There was no stopping the ruby red #98 K-tunes Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 during SRO Japan Cup qualifying at Fuji – as drivers Daisuke Yamawaki and Shinichi Takagi led both sessions on Saturday morning.
It was actually a fairly close fight for the Race 1 pole in GT3 – where just 0.065 seconds separated the top three drivers in the session.
But Yamawaki’s best lap of 1:41.024 in the #98 Ferrari was enough to fend off the challenge of both Yorikatsu Tsujiko in the #7 Comet Racing Ferrari, and the #9 Bingo Racing Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R of Motoki Takami.
Takami will start his first GT3 race from third, ahead of Tadao Uematsu in the #55 Macchina Racing Team McLaren 720S GT3 in fourth.
K-tunes Racing looked like the favourites to win Race 2 pole position, but the only question was – would it go to Morio Nitta or Shinichi Takagi?
Nitta had the advantage at first. He had a 1:39.927 lap deleted due to track limits, but fired back with a 1:39.381 to grab provisional pole.
But on his final flying lap, Takagi left no doubt, setting a blistering 1:38.627 to put the #98 Ferrari on pole for the fourth time in as many Japan Cup races in a row!
In fact, Takagi’s lap was so quick that it would have put him sixth on the grid for GT World Challenge Asia Race 2, between the best laps of Alessio Picariello and Jaxon Evans.
Nitta would settle for second in the #96 K-tunes Lexus RC F GT3. Shinji Takei qualified third in the #9 Bingo Racing Corvette, and Kenji Hama put in a solid effort to go fourth in the #47 D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Both legs of qualifying in GT4 went to the #38 Wakayama Toyota with Hojust Racing GR Supra GT4, over the #39 Toyota Gazoo Racing Indonesia GR Supra.
First, GT4 newcomer Noriyuki Higuchi edged out Haridarma Manoppo for the top spot in Race 1 qualifying, by two-tenths of a second – with Yuki Fujii third in the #50 Y’Z Racing BMW M4 GT4.
Then, in a small upset, Takeshi Suehiro pipped TGR-DC top prospect Kazuhisa Urabe for Race 2 pole by a tenth of a second. Daiki Fujiwara was third-fastest in the #82 Sunrise BLVD Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.
Race 1 starts this afternoon at 3:30 PM JST (local time).
Images © SRO Motorsports Group Asia
