Just two races remain in the 2021 Autobacs Super GT Series, which heads to the circuit currently known as Twin Ring Motegi (set to be renamed Mobility Resort Motegi from 2022) for the seventh and penultimate round of the championship.
Only twice, in the history of Super GT/All-Japan GT Championship racing since 1994, has the GT500 Drivers’ Championship ever been clinched before the final race of the season. But if the #1 Stanley Honda NSX-GT of Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino wins from pole at Motegi this weekend – just like they did at the fourth round here in July, then Yamamoto will effectively secure his third GT500 Championship before the final race of the season, a feat which hasn’t occurred since 2012.
A win from pole and the 21 points to go with it would mean that Yamamoto would be, at minimum, 22 points clear of the #17 Astemo NSX-GT drivers Koudai Tsukakoshi and Bertrand Baguette. Thus, Yamamoto would effectively clinch the title in this case, and completely secure it by entering the season finale at Fuji Speedway alongside Makino. In the unlikely event that Yamamoto were to miss the final round at Fuji, only Makino (who missed Round 1 due to illness and has been three points back of Yamamoto ever since) would be able to overtake Yamamoto in the championship table, and even then, the crown would still be retained by one member of Team Kunimitsu’s 2020 championship-winning tandem.
Yamamoto would join elite company with his third GT500 Championship, alongside Satoshi Motoyama, Juichi Wakisaka, Yuji Tachikawa, and Ronnie Quintarelli, as well as the first solo Drivers’ Champion since Ryo Michigami in 2000, and the first repeat champion since Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda in 2014-15.
But the task of winning from pole at Motegi this time certainly won’t be as easy as it was back in July. Success Ballast has been reduced to 1 kilogramme per championship point, and the #1 Stanley NSX-GT has 60kg of Success Ballast on board. This is applied as 43 kilos of weight, and a Stage 1 fuel flow restrictor, making them the only car in the field that will be burning less than the standard 95kg/h of fuel, and thus, the only car that won’t be running at maximum horsepower. Not to mention, their pole at Motegi was the only time the Stanley NSX has advanced to Q2 in the first six rounds.
That could open the door for any of the other Hondas to score another win at their home ground in Motegi. Fresh off a win at Autopolis, and with both drivers finishing first and second in the Super Formula Championship, the #8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) appear to be building another late-season charge as they did in 2020. A win this weekend for them, or for the Astemo NSX-GT of Tsukakoshi and Baguette, would keep their championship hopes alive going into Fuji.
And while their heartbreaking retirement from the lead at Autopolis knocked them out of title contention, the #16 Red Bull Motul Mugen NSX-GT (Ukyo Sasahara/Toshiki Oyu) should still be considered a favourite for the race victory, with just 13kg of Success Ballast, and a track record of incredible speed throughout the season on their Dunlop tyres.
Toyota and Nissan will be keen to end Honda’s three-race winning streak in the GT500 class, and to keep their top challengers in the title mix heading into Fuji.
The highest ranked Toyota GR Supra in the standings is the #36 au TOM’s GR Supra of Yuhi Sekiguchi and Sho Tsuboi, who are effectively third in the standings, 19 points behind Yamamoto. Behind them, are a number of Toyota stablemates in a must-win situation to keep their fading championship chances alive. Among them are the #14 Eneos X Prime GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita), which hasn’t scored a point in the last four races, and the #37 KeePer TOM’s GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa/Sacha Fenestraz), which hasn’t finished in the top six in the last four races, either.
And of course, what showing will the #19 WedsSport Advan GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto/Ritomo Miyata) have this time out? They nearly won at Motegi in July, but haven’t scored points in the last three races.
The two Michelin-clad Nissans, the #23 Motul Autech GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) and the #3 CraftSports Motul GT-R (Kohei Hirate/Katsumasa Chiyo), also need a podium finish to stay within reach of title contention. Matsuda and Quintarelli, who won here in November 2017, are 23 points behind Yamamoto in the standings; Hirate and Chiyo are 24 points behind Yamamoto.
A second win in three races would also help the #12 Calsonic Impul GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine/Nobuharu Matsushita) in their bid to end Team Impul’s long championship drought in GT500, dating back to 1995.
In the GT300 ranks, there is also a possibility for the #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport of Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi to clinch the Drivers’ Championship with a round in hand.
Last time out in Autopolis, Iguchi and Yamauchi finished third despite carrying the maximum 100kg of Success Ballast; while the #56 Realize/Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/João Paulo de Oliveira) and the #244 Takanoko-no-yu Toyota GR Supra (Atsushi Miyake/Yuui Tsutsumi) failed to score points. If this same result were to happen again, with the Subaru finishing on the podium, the #56 and #244 failing to score, and other cars behind them managing minor points at best – it could result in Subaru’s first Super GT titles in GT300.
Iguchi and Yamauchi finished 11th at Motegi in July, and with their Success Weight reduced to 1.5kg per point, they’ll be entering the weekend with a hefty 75kg of Ballast – almost 20kg more than the next highest car in the table.
This season has been a benefit for the GTA-GT300 and Mother Chassis vehicles unique to Super GT. They’ve won five out of six races this year, with Fujinami and Oliveira’s win at Okayama accounting for the only win for the FIA GT3 contingent. The Nissan GT-Rs tend to go well around Motegi, such as the #11 Gainer TanaX GT-R (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Hironobu Yasuda) that finished second here in July. So too, do the GT300 GR Supras, which also includes the #52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave GR Supra (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai).
Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami won last year’s fourth round at Motegi, and the #65 LEON Pyramid Mercedes-AMG GT3 that they drive has a strong record around Motegi in recent years. The #31 Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT (Koki Saga/Yuhki Nakayama) broke through for its first win of the season in dominant fashion, and they have a decent shot to win back-to-back races, even with a recent BoP change giving them a smaller pair of air restrictors. And the Mother Chassis #2 muta Lotus Evora MC (Hiroki Katoh/Ryohei Sakaguchi) still has half a chance to repeat their stunning victory from July.
There’s a couple of dark horse podium contenders to watch out for. Especially if it rains, the #25 Hoppy Porsche 911 GT3-R (Takamitsu Matsui/Kimiya Sato) is suited to this track, and Hoppy Team Tsuchiya have to like their chances of being competitive in what has been an otherwise frustrating season. Also, keep an eye out on the #360 RunUp Rivaux GT-R (Takayuki Aoki/Takuya Otaki). Traditional pro-am squad Tomei Sports captured their first GT300 podium last November at Motegi, and with Otaki coming back to the series for a one-off appearance to partner past champion Aoki, they could spring yet another autumn upset.
The only other changes on the entry list for this round include Naoki Yokomizo returning to Pacific-CarGuy Racing’s Ferrari 488 GT3 to replace Takeshi Kimura (who is in Bahrain), and Taiyou Iida replacing Yudai Uchida in NILZZ Racing’s Nissan – that is, assuming they have a car for this weekend after a heavy crash at Autopolis.
Sunday’s 63 lap race goes green at 13:00 JST (local time), 4:00 GMT / 5:00 CET / midnight EST.
Images courtesy of the GT Association (GTA)
