Thanks to some superb driving from Yuhi Sekiguchi and Yuichi Nakayama, and a little bit of good fortune from a well-timed Safety Car intervention, TGR Team SARD ended a four-year winless drought at Autopolis. The #39 Denso Kobelco SARD Toyota GR Supra of Sekiguchi and Nakayama won Sunday’s SUPER GT Autopolis GT 3 Hour Race, the sixth race of the 2024 season.
The weather made for a difficult weekend in Kyushu’s remote racing oasis. On Saturday, all track activity was cancelled due to rain, fog, and thunderstorms. The outlook for Sunday seemed much better, but Qualifying was still held on a wet track with fog still present at parts of the circuit.
Only by midday did the sun finally start to break through the clouds – but the best conditions arrived just in time for the three-hour feature race.
It was an all-Nissan front row in GT500 with the Yokohama-clad #24 Realize Corporation Advan Z lined up alongside the #23 Motul Autech Z with its Bridgestone tyres.
After Teppei Natori surprised the field with his first GT500 pole position, his veteran co-driver Tsugio Matsuda had the honour of leading the GT500 field to the green flag. Behind him, Nirei Fukuzumi in the #14 Eneos X Prime GR Supra slipped past the #23 Motul Autech Z of Katsumasa Chiyo to get into second place. Fukuzumi wouldn’t stay in front for long, though – on the second lap, Chiyo swept around the outside at turn 11 to regain second place and start chasing down the leading Realize Z of Matsuda.
Matsuda was able to build a small gap in clean air, but once GT300 traffic came into play, Chiyo worked his way through and lunged past Matsuda at the second hairpin (turn ten) to take the lead in the NISMO flagship machine. Chiyo then drove away rapidly, building a gap of nearly 20 seconds after 35 minutes had elapsed.
Meanwhile, the #17 Astemo Honda Civic Type R-GT of Koudai Tsukakoshi had taken third place from Fukuzumi.
At the 38-minute mark, the #19 WedsSport Advan GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto/Sena Sakaguchi) broke down with a mechanical failure and brought out a Full Course Yellow, which later turned into a full Safety Car. There was a bizarre moment for the #8 ARTA Mugen Civic Type R-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita) which came in during the FCY while the pits were closed, then drove away. A radio issue wouldn’t be enough of a mitigating circumstance for the orange ARTA Mugen Civic to avoid serving a 60-second penalty stop later in the race – Nojiri and Matsushita would go on to finish 11th.
Chiyo led the field away at the restart, followed by Matsuda and Tsukakoshi. Sekiguchi in the #39 Denso GR Supra had driven brilliantly in the opening hour to go from tenth on the grid to fourth by this stage. Behind them, three cars made their first pit stops, including the #3 Niterra Motul Z of Mitsunori Takaboshi and the #12 Marelli Impul Z of Bertrand Baguette.
After the first round of pit stops, Chiyo in the Motul Z remained in the lead, but the two Nissans that came into the pits as the Safety Car withdrew benefitted from the undercut – Takaboshi was second, and Baguette was third. Kenta Yamashita had driven brilliantly in the #36 au TOM’S GR Supra – even when loaded with 48 kilogrammes of ballast weight and the ‘Stage 3’ fuel-flow restrictor, he was up into fourth place, followed by Sekiguchi in fifth.
The #17 Astemo Civic and #14 Eneos GR Supra were back in a battle for seventh position, this time it was Kakunoshin Ohta trying to get past Kazuya Oshima, with Ukyo Sasahara bearing down on them in the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra. A good battle was then spoiled at the 70-minute mark when Oshima moved to his right and pushed Ohta off into the grass, then spinning through the gravel and into the tyre barriers down at turn eight.
This brought out the second Safety Car, and Oshima was given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision. Ohta let out a primal roar of anger after walking away from his wrecked car.
The restart came just seven minutes before the halfway mark. Chiyo led them back to the green flag and went on a ballistic charge, building a 15-second lead over his former co-driver Takaboshi in the Niterra Z in 15 minutes. As he did, Baguette ran third, and Yuichi Nakayama fought past Yamashita to regain fourth place for the Denso GR Supra – much to the delight of Team Director Juichi Wakisaka.
Chiyo stretched his lead further, out to 19 seconds, as the final round of routine pit stops began before the top of the second hour. The Motul Z and Marelli Z came in on the same lap – Ronnie Quintarelli hopped into the leading #23, and Kazuki Hiramine got into the #12. One lap later, the Niterra Z and Denso GR Supra came in together. Atsushi Miyake got aboard the #3 while Nakayama could afford to stay in the #39 car.
One of the first cars to pit was the #64 Modulo Civic Type R-GT (Takuya Izawa/Riki Okusa) which was running outside the top ten at the time. Izawa had just gotten in the car, but only three laps into his stint, he went off and crashed into the tyre barriers, bringing out the third Safety Car during that pit window.
The #36 au TOM’S GR Supra was one of four cars that were caught out by the Safety Car as they’d yet to stop. But the speedy pit work from TGR Team SARD’s crew not only got Nakayama out ahead of the #3 Niterra Z of Miyake, it also got him out ahead of the #23 Motul Z of Quintarelli – and into the net lead!
Nakayama assumed the lead not long after the restart came with 48 minutes left. Quintarelli put pressure on Nakayama but the Denso GR Supra would begin to pull away, and Quintarelli had to fend off the #100 Stanley Civic of Naoki Yamamoto and the #3 Niterra Z of Miyake for second before Hiramine began chasing down Yamamoto and Miyake for third!
With 18 minutes left, Nakayama built a nine-second lead over Quintarelli, who had created separation from the third-placed battle. Miyake used the slipstream to get by Yamamoto around the outside of turn one, putting him into third place.
Seconds later, there was a frightening crash at turn ten. Takuto Iguchi was fighting for fifth place in GT300 when he locked the rear wheels in his #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport. The car veered off into the runoff and glanced off a stationary tractor that was parked alongside the guardrail, before hitting the guardrail at high speed.
Iguchi was able to walk back to the pits under his own power, though in some minor pain. He was then taken to the circuit medical centre where a detailed exam found no serious injuries.
The race ended behind the Safety Car, and TGR Team SARD got its first win since October 2020 at Fuji Speedway, the fifth round of the COVID-affected season.
This was also Nakayama’s first GT500 win since 2020, and the third of his top-flight career. “The timing of the final Safety Car neutralization was something that really amazed me,” remarked Nakayama. “But I was really glad that we were able to make it to the goal with our lead intact. The timing of our pit stops today was also great.
“Last year we made some big mistakes here at Autopolis. So, I wanted to learn from our mistakes and copy the performance of the winning car #36! But since everyone on the team did their best to get this win, those efforts are what gave us the pace we needed today, I believe. I am sure that this is a victory earned by the whole team.”
For Sekiguchi, this was his first win since joining SARD in 2022, coming off his 2021 championship-winning campaign at TOM’S – and the fifth of his career. “Although things didn’t go well in the morning’s qualifying, we were able to make things better by changing the car’s settings.
“It was true that we had good luck with the timing of the Safety Car neutralisations, but with the way Nakayama was able to build our lead over the field, it was truly a race won by our strength and one that we can be proud of and satisfied with.”
The #23 Motul Z of Chiyo and Quintarelli finished second, barely missing out on the victory – but breaking a two-race scoreless drought.
Miyake’s overtake in the last minute of green-flag racing brought himself and Takaboshi onto the final step of the podium in third, and put both NISMO-run Nissans on the podium.
The #100 Stanley Civic of Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino gained valuable championship points with a fourth-place finish, while the #12 Marelli Z of Hiramine and Baguette rounded out the top five.
The #16 ARTA Mugen Civic (Hiroki Otsu/Ren Sato) recovered from a spin earlier in the race to finish sixth, ahead of the #36 au GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Kenta Yamashita) which dropped to seventh after making its final pit stop, one place ahead of its sister car, the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara/Giuliano Alesi) in eighth.
After the drive-through penalty, the #14 Eneos GR Supra of Oshima and Fukuzumi would finish ninth, with the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura/Toshiki Oyu) rounding out the top ten.
The #24 Realize Z, which had fallen out of contention for points, broke down during the final Safety Car period and was classified in 12th.
The GT300 class win went to the #88 Venteny Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima, who came from 15th on the grid to take JLOC’s second win of the season and restore their championship hopes.
Yoshiaki Katayama started from pole in the #6 Uni-Robo Bluegrass Ferrari 296 GT3, but his advantage wouldn’t last very long. João Paulo de Oliveira in the #56 Realize/Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R GT3 got past for a moment – until Tomonobu Fujii in the #777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 got past them both to lead the opening lap from third on the grid.
Shinichi Takagi then passed Oliveira for second, and then Fujii, to take the lead in the #96 K-tunes Lexus RC F GT3 – three leaders in 20 minutes!
Oliveira and Katayama were falling down the order while the #31 apr Lexus LC 500h of Kazuto Kotaka and the #65 LEON Pyramid Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Naoya Gamou entered the fray, trying to overtake Fujii for second. Kotaka would get by Gamou, then Fujii, to move into second place.
When the first Safety Car came and went, it benefitted some of the cars that made very early fuel-only stops – including the #2 muta Racing Toyota GR86 of Hibiki Taira and the #52 Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Supra of Seita Nonaka. But as they battled on track, they touched wheels, and it caused the #52 Green Brave GR Supra to pick up a costly puncture.
Taira would inherit the lead on this alternate strategy once the #96 and #31 Lexus made their first routine pit stops for fuel and tyres. Another surprise was the #5 Mach Syaken/Air Buster MC86 of Kiyoto Fujinami, which would move into second place after the second Safety Car.
But coming off that second Safety Car period, Taira didn’t stay within five car lengths of the car in front. This breach led to a drive-through penalty which had to be served by Yuui Tsutsumi after the team made its second routine pit stop.
Jin Nakamura had also gotten aboard the #31 apr LC 500h, and out front, the #61 Subaru BRZ of Hideki Yamauchi – which started 18th in class – was fighting the #88 Venteny Lamborghini of Motojima for the race lead.
Then with an hour remaining, the Modulo Civic’s crash brought out a timely Safety Car for the #88 Venteny Lamborghini, which had just made its final pit stop a few minutes before. None of the top ten runners including the #61 Subaru BRZ, #777 D’station Vantage, and #65 LEON Pyramid AMG had made their final stops.
So when most of those cars pitted within a lap of the restart, Takashi Kogure went into the lead. Roberto Merhi in the #6 Uni-Robo Ferrari also benefitted and moved up to second.
The #2 muta GR86 also benefitted. Tsutsumi was able to serve his drive-through penalty just after the restart and lost very little ground. Merhi began to bleed time and Tsutsumi was able to cut down a 15-second deficit in just a handful of laps. With less than 28 minutes to go, Tsutsumi and the muta GR86 took second place, and Merhi would soon pit for new tyres.
Iguchi was running fifth when he crashed at turn ten to bring out the final Safety Car.
Kogure collected the chequered flag behind the Safety Car, and for the first time in JLOC’s 30-year history in SUPER GT/JGTC, the team has won multiple races in a single season. This was also the third win in seven races for the duo of Kogure and Motojima, dating back to the end of 2023.
“Today, we weren’t able to get a good time attack in the qualifying, but we were able to redeem ourselves with this win,” said Kogure. “The way Motojima-san performed in the first half put pressure on me in a good sense. And I believe that the way all of the team members did their jobs so well is what finally brought us this victory. Since this has brought us to the top in the rankings, I want to keep trying to do my best.”
Motojima added: “I am really happy. Of course, we are always aiming to win. Before the race, I never thought this would happen, and that we would end up winning. But soon after the start, I had a great feeling with the car and the tyres, so I thought I would try to work up through the field even if it meant punishing the machine a bit. When the machine came back, I gave it a pat and thanked it!”
Behind them, the #2 muta GR86 of Tsutsumi and Taira, which fell down to 26th after going off course on the second lap, and could have been stuck outside the top ten after its penalty, dug deep to finish second in class. If muta Racing INGING goes on to win the GT300 Championship, this may be one of the defining results.
For the first time this season, the #96 K-tunes RC F of Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi finished on the podium in third. It was Nitta’s career-leading 61st podium and the 58th for Takagi.
The #7 Studie BMW M4 GT3 (Seiji Ara/Niklas Krütten/Bruno Spengler) went from 22nd at the start to finish fourth – and put all four tyre manufacturers inside the top four.
In fifth was the #777 D’station Vantage of Fujii and Charlie Fagg, and in sixth was the #65 LEON Pyramid AMG of Gamou and Takuro Shinohara, which scored points to preserve its championship lead.
One of the most encouraging results came from the #11 Gainer Tanax Nissan Fairlady Z (Ryuichiro Tomita/Keishi Ishikawa), which used its strengths in handling to go from 25th to seventh and score its best finish of the year!
The #6 Uni-Robo Ferrari of Katayama and Merhi finished eighth after its pit stop, followed by the #20 SHADE Racing GR86 (Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Eijiro Shimizu) and the #60 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra (Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno), which snuck by the #25 Hoppy Schatz GR Supra (Togo Suganami/Takamitsu Matsui/Kimiya Sato) to grab the final point before the Safety Car.
With two races left, the championship picture becomes clearer as the series prepares for the penultimate round at Mobility Resort Motegi in November.
In GT500, Tsuboi & Yamashita lead the standings by two points over Sasahara & Alesi, and Yamamoto & Makino. Takaboshi/Miyake trail by seven points, Ishiura/Oyu trail by 12, while the top two teams in Chiyo/Quintarelli and Sekiguchi/Nakayama moved up into sixth and seventh in the standings.
Gamou & Shinohara still lead in GT300, but only by five points over Tsutsumi & Taira. The big winners are Motojima & Kogure who are now third in the standings, 16 points back, with Fujii & Fagg trailing by 20.
The Motegi GT 300km Race is up next, on 2/3 November.
Images © GTA
