Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi took full advantage of the mixed conditions in Sunday’s 100-lap race in their Michelin-shod #3 Nissan Z, taking their first victory of the season by a commanding 43.9 seconds.
Two Honda NSX-GTs completed the podium, as ARTA duo Hiroki Otsu and Nirei Fukuzumi were best of the Bridgestone runners in second, followed by Team Kunimitsu pair Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino in third.
The race was red-flagged after 68 of 100 laps when the Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota GR Supra GT300 car of Seita Nonaka stopped at the side of the track at Turn 3 and started going up in flames.
Such was the severity of the blaze that an initial safety car period gave way to red flags when it became clear that the marshals wouldn’t be able to contain the fire immediately. Nonaka escaped uninjured.
The race resumed after an interlude of 50 minutes, in which time a rain shower doused the track, delaying the restart, but the full 100-lap distance was completed before the time limit was reached.
Victory in a topsy-turvy GT300 contest went the way of the #11 Gainer Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 driven by Keishi Ishikawa and Ryuichiro Tomita.
GT500 results:
1. #3 Niterra MOTUL Z
2. #16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
3. #100 STANLEY NSX-GT
4. #64 Modulo NSX-GT
5. #36 au TOM’S GR Supra
6. #38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra
7. #17 Astemo NSX-GT
8. #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra
9. #39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra
10. #24 Realize Corporation ADVAN Z
11. #14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra
12. #19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra
13. #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z
14. #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
15. #1 MARELLI IMPUL Z
GT300 results:
1. #11 GAINER TANAX GT-R
2. #7 Studie BMW M4
3. #6 DOBOT Audi R8 LMS
4. #60 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra GT
5. #56 Realize GT-R
6. #31 apr LC500h GT
7. #61 SUBARU BRZ R＆D SPORT
8. #10 PONOS GAINER GT-R
9. #88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3
10. #52 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT
11. #2 muta Racing GR86 GT
12. #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG
13. #30 apr GR86 GT
14. #360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R
15. #20 Shade Racing GR86 GT
16. #87 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3
17. #18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3
18. #5 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86
19. #50 ANEST IWATA Racing RC F GT3
20. #27 Yogibo NSX GT3
21. #48 Shokumou K’s Frontier GT-R
22. #9 PACIFIC Vspo NAC AMG
23. #96 K-tunes RC F GT3
24. #22 R Q’s AMG GT3
25. #65 LEON PYRAMID AMG
26. #25 HOPPY Schatz GR Supra GT
27. #244 HACHI-ICHI GR Supra GT
Full report to follow
