MOTUL AUTECH GT-R BEATS RAYBRIG HSV-010 FOR POLE IN SUPERGT SUGO
2010-07-24 23:51:15 Author: admin Source:
Round 5 of the 2010 Super GT championship resumed at the Sugo Sportsland for the "Sugo GT 300KM Race" with an exciting qualifying session which saw the Motul Autech GT-R driven by Benoit Treluyer take pole position for Sunday's race. Treluyer set the fastest time in the Super lap session, outbidding Raybrig HSV-010's Takuya Izawa who finished second and MJ Kraft SC430's Kazuya Oshima in third.
Treluyer said in post-qualifying interview, "It was a perfect day today. I think I can say that the set-up went better than in any round yet this season. We have been struggling so far this season, but I think now we can say that we have "found it." It is the same feeling of assurance as when we won the title on 2008, so I'm feeling a bit relieved."
"There was just one problem today, but that was solved quickly, so I was able to run the fastest time in all sessions today. The tyres are good in hot track conditions, so I am confident about our prospects for tomorrow as well. Although you never know how a race is going to turn out until the checkered is waved, but since the car is in such good condition, I personally am expecting good results tomorrow," he added.
In the GT-R, Treluyer ran the fastest lap in the first qualifying session as well with a time of 1:16.627 and better it in the Super Lap. At the chequered flag, he edged out Izawa's HSV-010 by 0.444 for the top spot. Earlier, Treluyer also got the quickest time in the practice session to make it a clean sweep of the day's three sessions.
For Treluyer, this is his first pole position since round eight of the 2008 season. For the Nissan GT-R, this is the second pole position of the season, following the last round at Sepang.
Meanwhile, perennial Super GT champion and Treluyer's team mate Satoshi Motoyama felt comfortable with the GT-R's setup and package for the Round 5 event. Motoyama also believed that the current car's package could improve the team's consistency to get better results in the present and upcoming races. "The process of trial and error we have been through this season finally produced a 2nd-place finish for us in the last round and I think the performance was even better today. This round at SUGO and the next one at Suzuka are especially critical for us if we are going to stay in contention for the title."
Six other qualifiers made the Super Lap top eight; Takashi Kogure/Loic Duval in the Weider HSV-010, Ralph Firman/Yuji Ide (ARTA HSV-010), Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli (CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R) ,Ryo Michigami/Yuhki Nakayama (EPSON HSV-010) and Daisuke Ito/Bjorn Wirdheim (ENEOS SC430).
In the GT300 class, the Apple K-ONE Shiden driven by Hiroki Katoh turned in the fastest time of 1:24.082 in the Super Lap to take pole. With this, Katoh extended his own record for most class poles for a driver to 10.
Results
1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer 1'16.178
2 RAYBRIG HSV-010 Takuya Izawa/Naoki Yamamoto 1'16.622
3 MJ KRAFT SC430 Hiroaki Ishiura/ Kazuya Oshima 1'16.747
4 Weider HSV-010 Takashi Kogure/Loic Duval 1'16.774
5 ARTA HSV-010 Ralph Firman/Yuji Ide 1'16.815
6 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli 1'17.222
7 EPSON HSV-010 Ryo Michigami/Yuhki Nakayama 1'17.298
8 ENEOS SC430 Daisuke Ito/Bjorn Wirdheim 1'17.415
