Intelligent racing makes MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
victorious in bad-weather race as many teams suffer spin-outs and other trouble!
The FUJI GT 400km RACE, Round 2 of the 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on May 1st at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Pref. The GT500 class winner was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer. The winner of the GT300 class race was the No. 33 HANKOOK PORSCHE with drivers Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii.
<HR>
GT500 Class
The race started at 14:00 in pouring rain. The safety car led for the first five laps, with the race starting effectively from the sixth lap. On the first corner of that lap the 2nd-position starter, the No. 46 S Road MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), ran off the track. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting No. 39 DENSO SARD SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura) began to lose ground steadily and fall back in the pack. In both cases, the tires chosen by these two lead teams for the start did not fit the track conditions, forcing them to make early tire changes.
Also, the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa) and No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 (Ryo Michigami) returned to the pit early to change tires.
These events put the No. 24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Bjorn Wirdheim) in the lead initially, with the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Benoit Treluyer) in hot pursuit not far behind. On the twelfth lap De Oliveira in car No. 12 and Treluyer in No. 23 passed No. 24 (Wirdheim) in quick succession. After that, Wirdheim (No. 24) was also passed by the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Kazuya Oshima).
No.6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 The ensuing GT-R battle between No. 12 (De Oliveira) and No. 23 (Treluyer) continued at the front at an exciting pace until lap 18, when De Oliveira (No. 12) lost control while trying to pass a back-marker and collide with it. The damage to the left rear of his machine from this collision forced De Olivier to return to the pit for repairs. This left No. 23 (Treluyer), No. 6 (Oshima) and the fast-rising 11th-place starter, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa), running as the top three in that order. Behind them, the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka) was also giving chase. This was the GT500 debut race for the new No. 19 team and their choice of tires had fit the conditions perfectly and enabled Kataoka to move up rapidly through the pack from 14th position on the starting grid.
Among these leading teams, car No. 6 (Oshima) returned to the pit on lap 42 to change drivers to Daisuke Ito. Cars No. 23 (Treluyer), No. 38 (Tachikawa) and No. 19 (Kataoka) all made their routine pit stops on lap 44. With this, Satoshi Motoyama took the wheel of No. 23, Kohei Hirate took over in car No. 38 and Seiji Ara in car No. 19. In this pit stop No. 23 and No. 19 forewent any tire changes, while No. 38 changed all four tires. The time difference involved moved No. 19 up to 3rd position while No. 38 dropped to 4th. By the time all the cars had finished their pit stops, the top three were No. 23 (Motoyama), No.6 (Ito) and No. 19 (Ara).
No.19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 Among these, Ito (No. 6) was running at the fastest pace and gradually closing what was initially a 16-second gap between him and Motoyama (No. 23). It looked as if Ito would eventually take the lead if that pace continued, but with about ten laps remaining the rain began falling harder and forming puddles on the track that made conditions treacherous. Cars began spinning out and running off the track. Seeing this, the Clerk of the course ordered the red flag out at the end of lap 60 to stop the race. Eventually it was decided to end the competition at this point, making the running order at the end of lap 59 the final finishing order.
This gave the victory to the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer). This is a team that failed to score even one victory last year due to bad luck and trouble like tire fragments causing engine failure. Changing tire makers to Bridgestone this year, the team has now won its first victory in some time.
Finishing 2nd came the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Daisuke Ito/Kazuya Oshima), while 3rd went to the No 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka/Seiji Ara). For the No.19 team this was a podium finish in their first race after moving up from the GT300 class to the GT500, and the success can be attributed in large part to a good choice of tires for the race conditions.
On the other hand, it was tough going for the HSV-010 GT camp. Both the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 and the No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 made bad tire choices. The No. 1 WEIDER HSV-010 and No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 both suffered from clouding of their windshields that limited visibility and forced them to slow down. Eventually, No. 17's 8th-place finish was the best of the HSV-010 GT teams.
(Supergt.net)
---------- Post added at 09:38 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------
GT500 Class
1 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R Satoshi Motoyama
Benoit Treluyer
1:56'19.904 59 1'46.488 BS
2 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 Daisuke Ito
Kazuya Oshima
0'05.211 59 1'46.875 BS
3 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 Tatsuya Kataoka
Seiji Ara
0'28.128 59 1'46.599 YH
4 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 Andre Lotterer
Kazuki Nakajima
0'48.002 59 1'46.923 BS
5 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 Yuji Tachikawa
Kohei Hirate
1'01.381 59 1'47.123 BS
6 39 DENSO SARD SC430 Hiroaki Ishiura
Takuto Iguchi
1'06.776+45sec 59 1'44.968 MI
7 24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R Hironobu Yasuda
Bjorn Wirdheim
1Lap 58 1'46.712 YH
8 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 Toshihiro Kaneishi
Koudai Tsukakoshi
1Lap 58 1'46.443 BS
9 8 ARTA HSV-010 Hideki Mutoh
Takashi Kobayashi
1Lap 58 1'47.903 BS
10 46 S Road MOLA GT-R Masataka Yanagida
Ronnie Quintarelli
1Lap 58 1'45.823 MI
11 35 D'STATION KeePer SC430 Juichi Wakisaka
Andre Couto
1Lap 58 1'45.307 BS
12 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 Takuya Izawa
Naoki Yamamoto
1Lap 58 1'47.351 BS
13 1 Weider HSV-010 Takashi Kogure
Loic Duval
2Laps 57 1'46.834 BS
14 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R Tsugio Matsuda
J.P.L.de Oliveira
2Laps 57 1'47.970 BS
15 32 EPSON HSV-010 Ryo Michigami
Yuhki Nakayama
6Laps 53 1'46.654 DL
Classified (GT500: 41 Laps)
victorious in bad-weather race as many teams suffer spin-outs and other trouble!
The FUJI GT 400km RACE, Round 2 of the 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on May 1st at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Pref. The GT500 class winner was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer. The winner of the GT300 class race was the No. 33 HANKOOK PORSCHE with drivers Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii.
<HR>
GT500 Class
The race started at 14:00 in pouring rain. The safety car led for the first five laps, with the race starting effectively from the sixth lap. On the first corner of that lap the 2nd-position starter, the No. 46 S Road MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), ran off the track. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting No. 39 DENSO SARD SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura) began to lose ground steadily and fall back in the pack. In both cases, the tires chosen by these two lead teams for the start did not fit the track conditions, forcing them to make early tire changes.
Also, the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa) and No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 (Ryo Michigami) returned to the pit early to change tires.
These events put the No. 24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Bjorn Wirdheim) in the lead initially, with the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Benoit Treluyer) in hot pursuit not far behind. On the twelfth lap De Oliveira in car No. 12 and Treluyer in No. 23 passed No. 24 (Wirdheim) in quick succession. After that, Wirdheim (No. 24) was also passed by the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Kazuya Oshima).
No.6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 The ensuing GT-R battle between No. 12 (De Oliveira) and No. 23 (Treluyer) continued at the front at an exciting pace until lap 18, when De Oliveira (No. 12) lost control while trying to pass a back-marker and collide with it. The damage to the left rear of his machine from this collision forced De Olivier to return to the pit for repairs. This left No. 23 (Treluyer), No. 6 (Oshima) and the fast-rising 11th-place starter, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa), running as the top three in that order. Behind them, the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka) was also giving chase. This was the GT500 debut race for the new No. 19 team and their choice of tires had fit the conditions perfectly and enabled Kataoka to move up rapidly through the pack from 14th position on the starting grid.
Among these leading teams, car No. 6 (Oshima) returned to the pit on lap 42 to change drivers to Daisuke Ito. Cars No. 23 (Treluyer), No. 38 (Tachikawa) and No. 19 (Kataoka) all made their routine pit stops on lap 44. With this, Satoshi Motoyama took the wheel of No. 23, Kohei Hirate took over in car No. 38 and Seiji Ara in car No. 19. In this pit stop No. 23 and No. 19 forewent any tire changes, while No. 38 changed all four tires. The time difference involved moved No. 19 up to 3rd position while No. 38 dropped to 4th. By the time all the cars had finished their pit stops, the top three were No. 23 (Motoyama), No.6 (Ito) and No. 19 (Ara).
No.19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 Among these, Ito (No. 6) was running at the fastest pace and gradually closing what was initially a 16-second gap between him and Motoyama (No. 23). It looked as if Ito would eventually take the lead if that pace continued, but with about ten laps remaining the rain began falling harder and forming puddles on the track that made conditions treacherous. Cars began spinning out and running off the track. Seeing this, the Clerk of the course ordered the red flag out at the end of lap 60 to stop the race. Eventually it was decided to end the competition at this point, making the running order at the end of lap 59 the final finishing order.
This gave the victory to the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer). This is a team that failed to score even one victory last year due to bad luck and trouble like tire fragments causing engine failure. Changing tire makers to Bridgestone this year, the team has now won its first victory in some time.
Finishing 2nd came the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Daisuke Ito/Kazuya Oshima), while 3rd went to the No 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka/Seiji Ara). For the No.19 team this was a podium finish in their first race after moving up from the GT300 class to the GT500, and the success can be attributed in large part to a good choice of tires for the race conditions.
On the other hand, it was tough going for the HSV-010 GT camp. Both the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 and the No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 made bad tire choices. The No. 1 WEIDER HSV-010 and No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 both suffered from clouding of their windshields that limited visibility and forced them to slow down. Eventually, No. 17's 8th-place finish was the best of the HSV-010 GT teams.
(Supergt.net)
---------- Post added at 09:38 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------
GT500 Class
1 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R Satoshi Motoyama
Benoit Treluyer
1:56'19.904 59 1'46.488 BS
2 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 Daisuke Ito
Kazuya Oshima
0'05.211 59 1'46.875 BS
3 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 Tatsuya Kataoka
Seiji Ara
0'28.128 59 1'46.599 YH
4 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 Andre Lotterer
Kazuki Nakajima
0'48.002 59 1'46.923 BS
5 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 Yuji Tachikawa
Kohei Hirate
1'01.381 59 1'47.123 BS
6 39 DENSO SARD SC430 Hiroaki Ishiura
Takuto Iguchi
1'06.776+45sec 59 1'44.968 MI
7 24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R Hironobu Yasuda
Bjorn Wirdheim
1Lap 58 1'46.712 YH
8 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 Toshihiro Kaneishi
Koudai Tsukakoshi
1Lap 58 1'46.443 BS
9 8 ARTA HSV-010 Hideki Mutoh
Takashi Kobayashi
1Lap 58 1'47.903 BS
10 46 S Road MOLA GT-R Masataka Yanagida
Ronnie Quintarelli
1Lap 58 1'45.823 MI
11 35 D'STATION KeePer SC430 Juichi Wakisaka
Andre Couto
1Lap 58 1'45.307 BS
12 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 Takuya Izawa
Naoki Yamamoto
1Lap 58 1'47.351 BS
13 1 Weider HSV-010 Takashi Kogure
Loic Duval
2Laps 57 1'46.834 BS
14 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R Tsugio Matsuda
J.P.L.de Oliveira
2Laps 57 1'47.970 BS
15 32 EPSON HSV-010 Ryo Michigami
Yuhki Nakayama
6Laps 53 1'46.654 DL
Classified (GT500: 41 Laps)
