ARTA NSX GRABS FINAL SUPER GT RACE VICTORY, LEXUS TEAM IS OVERALL CHAMPIONS!
2009-11-10 14:53:37 Author: admin Source:
The final race of the season at the Twin Ring Motegi, Japan for Round 9 SUPER GT Championships last weekend was witnessed by some 35,000 fans and the event became the spectacle to determine the GT500 and GT300 Championships respectively, among current GT500 league leaders; ARTA NSX’s Ralph Firman and Takuya Izawa, LEXUS Team’s Juichi Wakisaka & Andre Lotterer and NISMO’s Satoshi Motoyama & Benoit Treluyer.
At the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit, GT500 and GT300 runners gave it their all to make the finale one of the greater highlights of the season. Being the finale, all entries ran without the customary ‘handi-weight’ (success ballast), and the race itself was 50kms shorter than the normal distance.
As the 53-lap race got underway, Firman, on pole for No. 8 ARTA NSX was beaten at the first turn by Andre Lotterer (No.36 Lexus SC430) for the lead. But, the lead did not last as No.36 had to pit earlier on lap 22 for fresh tyres due to starting the race on softer compounds while No.8 could go a few laps further on a harder compound. Elsewhere, NISMO’s starting driver Benoit Treluyer immediately attacked the car in front, resulting in a thrilling battle for 4th place with the No.38 LEXUS SC430. On lap 4, he got past the No.38 car, but because of excessive tyre wear due to his extreme driving, he was forced to slow his pace.
At the first stop, driving duties for No.36 switched to Wakisaka and he resumed racing in second overall. Firman was the clear leader and held off until lap 31 when the ARTA pitted for fuel, tyres and driver’s exchange, with Firman passing the wheels to team mate Takuya Izawa. No.8 resumed the race in the lead comfortably as they rejoined, while No.36 remained second.
Several laps later on lap 35, the safety car was called to lead the competitors due to a fiery incident on the track. The safety car allowed the runners to narrow the gaps to each other, and as the race recommenced at the end of lap 39, Izawa accelerated and managed to open up a margin of lead over Wakisaka.
Izawa maintained solid pace throughout the middle and final stints of the race, while Wakisaka had to confront tyre grip issues. The gap between the leader and second place runner had widened to more than nine seconds with Izawa, unchallenged, taking the chequered flag by a margin of 8.8 seconds.
Wakisaka settled for second, while KEIHIN NSX’s Toshihiro Kaneishi & Koudai Tsukakoshi completed the podium at the Twin Ring. Having started the race from 9th, a strategy of changing only the two rear tyres shortened KEIHIN’s pit time and moving them up positions. In the latter stages of the race, Tsukakoshi turned in a brilliant performance, managing to pass No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 of Yuji Tachikawa and No. 6 ENEOS SC430’s Daisuke Ito for the coveted third position and the Team’s second podium finish of the season.
Wakisaka settled for second, while KEIHIN NSX’s Toshihiro Kaneishi & Koudai Tsukakoshi completed the podium at the Twin Ring. Having started the race from 9th, a strategy of changing only the two rear tyres shortened KEIHIN’s pit time and moving them up positions. In the latter stages of the race, Tsukakoshi turned in a brilliant performance, managing to pass No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 of Yuji Tachikawa and No. 6 ENEOS SC430’s Daisuke Ito for the coveted third position and the Team’s second podium finish of the season.
ARTA NSX No.8 garnered their second victory of the season in their final Super GT competition as Honda retires the NSX machine for good. Next season, the Honda Super GT Teams will be utilizing a brand new race-breed car so stay tuned…
Finishing second in the race was enough for Wakisaka to assist No. 36 to secure the 2009 Super GT Drivers and Team’s Championship as main rival NISMO faltered at the ‘Ring’.
Before the race at the Twin Ring, No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH (Satoshi Motoyama & Benoit Treluyer, NISMO) had the chance to swing the Championship to their favor. However, it was not to be as a burst tyre during the race compromised the Team’s race. The burst tyre led to a torn front feeder which forced a longer than usual stop for repairs in the pits, and ultimately, sacrificed the title. After repairs were completed, Motoyama returned to the track, finishing the event in 14th place.
Before the race at the Twin Ring, No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH (Satoshi Motoyama & Benoit Treluyer, NISMO) had the chance to swing the Championship to their favor. However, it was not to be as a burst tyre during the race compromised the Team’s race. The burst tyre led to a torn front feeder which forced a longer than usual stop for repairs in the pits, and ultimately, sacrificed the title. After repairs were completed, Motoyama returned to the track, finishing the event in 14th place.
The 2009 title was the second title for Wakisaka and Lotterer, the duo has previously won it in 2006. In the Teams’ category, LEXUS Team Petronas TOM'S also gathered their second consecutive Teams’ title.
In the GT300 class race, pole-sitter No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari of Tomonobu Fujii began to run away in the lead at the onset of the race. Enforcing their lead throughout the race, No. 81 made its pit stop a nearly the mid-point in the race on lap 26. Following the stop, second driver Takayuki Aoki resumed the lead quite convinvingly.
Aoki was not threaten much throughout the race, although a safety car period had close the gap between the Ferrari and rival No.7 AMEMIYA SGC 7 of Nobuteru Taniguchi. But, it was not to be as the Ferrari overpowered the SGC 7 for their second win of the season in GT300, while No. 7 settled for second with the No. 19 WedsSport IS350 of Manabu Orido & Tatsuya Kataoka third.
With the final place on the podium, No.19 and its drivers secured the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles, their very first in Super GT’s GT300 class.
On to the new season in 2010…
Results
GT500
|
1
|
ARTA NSX
|
Ralph Firman
Takuya Izawa |
1:43'30.913
|
|
2
|
PETRONAS TOM'S SC430
|
Juichi Wakisaka
Andre Lotterer |
0'08.829
|
|
3
|
KEIHIN NSX
|
Toshihiro Kaneishi
Koudai Tsukakoshi |
0'09.010
|
|
4
|
ENEOS SC430
|
Daisuke Ito
Bjorn Wirdheim |
0'10.440
|
|
5
|
DUNLOP SARD SC430
|
Andre Couto
Kohei Hirate |
0'12.653
|
|
6
|
EPSON NSX
|
Loic Duval
Yuki Nakayama |
0'13.417
|
|
7
|
IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R
|
Tsugio Matsuda
Sebastien Philippe |
0'19.213
|
|
8
|
RAYBRIG NSX
|
Yuji Ide
Shinya Hosokawa |
0'25.402
|
|
9
|
KRAFT SC430
|
Hiroaki Ishiura
Kazuya Oshima |
0'26.900
|
|
10
|
ROCKSTAR DOME NSX
|
Ryo Michigami
Takashi Kogure |
0'27.811
|
|
11
|
HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R
|
J.P.Lima de Oliveira
Seiji Ara |
0'38.254
|
|
12
|
HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R
|
Ronnie Quintarelli
Hironobu Yasuda |
0'42.655
|
|
13
|
ZENT CERUMO SC430
|
Yuji Tachikawa
Richard Lyons |
1'28.331
|
|
14
|
MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
|
Satoshi Motoyama
Benoit Treluyer |
5Lap
|
GT300
|
1
|
DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari
|
Takayuki Aoki
Tomonobu Fujii |
1:43'43.302
|
|
2
|
M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7
|
Nobuteru Taniguchi
Ryo Orime |
0'00.416
|
|
3
|
WedsSport IS350
|
Manabu Orido
Tatsuya Kataoka |
0'23.045
|
|
4
|
JIMGAINER ADVAN F430
|
Tetsuya Tanaka
Katsuyuki Hiranaka |
0'23.561
|
|
5
|
COROLLA Axio apr GT
|
Takuto Iguchi
Yuji Kunimoto |
0'33.341
|
|
6
|
avex apr COROLLA Axio
|
Yuya Sakamoto
Kyosuke Mineo |
0'37.389
|
|
7
|
S Road MOLA Z
|
Kazuki Hoshino
Masataka Yanagida |
0'37.961
|
|
8
|
triple a MURCIE RG-1
|
Koji Yamanishi
Atsushi Yogo |
0'48.331
|
|
9
|
UP START TAISAN PORCHE
|
Haruki Kurosawa
Tsubasa Abe |
0'50.624
|
|
10
|
KUMHO TIRE SHIFT IS350
|
Kota Sasaki
Yuhi Sekiguchi |
0'58.043
|
Final GT500 Drivers’ standings
|
1
|
Jyuichi Wakisaka
Andre Lotterer |
88
|
|
2
|
Ralph Firman
Takuya Izawa |
81
|
|
3
|
Satoshi Motoyama
|
78
|
|
4
|
Benoit Treluyer
|
73
|
|
5
|
Toshihiro Kaneishi
Koudai Tsukakoshi |
51
|
|
6
|
Ryo Michigami
Takashi Kogure |
50
|
|
7
|
Ronnie Quintarelli
Hironobu Yasuda |
49
|
|
8
|
J.P.L.de Oliveira
Seiji Ara |
48
|
|
9
|
Hiroaki Ishiura
Kazuya Oshima |
44
|
|
10
|
Yuji Tachikawa
Richard Lyons |
41
|
Final GT500 Teams’ standings
|
1
|
LEXUS TEAM PETRONAS TOM'S
|
112
|
|
2
|
AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI
|
102
|
|
3
|
NISMO
|
101
|
|
4
|
TEAM YOSHIKI & DOME PROJECT
|
75
|
|
5
|
KEIHIN REAL RACING
|
72
|
|
6
|
HASEMI MOTOR SPORT
|
71
|
|
7
|
KONDO RACING
|
69
|
|
8
|
LEXUS TEAM KRAFT
|
68
|
|
9
|
LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO
|
63
|
|
10
|
TEAM IMPUL
|
55
|
