Nick Cassidy and co-driver Ryo Hirakawa have won their first race of the 2018 Autobacs SUPER GT Series and now lead the series on equal points with the Honda pairing of Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto.
“We can say that this has been a good season for us,” commented Cassidy. “I am grateful to the team and Lexus for preparing a great car for us. As a team we had some points where we needed improvement, but repeated “Kaizen” (improvement) efforts have brought to what I feel is a good position.
“Today, we had a goal of being able to pass car No. 100 (RAYBRIG NSX-GT) in the race, but I didn’t want to add to our risks. So, I ran safely, and our race strategy was successful. I am grateful that we are now in this position.”
It was a come-from-behind win for Cassidy/Hirakawa at the Autopolis Circuit in Japan after qualifying their No. 1 KeePer TOM’S LC500 fifth on the grid. The AUTOPOLIS 300km Race was the penultimate round of the series.
It was the Honda NSX-GT cars, starting from the top three places on the grid, that were initially chased down by Kazuki Nakajima in the No. 36 au TOM’S LC500 in 4th position. Taking the lead after 12 laps, Nakajima was chased down by Hirakawa and then after a pitstop, Cassidy. The No. 1 KeePer TOM’S LC500 took the lead with six laps to go crossing the finish line ahead of three other Lexus LC500’s.
Cassidy now leads both the Super GT and the Super Formula Series, both with one round remaining.
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