit less pitting time returned the track just in front of #100 STANLEY NSX-GT.
The pole sitter of the race, #24 Realize corporation ADVAN Z made its stop after 27-laps, and duly changed drivers, however, the pace of the two early-stoppers, i.e., #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) and #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Yamamoto) was way faster than the then race leader, the NSX-GT duo established 1-2 formation with #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) first and #100 STANLEY (Yamamoto) following behind.
In the later half of the race, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) went on to lead the pack in which #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Yamamoto) and #24 Z were getting closer to the top while fighting for the runner up position. But after the 40th lap or so, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) collected spare speed from somewhere and further widened the lead. #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Yamamoto), in the meantime, put #24 Z’s fierce chase under control, and took an invaluable part making up the 1-2 finish by NSX-GT.
The race winner, #17 NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi/Matsushita) adding up 20-points to the total score placed itself 3rd over all (54-points) behind #3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z leading the series with the total of 58-points and #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z 2nd with 55.5-points. #100 NSX-GT added up 15-points and placed 4th over all with the total of 41-points. The two NSX-GT cars, #17 and #100 still have chance for the series title that will be decided in the final round at Motegi just a month ahead from now.
We hadn’t got a pole position nor a win as good as it gets till today. It’s been a tough season so far to us. But we could seize this race with a 1-2 finish. As we’ve seen all through the season that Zs were very strong and its straight speed was faster, we’d known that the initial phase of the season would be extremely hard, because we run Suzuka, Fuji, Suzuka, Fuji, from 2nd to 5th round, back and forth between two venues that are not very much our forte. So, our plan was to catch up with rivals in the later half of the season where we’re to have upper hand in terms of track characteristics. The previous round at SUGO was a miscalculation due to the rain. But today, #17 and #100 cars did fantastic job that has kept them still in high hopes for the title. We make the best use of this momentum and try everything we can to conquer the championship. We thank for the support from fans in advance.
We hadn’t got a pole position nor a win as good as it gets till today. It’s been a tough season so far to us. But we could seize this race with a 1-2 finish. As we’ve seen all through the season that Zs were very strong and its straight speed was faster, we’d known that the initial phase of the season would be extremely hard, because we run Suzuka, Fuji, Suzuka, Fuji, from 2nd to 5th round, back and forth between two venues that are not very much our forte. So, our plan was to catch up with rivals in the later half of the season where we’re to have upper hand in terms of track characteristics. The previous round at SUGO was a miscalculation due to the rain. But today, #17 and #100 cars did fantastic job that has kept them still in high hopes for the title. We make the best use of this momentum and try everything we can to conquer the championship. We thank for the support from fans in advance.
We had an accident yesterday but the team repaired the damage in time for qualifying session. Today’s victory owes much to the team efforts and supports from Honda. The car set up for the race today, for instance, was the out come of the group work. I was thinking it would be very difficult and every one of each bringing ideas to made decision. I could just drive with full confidence in it. I could see Nobu (Matsushita) was also fully focused on driving, and it encouraged me to hang on till the end so that the result would follow by itself. In the closing laps, I was told (from the pit) that #100 and #24 cars were catching up and I intensified my concentration over again to break them away. The weekend was really like a jet coaster.
We had an accident yesterday but the team repaired the damage in time for qualifying session. Today’s victory owes much to the team efforts and supports from Honda. The car set up for the race today, for instance, was the out come of the group work. I was thinking it would be very difficult and every one of each bringing ideas to made decision. I could just drive with full confidence in it. I could see Nobu (Matsushita) was also fully focused on driving, and it encouraged me to hang on till the end so that the result would follow by itself. In the closing laps, I was told (from the pit) that #100 and #24 cars were catching up and I intensified my concentration over again to break them away. The weekend was really like a jet coaster.
Race weekend begun with the shunt I did yesterday but the team was kind enough to tell me, “We can fix the damage like this. So, don’t worry. Just sit back and relax, wait for the car to be ready.” I was really happy to hear that, and moved quite a lot. “Oh my goodness! They put huge trust on me.” I thought. That’s the reason why I could drive completely free of anxiety and made a gratifying performance. Making it through to Q2 is my personal high-light in the weekend. Today, I could face the race with perfect composure and overtook #19 car at the very last moment. Pit stop strategy worked fine and Kodai-san (Tsukakoshi) neatly wrapped up things. I really felt the entire team has become one.
Race weekend begun with the shunt I did yesterday but the team was kind enough to tell me, “We can fix the damage like this. So, don’t worry. Just sit back and relax, wait for the car to be ready.” I was really happy to hear that, and moved quite a lot. “Oh my goodness! They put huge trust on me.” I thought. That’s the reason why I could drive completely free of anxiety and made a gratifying performance. Making it through to Q2 is my personal high-light in the weekend. Today, I could face the race with perfect composure and overtook #19 car at the very last moment. Pit stop strategy worked fine and Kodai-san (Tsukakoshi) neatly wrapped up things. I really felt the entire team has become one.
GT500 Race Results
| Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Astemo NSX-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita |
1:54'02.414 |
| 2 | 100 | STANLEY NSX-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
+13.162 |
| 3 | 24 | Realize corporation ADVAN Z | Daiki Sasaki Kohei Hirate |
+13.453 |
| 4 | 14 | ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita |
+19.045 |
| 5 | 19 | WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra | Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi |
+19.621 |
| 6 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette |
+20.348 |
| 11 | 8 | ARTA NSX-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Nirei Fukuzumi |
+1Lap |
| 12 | 16 | Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT | Ukyo Sasahara Toshiki Oyu |
+1Lap |
| 13 | 64 | Modulo NSX-GT | Takuya Izawa Hiroki Otsu |
+1Lap |
GT300 Race Results
| Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai |
1:55'43.132 |
| 2 | 61 | SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi |
+1Lap |
| 3 | 65 | LEON PYRAMID AMG | Naoya Gamou Takuro Shinohara |
+1Lap |
| 4 | 88 | Weibo Primez LAMBORGHINI GT3 | Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima |
+1Lap |
| 5 | 56 | REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R | Kiyoto Fujinami Joao Paulo de Oliveira |
+1Lap |
| 6 | 4 | GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka |
+1Lap |
| 18 | 55 | ARTA NSX GT3 | Hideki Mutoh Iori Kimura |
+1Lap |
| 19 | 18 | UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Kakunoshin Ohta |
+1Lap |
GT500 Standing
| Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi |
CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z | 58 |
| 2 | 12 | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette |
CALSONIC IMPUL Z | 55.5 |
| 3 | 17 | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita |
Astemo NSX-GT | 54 |
| 4 | 100 | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
STANLEY NSX-GT | 41 |
| 5 | 37 | Sacha Fenestraz Ritomo Miyata |
KeePer TOM'S GR Supra | 38 |
| 6 | 14 | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita |
ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra | 38 |
| 12 | 8 | Tomoki Nojiri Nirei Fukuzumi |
ARTA NSX-GT | 21 |
| 13 | 16 | Ukyo Sasahara Toshiki Oyu |
Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT | 16.5 |
| 15 | 64 | Takuya Izawa Hiroki Otsu |
Modulo NSX-GT | 4 |
GT300 Standing
| Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | Kiyoto Fujinami Joao Paulo de Oliveira |
REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R | 52 |
| 2 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi |
SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT | 49.5 |
| 3 | 10 | Riki Okusa | TANAX GAINER GT-R | 46 |
| 4 | 10 | Ryuichiro Tomita | TANAX GAINER GT-R | 42 |
| 5 | 52 | Kohta Kawaai | SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT | 37 |
| 6 | 52 | Hiroki Yoshida | SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT | 36 |
| 11 | 18 | Takashi Kobayashi Kakunoshin Ohta |
UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | 26 |
| 27 | 55 | Hideki Mutoh Iori Kimura |
ARTA NSX GT3 | 5 |
