TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE driver Nirei Fukuzumi redeemed his squad after a painful lap one DNF on Saturday, when he won Sunday’s GT500-exclusive Fuji GT Sprint Race from pole position.
It was the first win for the #14 Eneos X Prime Toyota GR Supra – which is run out of ROOKIE Racing’s headquarters based on the grounds of Fuji Speedway – since the 2022 Okayama round.
For Toyota, it’s the manufacturer’s ninth consecutive GT500 victory, further extending their record – and Fukuzumi led a top-four sweep for the GR Supra, after a top-five lockout on Saturday.
Sunday’s 50-minute afternoon sprint would be the first time that GT500 cars raced on their own in a points-paying championship round. The morning Practice session yielded an all-Toyota top four, led by reigning GT500 Champion Kenta Yamashita in the #1 au TOM’S GR Supra, ahead of Fukuzumi.
But in Qualifying, Fukuzumi got the better of his rival, taking his seventh career GT500 pole position by two-tenths over Yamashita. Sentimental favourite Hiroaki Ishiura qualified third, with Yuji Kunimoto and Yuhi Sekiguchi completing an all-Toyota top five.
Fukuzumi led Yamashita and the rest of the 15-car field on the opening lap. Toyota’s top-five lockout maintained with Yamashita and Ishiura trailing behind, while Sekiguchi in the #39 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra overtook the #19 WedsSport Advan GR Supra of Kunimoto for fourth.
Kunimoto would begin to drop down the order from lap two, when the #12 TRS Impul Nissan Z NISMO GT500 of Kazuki Hiramine overtook him for fifth place; contact between the cars would then allow the Hondas of Nobuharu Matsushita and Riki Okusa to go though.
Up front, Fukuzumi maintained a steady two-second advantage over Yamashita, and in a mirror image of Saturday’s race, the top two began to pull away from the third-place #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra of Ishiura.
Sekiguchi’s fourth place was under threat from Hiramine, who made a lunge up the inside of TGR Corner with 18 minutes to go – but couldn’t stay ahead long enough, as Sekiguchi re-passed the TRS Impul Z at Coca-Cola Corner.
Yamashita made a push for the lead in the final minutes, but ran out of time – Fukuzumi held on by 0.728 seconds to take his first GT500 victory as a Toyota factory driver, and the sixth of his career.
“From the start to the finish, we were able to win by holding off that fast #1 car,” Fukuzumi said. “This has given great confidence to the team and to me. Again today, we had to keep our eyes on the #1 the whole time, and I kept on pushing without letting up for a moment.
“Yesterday was a regretful and sad race for the #14 car, and that experience surely led to today’s great result. I am grateful to everyone. This is my first win since coming to the Toyota team, and next I want to see us win in one of the usual long races. I truly want to say thank you to everyone!”
For his 30th birthday, Yamashita took home the second-place trophy. He and co-driver Sho Tsuboi (who won yesterday) also scored the most points in GT500 across two races, helping to extend their lead in the GT500 Championship to 19 points. Of course, they will be racing at maximum Success Weight for the next two races.
In his final GT500 start at Fuji, Ishiura brought the #38 KeePer GR Supra home in third place. The 2007 GT300 Champion and two-time Super Formula champion announced his retirement from SUPER GT’s premier class before this weekend’s races.
Sekiguchi was fourth in the #39 Denso GR Supra, while Hiramine finished as the top Nissan driver in fifth, despite a ten-second time penalty for the contact with Sekiguchi earlier.
Teppei Natori in the #24 Realize Corporation Advan Z had a spirited race, battling his way through the midfield and finishing sixth on the road after overtaking Atsushi Miyake at Coca-Cola Corner. But the Stewards hit Natori with a five-second time penalty for forcing Miyake off-course while making his move.
That promoted the #3 Niterra Motul Z of Miyake back to sixth, and dropped Natori to tenth.
Giuliano Alesi in the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra redeemed himself after qualifying 15th and last, coming through the field to take seventh place. Riki Okusa in the #64 Modulo Honda Civic Type R-GT was the only Honda driver to score points in eighth, with Nissan’s Katsumasa Chiyo in ninth.
Toyota teams now occupy the top four in the championship standings going into the Suzuka GT 300km Race, which kicks off in three weeks, on 24 August.
Images © GTA
