The first three-hour race was held
On Saturday 4 May 2024, the second Super GT round was held at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture. The winners of this first 3-hour race format were No. 3 Niterra MOTUL Z (Mitsunori Takaboshi/Atsushi Miyake) in the GT500 class and No. 88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure/Yuya Motojima) in the GT300 class. This time, we will report on the GT500 class race.
Fairlady Z shows strong performance
The Fuji round is a regular Golden Week event in Super GT. It is the most spectator-attractive race of the season, with 88,400 people visiting the grandstands and paddock over the two days. This was the first time that the three-hour race, introduced this season, had been run, so it was interesting to see what strategy the cars would adopt. The race is expected to be just under 120 laps, and regulations require two pit stops for refueling. The race got underway at 13:30 under clear and dry conditions.
It was the Honda Civic Type R-GT that showed speed in GT500 qualifying. Pole position was taken by No. 17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT, which was also the first pole for the Civic in its debut this season, followed by NISMO cars No. 3 Niterra and No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z in second and third positions, with the Toyota “GR Supra” at the top of the list at 14 The highest ranked Toyota GR Supra was No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra in 7th position. However, No. 14 had tire damage in qualifying and had to change four tires at the start, and had to start from the pits.
Takahoshi in No. 3 Niterra took the holeshot at the start, followed by Koudai Tsukakoshi in No. 17 Astemo and Katsumasa Chiyo in No. 23 NISMO. In the early stages of the race, the top cars did not separate greatly and were evenly spaced, but gradually the gap between the top three cars and those in 4th position and below widened.
However, Tsukakoshi in second position on No. 17 Astemo started to lose some ground from the leaders. At 35 minutes into the race (23rd lap), Chiyo in No. 23 NISMO overtook car No. 17 and moved up to 2nd position. This made it a one-two for NISMO.
At around the 50-minute mark from the start of the race, the pits finally got underway, starting with No. 16 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT which pitted in after 30 laps, and one after another the cars made their first refueling and tyre changes. Many teams chose not to change drivers, but to have the starting driver do a double stint.
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What a surprise, the ARTA No. 8 car, which was in third place, was…
One-third of the race had passed, with all cars completing their first pit stops on lap 40 when the leading car, No. 3 Niterra, and No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra made their pit stops. The top position remained unchanged for No. 3, with No. 17 Astemo taking second place from No. 23 NISMO. Following them were No. 8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT, No. 12 MARELLI IMPUL Z and No. 36 AU TOM’S.
After one and a half hours had passed at the turn of the race, the leading car, No. 3 Niterra, driven by Takaboshi, was in a completely solo position, with a gap of nearly 20 seconds over the following cars. In the battle for third place, No. 8 ARTA overtook No. 23 NISMO to finish on the podium.
After more than 70 laps and with just over an hour remaining in the race, each car made its second and final pit stop. The top order was now Niterra No. 3 (Miyake), NISMO No. 23 (Chiyo), ARTA No. 8 (Nobuharu Matsushita), and Astemo No. 17 (Kakunoshin Ota), with No. 3 continuing to lead by over 30 seconds, and the three cars in 2nd to 4th position in a close battle.
Then No. 23 NISMO pulled away and the battle for third became heated, with Ota in No. 17 Astemo again attacking Matsushita in No. 8 ARTA, and the two went side-by-side on the home straight several times, but Matsushita was able to hold him off each time and defend his position on the podium.
But then tragedy struck the No. 8 ARTA. With No. 16 ARTA also retiring with trouble, it was a day of disappointment for the team.
The No. 3 Niterra maintained a solid lead and took the chequered flag at the top. In second place was No. 23 NISMO, and it was a one-two finish for the NISMO cars, with No. 17 Astemo in third place and No. 36 AU TOM’S the highest-placed Supra team, firmly maintaining its position as the points leader with a solid drive.
Also, just after the chequered flag, the rear cowl of No. 64 Modulo CIVIC TYPE R-GT fell off on the home straight, but as it was after the chequered flag, it did not lead to any accidents for the following cars.
translated by DeepL