Cassidy and Hirakawa tenth in Super GT

The latest Autobacs Super GT Series round has seen Kiwi Nick Cassidy and team mate Ryo Hirakawa (Red Bull KeePer TOM’S Racing) finish tenth at the Sportsland Sugo Circuit in Japan. The Sugo GT 300km race was won by Heikki Kovalainen and Kohei Hirate (No. 1 DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500) in the GT500 class while the GT300 race was won by the No. 11 GAINER TANAX AMG GT3 driven by Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Bjorn Wirdheim. Fellow Kiwi Jono Lester also finished in tenth place but in the GT300 class.

Cassidy, carrying weight penalties and fuel flow restrictions imposed on leading cars, had qualified in 11th and initially moved into eighth place. At one stage the Cassidy/Hirakawa were up to sixth place but circumstances played against them including a puncture late in the race. They eventually finished tenth, two laps behind the leaders and have now dropped to second overall on the points table.

“I had a great stint, making progress through the field and pitted from directly behind the eventual winner,” commented Cassidy. “Unfortunately Safety Car confusion mixed up the laps of the front runners and ruined a lot of cars races – us included. The end results were like a lottery.”

Benjamin Carrell is a freelance motorsport writer and currently edits talkmotorsport.co.nz. He writes for a number of Kiwi drivers and motorsport clubs. That's when he's not working in his horticultural day-job or training for the next road or mtb cycle race!

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz

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