Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT Finish on the Podium in 3rd Place
May 3 (Fri) - 4 (Sat) --- The second round of the 2024 SUPER GT series specially named as “FUJI GT 3-Hours Race” was held at Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Pref.) and five CIVIC TYPE R-GT cars and a NSX-GT3 car participated in each of the GT500 and GT300 class.
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The SUPER GT race has so far been conducted on the distance-oriented race format between 250-1000km, but for this time, as an experimental case, the race was run on a 3-hour time-oriented format. The race distance is estimated to be around 500km, and the 2-stop strategy is deemed as the standard practice.
Fuji Speedway on May 3 (Fri) was blessed with fine weather. CIVIC TYPE R-GT cars were generally in good shape right from the 10 min Q1 session began at 2:58 p.m., and #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Kakunoshin Ohta) marked the top time followed immediately by #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) and then by #16 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Hiroki Otsu), making up a CIVIC TYPE R-GT’s 1-2-3 sweep going into the Q2 session. #100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tadasuke Makino) that had finished 3rd in the opening round had to accept the undeserved 8th fastest time partially due to the 24kg success weight.
The Q2 session started at 3:54 p.m. saw another clean shot made by #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi) that eventually marked the aggregated top time added up on Q1 time. This is the maiden pole position achieved for the first time by CIVIC TYPE R-GT in its second official appearance. #16 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Ren Sato) marked the second best time next to #17 car, however, the time was nullified because yellow flags were presented on the track during its attack. By this mishap, #16 car was forced to start the race from the grid as low as 14th. #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Nobuharu Matsushita) seized the 4th grid and #100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) 6th to start the race.
May 4 (Sat), the race day was again greeted by clear blue sky, and the race started at 1:36 p.m. #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tsukakoshi) started from the pole position, but was soon caught by #3 Niterra MOTUL Z from outside and was passed by at the exit of Turn-1. Worse still, #17 car was overtaken also by #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z and dropped down to 3rd. As it is, #17 car made its first stop on Lap-34 and then retrieved the 2nd place back from #23 car when it made stop on Lap-38.
In the meantime, #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Matsushita) launching from 4th grid made its first stop on Lap-33 and was handed over to Nojiri, who began closing up on #23 car running now in 3rd. Later on Lap-71, Nojiri overtook #23 car at Turn-1 and climbed up to 3rd making the CIVIC TYPE R-GT’s 2-3 formation with #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT ahead.
#17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tsukakoshi) running 2nd made its second stop on Lap-74 and Ohta clung on the duty. As #3 car was also pitted at the same time, #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Nojiri) took up the nominal top position. #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Nojiri) came in on Lap-78 for the second driver change to Matsushita, who returned to the course ahead of #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Ohta) but behind #23 car that had completed its second stop earlier. This means that #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Matsushita) was now running 3rd and #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Ohta) was chasing it hard in 4th. An head-on fight between two CIVICs for the 3rd place looked imminent.
To everyone's surprise, however, #8 ARTA MUGEN TYPE R-GT (Matsushita) was hit by a transmission failure on Lap-110, and hurried to the pit only to have the team decide the pitiable retirement. #17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Ohta) inherited a windfall 3rd knowing that further pursuit of #23 car in front for 2nd was not feasible because the race was entering its final stage. CIVIC TYPE R-GT achieved a back-to-back podium finish following the season opener in April. #100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Yamamoto/Makino) came in 7th, another back-to-back point finish on its own merits.
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#17 car started the race from the very first pole position for CIVIC TYPE R-GT, but our rivals were strong too, and we had to settle in 3rd. As for CIVIC TYPE R-GT, two podium finishes in a row weren’t very bad, and we’d like to get on the top of it next time in Suzuka. For this time, I felt we needed to improve the accuracy of the tire choice that would fit better to the long run for CIVIC TYPE R-GT. We’ll try our best for those finishing touches in each round we’d confront in the future. We appreciate the continuous support from the fans. Thank you very much.
#17 car started the race from the very first pole position for CIVIC TYPE R-GT, but our rivals were strong too, and we had to settle in 3rd. As for CIVIC TYPE R-GT, two podium finishes in a row weren’t very bad, and we’d like to get on the top of it next time in Suzuka. For this time, I felt we needed to improve the accuracy of the tire choice that would fit better to the long run for CIVIC TYPE R-GT. We’ll try our best for those finishing touches in each round we’d confront in the future. We appreciate the continuous support from the fans. Thank you very much.

My partner, Ohta, did a terrific job in Q1 session. It put a little pressure on me but we’re happy to be able to bring the first pole position for CIVIC TYPE R-GT. It’s a shame that we’d allowed #3 car to get ahead right after the start of the race for we had some setting deviations in the varying situation and so force. I tried to hang on to #3 car but my radio had some trouble during the race and I couldn’t communicate well with the team. I mean, we couldn’t share detailed information, so, it’s not the way I wanted to do in the first place. I think it’s not the 3rd place earned by our own right, but there’s a lot of reflection and learning in it for us to apply. We’re sure to make the best use of the experience for the next round at Suzuka.
My partner, Ohta, did a terrific job in Q1 session. It put a little pressure on me but we’re happy to be able to bring the first pole position for CIVIC TYPE R-GT. It’s a shame that we’d allowed #3 car to get ahead right after the start of the race for we had some setting deviations in the varying situation and so force. I tried to hang on to #3 car but my radio had some trouble during the race and I couldn’t communicate well with the team. I mean, we couldn’t share detailed information, so, it’s not the way I wanted to do in the first place. I think it’s not the 3rd place earned by our own right, but there’s a lot of reflection and learning in it for us to apply. We’re sure to make the best use of the experience for the next round at Suzuka.
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As for the qualifying session, the car felt much better than I did in the opening round three weeks ago, so I could make a perfect attack that I’d been expecting. After that, Tsukakoshi-san did an excellent job too, and we could get the pole position. When it comes to the one-shot qualifying speed, I think we’ve done the limits of our ability available right now. But in the race, I lost positions during the pit stop. I reckoned we’re running 2nd at the time of driver change, but I found myself dropped 4th when I go back on the track. That’s a bit shame. It’s OK in the qualifying, but we need to improve our race pace, for sure.
As for the qualifying session, the car felt much better than I did in the opening round three weeks ago, so I could make a perfect attack that I’d been expecting. After that, Tsukakoshi-san did an excellent job too, and we could get the pole position. When it comes to the one-shot qualifying speed, I think we’ve done the limits of our ability available right now. But in the race, I lost positions during the pit stop. I reckoned we’re running 2nd at the time of driver change, but I found myself dropped 4th when I go back on the track. That’s a bit shame. It’s OK in the qualifying, but we need to improve our race pace, for sure.
GT500 Race Result
Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Laps/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Niterra MOTUL Z | Mitsunori Takaboshi Atsushi Miyake |
117 Laps |
2 | 23 | MOTUL AUTECH Z | Katsumasa Chiyo Ronnie Quintarelli |
+13.738 |
3 | 17 | Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Kakunoshin Ohta |
+36.354 |
4 | 36 | au TOM'S GR Supra | Sho Tsuboi Kenta Yamashita |
+38.002 |
5 | 38 | KeePer CERUMO GR Supra | Hiroaki Ishiura Toshiki Oyu |
+41.637 |
6 | 12 | MARELLI IMPUL Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette |
+48.364 |
7 | 100 | STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
+50.361 |
12 | 64 | Modulo CIVIC TYPE R-GT | Takuya Izawa Riki Okusa |
+1 Lap |
14 | 8 | ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 | Tomoki Nojiri Nobuharu Matsushita |
+7 Laps |
15 | 16 | ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #16 | Hiroki Otsu Ren Sato |
+21 Laps |
GT300 Race Result
Pos. | Num. | Machine | Driver | Laps/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 88 | JLOC Lamborghini GT3 | Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima |
108 Laps |
2 | 56 | REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R | Daiki Sasaki Joao Paulo de Oliveira |
+17.702 |
3 | 52 | Green Brave GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Seita Nonaka |
+19.730 |
4 | 4 | GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka |
+25.951 |
5 | 31 | apr LC500h GT | Kazuto Kotaka Jin Nakamura Yuki Nemoto |
+1 Lap |
6 | 2 | muta Racing GR86 GT | Yuui Tsutsumi Hibiki Taira |
+1 Lap |
7 | 18 | UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide Yusuke Mitsui |
+1 Lap |
GT500 Ranking
Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 36 | Sho Tsuboi Kenta Yamashita |
au TOM'S GR Supra | 31 |
2 | 3 | Mitsunori Takaboshi Atsushi Miyake |
Niterra MOTUL Z | 27 |
3 | 23 | Katsumasa Chiyo Ronnie Quintarelli |
MOTUL AUTECH Z | 22 |
4 | 39 | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama |
DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra | 19 |
5 | 100 | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT | 16 |
6 | 17 | Koudai Tsukakoshi Kakunoshin Ohta |
Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT | 14 |
10 | 8 | Tomoki Nojiri Nobuharu Matsushita |
ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #8 | 3 |
12 | 16 | Hiroki Otsu Ren Sato |
ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT #16 | 2 |
13 | 64 | Takuya Izawa Riki Okusa |
Modulo CIVIC TYPE R-GT | 1 |
GT300 Ranking
Pos. | Num. | Driver | Machine | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Yuui Tsutsumi Hibiki Taira |
muta Racing GR86 GT | 27 |
2 | 88 | Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima |
JLOC Lamborghini GT3 | 26 |
3 | 52 | Hiroki Yoshida Seita Nonaka |
Green Brave GR Supra GT | 19 |
4 | 65 | Naoya Gamou Takuro Shinohara |
LEON PYRAMID AMG | 18 |
5 | 56 | Daiki Sasaki Joao Paulo de Oliveira |
REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R | 16 |
6 | 4 | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka |
GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG | 12 |
11 | 18 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide |
UPGARAGE NSX GT3 | 4 |
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