Super GT 2016 Round 2 - Minus Four, Times Two
The second round of 2016's Super GT
season took place over the Golden Week holiday on May 3 and 4. A
fifty thousand-strong crowd took advantage of the long break to make
the trek to Fuji Circuit in anticipation of another exciting contest.
They wouldn't be disappointed as the race was filled with dogfights
between rival drivers and tire dramas threw in major surprises right
up to the very end.
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Image credits: Super GT |
Going into this latest race at Fuji
Speedway the GT-Rs were favored to win. Toyota may own the circuit
but Nissan has pretty much owned the races since the new DTM-aligned
GT500 regulations took effect in 2014. Fuji normally hosts two rounds
of the series every season and except for a solitary NSX win (with
an R35 in second) GT-R drivers from different teams have won all four of
the GT500 races held there so far. Lexus surely was hoping this year
was the one where they could get the monkey off their back but
qualifying dampened those aspirations when Nissan locked out the
front row by having the number 12 Calsonic Impul GT-R on pole
followed by the 46 S-Road car. The 38 Zent Cerumo RC F provided a
bright spot in third but lurking right behind was the defending
champion Motul Autech GT-R that had won the opening round at Okayama
a month earlier.
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The bright orange Arta BMW M6 took the pole in GT300 |
In GT300 Toyota got second and
third with the Vivac 86 and the apr Prius but just like at Okayama a
German car led the pack - this time it was an M6 from Autobacs Racing
Team Aguri (ARTA for short). The number 3 B-Max NDDP GT-R needed a
good result after a poor showing at Okayama but fifth was the best it
could get in qualifying while the defending champion Gainer Tainax
GT-R copped ninth.
Before the race began a moment of
silence was observed in respect for the victims of the recent
Kumamoto earthquake and the race cars themselves all sported stickers
of Kumamon, the region's bear mascot, as a show of support. The
earthquake affected the racing more than just these tributes however
because on the morning prior to the race the Super GT organizers
announced at a press conference that the upcoming round at Autopolis
later this month was now canceled. Previously it had been
indefinitely postponed but due to concerns about the earthquake's
effects on the local roads and facilities the racetrack officials
requested to cancel the race entirely. Plans on how to replace the
missing event are still up in the air but the organizers stated that
most likely two races would be held on an existing event date because
of logistical and scheduling difficulties with trying to add another
round at a new venue.
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The race begins under sunny skies. |
In contrast to that somber news the day
dawned bright and sunny for the actual 110-lap race with Mt. Fuji
standing proudly as a backdrop to the circuit. With hopes of
jumpstarting their championship bid the Calsonic team led the pack to
the first corner, followed closely by the silver S-road GT-R. No
position changes happened at the front of the GT500 pack during their
start but GT300 would see second get shuffled around as the Vivac 86
got mobbed by the apr Prius and the Studie BMW that was in fourth.
The poor Toyota 86 came off worst as the Prius rolled into second and
the M6 slotted in behind.
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Jann Mardenborough started the B-Max GT-R in fifth |
After that initial scrum both the
Calsonic GT-R leading GT500 and the Arta M6 in GT300 began to pull
away. Things began to heat up though on lap 14 when the Motul GT-R
started to close on the third place Zent RC F while in GT300 the
Studie BMW suddenly pulled into the pits with a mechanical issue. The
M6 eventually rejoined but only after losing several laps. The Vivac
86 had fallen into the middle of the GT300 pack due to tire issues
while the B-Max GT-R on the other hand was showing good pace at the
hands of Nissan's GT300 rookie Jann Mardenborough. He began to pester
the apr Prius for second.
The Motul GT-R had to carry 40 kilos of ballast after winning the last race. |
On lap 15 Ronnie Quintarelli in the
Motul GT-R made his move on the Zent RC F for third in GT500, taking
the position by going around the outside of the Lexus on the final
turn then outdragging it on the front straight. Former champion Yuji
Tachikawa in the RC F wasn't about to take that lying down though and
he reset the positions two laps later by drafting the Nismo car and
outbraking it into the first turn. The Zent car seemed to find its
legs at that point and began hunting down the S Road GT-R in second
place. Tachikawa passed Satoshi Motoyama in the silver Nissan on lap
27 by replicating the move he used on the Nismo GT-R. Both Tachikawa
and Motoyama are multiple GT500 champions so as you could expect
Motoyama didn't let the Zent car go easily and tried to use
Tachikawa's move right back on him 2 laps later but the Lexus managed
to hold the spot, no doubt benefiting from the lower reward ballast
it was carrying compared to the two Nissans. Another Lexus benefiting
from a lower weight was the number 39 Denso car who had closed on the
fourth place Motul GT-R and then used its advantage to outdrag it
down the front straight on lap 31. All this fighting behind it had
meanwhile allowed the Calsonic GT-R to build a sizable lead.
Last race saw the #65 Leon AMG GT take
a convincing win but Fuji was less flattering for the Mercs as they
all qualified fairly well back with the Leon car all the way down in
18th. Their luck would get no better in the race because
on lap 25 a sudden spin by the Syntium Lotus ahead of it caused the
AMG to crash hard while trying to evade. An unhurt but very upset
Naoya Gamou could only slam the door in frustration as the undamaged
Lotus was able to limp away.
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The S-Road car was consistently fast throughout the race. |
Lap 32 saw the S-Road car become the
first GT500 in the pits and the GT300 leading M6 came in shortly
after. The apr Prius had managed to keep the B-Max GT-R at bay by the
time it pitted a couple of laps later but then after departing the
Toyota overshot the first turn and immediately came back to the pits
for some sort of mechanical gremlin that took it out of the fight for
the win. This worked to the number 3 GT-R's advantage and after
pitting on lap 35 it was able to rejoin ahead of the BMW thanks to
needing less fuel than the thirstier M6.
After the first round of pit stops the
top of GT500 remained the same as before except for fourth – the
Motul GT-R had pitted last of the front runners and in doing so had
pipped the Denso RC F and regained the spot it had lost earlier.
Meanwhile the battle had been rejoined between the Zent Lexus and the
S-Road GT-R for second, only this time it was Hiroaki Ishiura in the
RC F against young Nissan rookie Katsumasa Chiyo who was out to prove
his excellent first round performance was no fluke. Chiyo reeled in
the red Lexus and then on lap 43 took advantage of Ishiura running
wide to set up an overtake on the Zent car.
After that things seemed to settle into
a rhythm with the Calsonic GT-R untroubled at the front. A sudden
change in the complexion of the race happened on lap 72 however when
the Raybrig NSX that had been running at the back suddenly had a
catastrophic loss of its left rear tire that demolished the back end
and threw the car into the wall at high speed. Takuya Izawa walked
away unharmed but the burst tire had sprayed bodywork all over the
track prompting race officials to call out the safety car to allow
cleanup.
This caused major trouble for the
second place S-Road GT-R. Since it was the first GT500 car to pit it
was just about to come in again when the safety car came out. For
this year the Super GT regulations had changed for safety
considerations so that no one was allowed to pit while the safety car
was out. The fuel situation was dire for the 46 car however and Chiyo
came in anyway and handed the reins back to Motoyama. Several laps
later they would be hit with a 90 second penalty for the rule
violation and that would take them out of the battle at the front.
A bad strategy call hurt the Zent RC F despite a quick pace early on. |
Its nemesis the Zent RC F had opted to
take the opposite decision and gambled on being able to make it to
the end of the safety car interval on the fuel it had remaining. This
proved to be the wrong choice however as the Lexus ground to a halt
on lap 78 just after the race went green again. The S-Road team's
choice to take a penalty at least earned them four points at the end
for a seventh place versus none for the Lexus.
This left the Calsonic GT-R, number 1
Motul, and the Denso RC F bunched together to duke it out for the
win. The blue Calsonic was starting to eke out a lead again when it
pulled in for its pit stop on lap 79. The Motul GT-R waited until two
laps later to pit and then the Nismo team pulled off an amazingly
quick servicing to shave six seconds off the time needed by the other
Nissan team. This allowed the defending champion car to come out
ahead of the former race leader after the pit stop.
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Nismo versus Team Impul was a familiar sight last year. |
Last year the fight between the Nismo
GT-R and the Calsonic was the most heated rivalry on track as they
clashed in race after race to eventually decide the title. This year
that rivalry seemed to be right back as Ronnie Quintarelli in the red
R35 was chased down by Joao Paolo De Oliveira in the blue car.
Oliveira made his move on lap 96 and drafted Quintarelli on the
straght. He overtook the red car entering turn 1 but ran wide
allowing Quintarelli to draw even again. Contact was nearly made but
Oliveira kept his resolve and took the inside line into the next turn
and settled the contest in his favor. The number 12 car then started
to try and pull away but the Motul GT-R kept it honest by staying
within around a second of it as the laps ticked by.
Oliveira seemed to have the race under
control but then the racing gods threw one last shocker into the mix.
With only four laps left until the checkers the Calsonic car blew its
left rear tire in a similar fashion to the Raybrig NSX before it and
speared off the course. With a destroyed rear section Oliveira had no
choice but to pull to a halt. He was unhurt but the devastating turn
of events visibly upset him as he appeared to be in tears while
sitting beside one of the circuit's side roads.
This left the Nismo team to claim
back-to-back victories with the Denso RC F two seconds adrift in
second and the number 37 KeePer Tom's Lexus inheriting the last step
of the podium.
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Yet another checkered flag for Nismo. This win extended Tsugio Matsuda's record for most GT500 wins by any driver to 18. |
The B-Max GT-R had held off the charges
of the Arta M6 to take the win in GT300 for Nissan as well. The
Bimmer eventually claimed second but only after duking it out with a
resurgent Vivac 86. A strong comeback effort by the Toyota squad
netted it a 500,000 yen bonus as they were awarded the J Sport Best
Performance award for the race.
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The B-Max drivers were of course ecstatic at the win, Mardenborough's first in Super GT. |
And so the day was overall a great one
for the Nissan camp with both class wins taken by GT-Rs. Kudos have
to be given though to the Calsonic team that deserved to take the win
themselves but were ultimately thwarted by cruel luck just short of
the checkered flag. The win for the Motul car gave it a sizable lead
of 13 points in the driver's championship while the B-Max pairing
vaulted to the top of their leaderboard by a single point thanks to
the Leon AMG's unlucky retirement.
Meanwhile, Lexus must surely be
frustrated at seeing yet another Nissan win on their home turf. Honda
on the other hand has its own problems as the NSXs were once again a
non-factor with two cars barely scraping up points in sixth and
tenth. With the third round in Autopolis canceled the two
manufacturers have almost three months before the next race at Sugo
Sportsland in late July to try to think up countermeasures to the
persistently fast GT-Rs.
Unfortunately once again there's no
Nismo.TV feed for this second round race but we can at least enjoy
this high def upload of the race in Japanese as well as the Nissan
Newsroom celebratory video (with another cool soundtrack like the
last one):
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