The #19 WedsSport ADVAN Lexus RC F driven by Yuhi Sekiguchi and Yuji Kunimoto ran from pole position to the flag to take the team’s long-awaited first win in Thailand, surviving a puncture scare before pitting.
“By about the fifth lap after the start, I had pulled away from the car in 2nd place and sure that I was running at the fastest pace of anyone,” said Sekiguchi. “I had the burst tyre at the end of my stint, but since it happened on the second half of the course, the loss was minimalized. This is the first podium finish we have gotten since I have teamed with [Yuji] Kunimoto, so it was great to get it.”
The start saw Yuhi Sekiguchi in the pole-sitting #19 WedsSport ADVAN RC F get a good start to take the lead chased by the #15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT of Hideki Mutoh and the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R of Joao Paulo De Oliveira. But, the WedsSport Lexus pulled away from the rest rapidly, lapping the track at a high pace and building up a lead of almost four seconds in just four laps.
By the time the race reached the halfway point on lap 33 and the Lexus was preparing to make its routine pit stop, it suddenly suffered a burst of its left-rear tyre. Sekiguchi was able to control his RC F skillfully and get it into the pit without mishap. Fortunately, there was no serious damage to the machine and the team was able to change the tyres and get the machine back in the race still in the lead.
After that, with Yuji Kunimoto now at the wheel of the #19 WedsSport ADVAN RC F, he was able to use the margin of lead that Sekiguchi had built up and race on while managing the tyres carefully. The result was an impressive and dominant win win.
For both the team and Sekiguchi, this was their first win in the GT500 class. Also, it was the second career win for Kunimoto. For the Lexus RC F it was the second win of the season and second in a row following its victory in the last round at Suzuka.
Finishing 2nd was the #15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT, owing partly to a pit work violation by the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Nissan GT-R. In this race the GT500 rookie Tadasuke Makino did his job well to hold off the competition and bring his team home in 2nd place. But despite the praise of those around him, he still said he was disappointed with the result.
Coming home third was the WAKO’S Lexus of Kazuya Oshima and Andrea Caldarelli, 17 seconds behind the leader. The CALSONIC GT-R recovered to fourth and the Epson NSX rounded out the top five.
In the GT300 class the pole-sitting #25 VivaC 86 MC of Takeshi Tsuchiya made use of skillful pit-stop timing to keep the lead after being passed once by the #3 B-MAX NDDP GT-R of Kazuki Hoshino.
Despite being chased hard by the #3 B-MAX NDDP Nissan GT-R later by Jann Mardenborough in the closing stages of the race, the #25 VivaC 86 MC then of Takamitsu Matsui was able to hold out and take the win for the first time this year.
“I was thinking that today’s race would be a contest between Takamitsu and Mardenborough at the end, and that is exactly how it turned out,” explained Tsuchiya. “At the end we had trouble with the fuel pump and there was some fear of us running out of gas. But we kept running that way toward the win. It was Takamitsu’s driving that got us here [to the winners press conference] and I am very happy with this result.”
The ARTA BMW M6 of Shinichi Takagi and Takashi Kobayashi came home a distant third.
