The 2021 Super Taikyu Series powered by Hankook wraps up this weekend, with a double header round at Okayama International Circuit on 14 November.
Of the eight class championships that were contested this season, five of them were decided in the most recent five hour race at Suzuka Circuit. Another three are up for grabs this weekend, in ST-Z (GT4), plus two production categories, ST-4 and ST-5.
What we did not know until after Suzuka was that only five out of six results will count towards the final championship tally at the end of the season, and the lowest score will be dropped.
That was how the championships in ST-1, ST-2, and ST-3 were declared at Suzuka, even the highest ranked teams having a points margin smaller than 22 points, the maximum number on offer this weekend: 20 points for a class win, plus two points for pole position in class.
In 2020, there would have been one dropped score at the end of six races, but the season being shortened to five races due to COVID-19 meant that no scores were dropped. In 2019, ST-X class teams that took part in the Suzuka 10 Hours could drop their lowest score from any of the other six rounds of the calendar.
Here’s how this impacts the three remaining championship battles, that will be decided in a pair of three-hour races on Sunday.
ST-Z Class
Endless Sports leads D’station Racing by nine and a half points, but the math gives an overwhelming advantage to the #3 Endless Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Yudai Uchida, Hideki Yamauchi, and Togo Suganami in their bid for a third consecutive title in Super Taikyu’s GT4 category.
A minimum fourth place finish in class would give Endless Sports their third straight ST-Z title in as many seasons, and if they get the two bonus points for pole position, they can clinch it with a sixth place finish or better.
They’ve only finished off the podium once in that stretch, and that was at the start of the season at Motegi, where they finished tenth.
The #47 D’station Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT4 (Tatsuya Hoshino/Manabu Orido/Takuro Shinohara/Kenji Hama) needs to win or finish second to have a chance. If the #47 wins from pole, they’d need the #3 to finish fifth or lower (seventh or lower, without pole position).
However, in the event that the two teams finish with the same number of points, D’station Racing holds the first tiebreaker advantage with two wins to just one for Endless Sports.
All available hands on deck will be helping D’station Racing’s Vantage GT4 this weekend, as the #777 Vantage GT3 has withdrawn with Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii in quarantine after returning from Bahrain.
ST-4 Class
In this battle of two familiar ZN6 Toyota 86es, Hayashi Telempu Shade Racing leads C.S.I (Corolla Shin-Ibaraki) Racing by half a point. If all scores were counted at the end of the season, it would be a straight winner-take-all race to the crown. But it’s not quite that simple with the valid score system.
That’s because the #884 Shade Racing Toyota 86 of Katsuyuki Hiranaka, Yuji Kunimoto, and Eijiro Shimizu has virtually maxed out their possible total of valid points at 130. The only way they could improve their end-of-season score is by winning from pole position, which would win them the championship on 132 points.
On the other hand, the #310 GR Garage Mito Inter 86 of Sho Tsuboi, Shinya Hosokawa, and Fuma Horio can clinch the championship if they win pole position and finish second, even if the #884 goes on to win the race.
A class win would also clinch back-to-back ST-4 titles for C.S.I Racing, of course, but they must finish at least second to have a chance. The margins are much thinner here, because there are only three cars in this class. Asano Racing Service’s #18 WedsSport 86 will be playing the role of potential spoiler.
ST-5 Class
ST-5 championship honours could be decided as soon as Saturday. Over Drive’s two Mazda Roadsters are separated by 18.5 points, with the #66 odula TONE/Motul Roadster (Takayuki Takechi/Tatsuya Ota/Takahisa Ohno/Kyosuke Inomata) ahead of the #456 odula Star5 Roadster (Riku Hashimoto/Kousei Kanto/Tatsuya Osaki/Koji Obara) run by Avantech Racing.
The #456 must take the maximum 22 points for a pole-to-win victory, at minimum, in order to win the championship. If all scores were counted at the end, they would also need the #66 car to drop out of the race, but in this format, the math is actually somewhat friendlier towards the #456 car because of the dropped score.
With a pole-to-win, the #456 wins the title if the #66 finishes third or lower. Otherwise, the #66 clinches if the #456 doesn’t win pole on Saturday, or if they finish second or higher in the race.
Images courtesy of Naoyuki Hata / the Super Taikyu Organisation (STO)
