#8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT Wins a Stormy Race
Sportsland SUGOSeptember 16 (Sat) - 17 (Sun) --- The sixth round of the 2023 SUPER GT series was held at Sportsland SUGO (Miyagi Pref.) and five NSX-GT cars of the 2023 spec and two NSX-GT3 cars participated in each of the GT500 and GT300 class.
As the last four races in the series, from 2nd to 5th round, had been run on the 450km-long format, R-6 this time around is to be on the standard distance of the series, that is to say a 300km-long race, in which all participants are required to make at least one stop in the race.
It began raining just before qualifying sessions and the track surface was turned into wet condition for once, however, the rain seized when the Q1 session for GT500 was about to start and the tarmac was quickly drying. Even though the wet-race declaration was still in effect, all cars went out on slick tires for time attack. In the difficult condition, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) marked the 3rd fastest time and #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) the 6th fastest, both proceeded to Q2.
In the Q2 session, Toshiki Oyu driving #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT set the new course record and duly achieved the back-to-back pole position for NSX-GT following #16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT on R-5 at the hand of Nirei Fukuzumi. #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Nobuharu Matsushita) came in for the 3rd grid to start the race on Sunday.
On 17th Sunday afternoon, the race started under overcast skies, and #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Nojiri) launching from pole position dived first into Turn-1 and then gradually began to pull away the pack led by #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Matsushita).
#8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Nojiri) was pitted right after L-32, refueling and driver/tire change were smoothly done. A lap later, however, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) made its stop swiftly enough to return the track ahead of #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu), successfully took over the leading position.
On Lap-37, #100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) suffered a huge crash after colliding with a GT300 car at the exit of the last turn, and the race was immediately red-flagged. Both #39 GR Supra and #1 Z running 1st and 2nd at this point were yet to finish the mandatory stop, therfore, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) and #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu) were deemed as the virtual 1st and 2nd respectively.
The race was restarted after the wreck of the accident was cleaned up, and #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) led the field with #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu) following right behind. On Lap-52, #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu) closed in on #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) and resumed the top position yet again.
#8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu) seemed to be outrunning #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) for a while, however, the gap began shrinking later on Lap-65 or so as the temperatures both ambient and track surface were going down, and soon the two cars settled into a close 1-2 formation. On Lap-77, at the home straight, #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) run side by side with #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu), and simply passed the consort car into Turn-1 to get the top slot back in hands.
#8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Oyu), now in 2nd, looked a bit stagnated thereafter allowing #23 Z, the immediate pursuer, to catch up rather quickly albeit with the minimum safety margin. #17 Astemo NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) maintained top position in the rest of the 84-lap race and received the first checkered flag, however, the post race scrutineering revealed its skid plate being fallen short in thickness due to excessive wear, and thus the #17 car was eliminated from the provisional results. By this ruling, #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Nojiri/Oyu) was moved up to the winner of the race. For Oyu, this is his maiden victory in the GT500-class.
The next race will be held at Autopolis (Oita Pref.) on October 14 (Sat) and 15 (Sun).
NSX-GTs have been well suited to the character of Sportsland SUGO in recent years, however, the last year’s results were not as much as we hoped because of the wet condition. But today, we could run on dry and get deserving outcome.
On the other hand, we had a crash and some unexpected troubles that made us awkward to be able to enjoy our achievements without reserve. The next round at Autopolis, our success weight will be reduced half, so we’ll keep this momentum and try to get the best possible result.
Autopolis is known as a track of which tarmac surface tends to collect rubber debris, and the 450km-race distance is something we’ve never done before at the venue, so the choice of strategy would vary with each team. We’ll do a lot of simulations to prepare for the race. The support from our fans will be very much appreciated. We thank you in advance.
GT500 Race Result
| Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu |
2:45'00.838 |
| 2 | 23 | MOTUL AUTECH Z | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli |
+0.529 |
| 3 | 39 | DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama |
+51.658 |
| 4 | 1 | MARELLI IMPUL Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette |
+55.693 |
| 5 | 24 | REALIZE CORPORATION ADVAN Z | Daiki Sasaki Kohei Hirate |
+1'02.479 |
| 6 | 14 | ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita |
+1 Lap |
| 11 | 64 | Modulo NSX-GT | Takuya Izawa Kakunoshin Ohta |
+1 Lap |
| 12 | 16 | ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu |
+2 Lap |
| RT | 100 | STANLEY NSX-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
+48Laps |
| DSQ | 17 | Astemo NSX-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita |
Disqualification |
GT300 Race Result
| Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai |
2:46'17.002 |
| 2 | 20 | SHADE RACING GR86 GT | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Eijiro Shimizu |
+1 Lap |
| 3 | 6 | DOBOT Audi R8 LMS | Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto Merhi Muntan |
+1 Lap |
| 4 | 61 | SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi |
+1 Lap |
| 5 | 4 | GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka |
+1 Lap |
| 6 | 65 | LEON PYRAMID AMG | Naoya Gamou Takuro Shinohara |
+1 Lap |
| 18 | 27 | Yogibo NSX GT3 | Yugo Iwasawa Reimei Ito |
+2 Laps |
| DSQ | 18 | UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide |
Disqualification |
GT500 Ranking
| Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi |
Niterra MOTUL Z | 51 |
| 2 | 36 | Sho Tsuboi Ritomo Miyata |
au TOM'S GR Supra | 49 |
| 3 | 23 | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli |
MOTUL AUTECH Z | 40 |
| 4 | 16 | Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu |
ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | 37 |
| 5 | 14 | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita |
ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra | 37 |
| 6 | 39 | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama |
DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra | 34 |
| 7 | 8 | Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu |
ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | 32 |
| 9 | 100 | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
STANLEY NSX-GT | 31 |
| 10 | 17 | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita |
Astemo NSX-GT | 29 |
| 12 | 64 | Takuya Izawa Kakunoshin Ohta |
Modulo NSX-GT | 19 |
GT300 Ranking
| Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai |
SAITAMATOYOPET GB GR Supra GT | 50 |
| 2 | 18 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide |
UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | 40 |
| 3 | 7 | Seiji Ara |
Studie BMW M4 | 40 |
| 4 | 56 | Joao Paulo de Oliveira Teppei Natori |
REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R | 39 |
| 5 | 7 | Masataka Yanagida | Studie BMW M4 | 35 |
| 6 | 2 | Yuui Tsutsumi Hibiki Taira |
muta Racing GR86 GT | 34 |
| 18 | 27 | Yugo Iwasawa Reimei Ito |
Yogibo NSX GT3 | 10 |
