The 46th and final International Suzuka 1000km, Round 6 of the 2017 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan over the weekend. The winner of the GT500 class race was the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT driven by Kosuke Matsuura and Bertrand Baguette, bringing the team its first SUPER GT victory since 2007. In the GT300 class race, the winner was the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG driven by Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou.
Kiwi Nick Cassidy and his KeePer TOM’s teammate Ryo Hirakawa finished sixth in the GT500 class. Jono Lester finished in eighth in the GT300 class with Gulf Racing Japan co-driver Kysuke Mineo.
“The race full of action,” commented Cassidy. “Our pace ended up being enough for podium but we lost too much time in other areas. We are now second in Championship with two rounds remaining.”
“We worked hard for our dinner today,” commented Lester. “A slow start, then a drive through penalty within the first hour but we didn’t give up, fighting from the rear of the field to finish 8th. It gives us another 4.5 points for our tally, and a solid day all round by the entire Gulf Racing team.”
Leading in the early stages of the race was the No. 24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira) before it was overtaken early on by the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi).
According to the race regulation, each team had to make five routine pit stops during the 1,000 km race 1000km, with the stops made at intervals of about 30 laps.
Chaos hit the race with a number of crashes. The winner of the last round’s GT300 race, the No. 55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) crashed out after being hit by another car at the final turn of the 42nd lap, and on the 95th lap the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga) crashed on the 130R curve.
These accidents brought out the Safety Car twice to control the race, but through it all, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT continued to run at a steady pace at the front. Following No. 17 was the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT, which had also been running at a good pace from the early stages of the race.
The battle for the lead was narrowed down to these two Honda NSX-GT machines, until a dramatic turn of events came with just one pit stop remaining in the race.
On the Spoon Curve of the 147th lap, the No. 17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Tsukakoshi) that was gaining on the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT (Baguette) running in the lead suddenly developed trouble with its left rear tire and ran off the track.
The machine was badly damaged as a result. This left the No. 64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT alone in the lead, and after the last driver change at the pit stop, Kosuke Matsuura kept his concentration as the final driver and ran on in control of the race. As twilight closed in on the track, he took the checkered flag in winning style.
For the NAKAJIMA RACING team led by Japan’s first regular F1 driver, team Manager Satoru Nakajima, this was their first SUPER GT win in the ten years since their last victory in the final round of the 2007 series at Fuji Speedway. For Matsuura it was his second SUPER GT win and his first since 2013, while for Baguette it was his first GT500 win. For the Honda NSX-GT, it was the second win of the season.
Finishing the race in 2nd place was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) and 3rd place went to the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Takuya Izawa) that had come on strong in the later stages of the race to the delight of the fans.
As for the former F1 World Champion Jenson Button who had attracted a lot of attention this time, he brought the No. 16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT home to a 12th-place finish along with the team’s two regular drivers, Hideki Mutoh and Daisuke Nakajima.
In the GT300 class race, the pole-sitting No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui/ Kenta Yamashita/Tsubasa Kondo) led the race into the latter stages only to lose to the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG (Haruki Kurosawa/ Naoya Gamou), which had employed an unusual strategy of taking its first pit stop just after the first lap of the race.
Finishing 2nd and 3rd were two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 machines, the No. 88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Manabu Orido/Kazuki Hiramine/Kenji Yamanishi) and the No. 87 SHOP CHANNEL LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Shinya Hosokawa/Kimiya Sato/Yuya Motojima) after the No. 25 car crashed just before the checkered flag while running in 2nd place.
Results
GT500 (Top 6)
1. Kosuke Matsuura/Bertrand Baguette (Honda NSX-GT)
2. Ronnie Quintarellii/Tsugio Matsuda (Nissan GT-R)
3. Nakoi Yamamoto/Takuya Izawa (Honda NSX-GT)
4. Yuhi Sekiguchi/Yuji Kunimoto/Kamui Kobayashi (Lexus LC 500)
5. Daiki Sasaki/Joao Paulo de Oliveira (Nissan GT-R)
6. Nick Cassidy/Ryo Hirakawa (Lexus LC 500)
GT300 (Top 6)
1. Hakuri Kurosawa/Naoya Gamou (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
2. Manabu Orido/Kazuki Hiramine/Koji Yamanishi (Lamborghini Huracan)
3. Shinya Hosokawa/Kimiya Sato/Yuya Motojima (Lamborghini Huracan)
4. Ryuichiro Tomita/Hiroki Yoshida (Nissan Nismo GT3)
5. Akira Lida/Hiroki Yoshimoto (Lexus RC F)
6. Yuichi Nakayama/Sho Tsuboi (Lexus RC F)
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