Super GT : XANAVI NISMO GT-R takes its third win of the season .. updated!

Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer

OITA ; AUTOPOLIS Racing Course, Japan : October 19, 2008 - the SUPER GT IN KYUSHU 300 km (lap = 4.674 km x 65 laps) took place at the Autopolis in Oita Pref., as Round 8 of the 2008 AUTOBACS SUPER GT. The GT500 class winners were the XANAVI NISMO GT-R driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer, in their third victory of the season.

Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer

The winner of the pole position in Saturday's qualifying, Benoit Treluyer, was the starting driver in the XANAVI NISMO GT-R, and after the start he proceeded to pull away from the competition at a fast pace and open up a significant lead. Motoyama took over the wheel for the second half of the race and drove on unthreatened, having never once given up the lead except during the pit stop in a perfect “pole-to-checkered" win.

#23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R

This was the XANAVI NISMO GT-R team's third win of the season and their first since round two. For the new Nissan GT-R that debuted in SUPER GT this season, this is its sixth victory in the first eight rounds of the season.

#81 DAISHIN ADVAN Z

In the GT300 class the DAISHIN ADVAN Z driven by Takayuki Aoki and Tomonobu Fujii came from second position on the starting grid to score their first win of the season.

#23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R

In this season's nine-round SUPER GT series, the next round to be held at Fuji Speedway on November 8 and 9 will be the ninth and final round of the season. With this win, the XANAVI NISMO GT-R team's Motoyama and Treluyer now stand at the top of the drivers' ranking, but they won't be able to clinch the title until the final round. In this debut year for the new Nissan GT-R, they will be battling with their Honda NSX and Lexus SC430 rivals at Fuji Speedway.

(Spectators: 28,800)

Winner Comments

No. 23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R [GT500]

#23 Satoshi Motoyama

Satoshi Motoyama: "I'd say I'm more relieved than happy. This was a race we had to win (to stay in contention for the title), so there was considerable pressure on both of us. What's more, the temperatures were high this weekend, which made it difficult in terms of tire performance. But, despite being understandable nervous, Benoit went out and got us the pole position yesterday. The team's pit work was fast too, so you have to say that this is a victory won by the whole team. The pit work had been fast going into my stint and I had a margin from Benoit to begin with, so I just pushed as hard as I thought the tires, brakes and the machine as a whole would tolerate. I think the result was a good one. We will be carrying a heavy load of handicap weights in the final round, but every point we can win will increase our chance at winning the title. And I am looking to [celebrating] after the race is over."

#23 Benoit Treluyer

Benoit Treluyer: "I feel great. It was a high-pressure weekend, so I'm really relieved. It has been a good weekend for the whole team too. We will have a heavy load of handicap weights in the final race, so I can't say how things will go. But I'm just very happy right now. I knew that if I got passed on the first corner it would be difficult recovering the lead, so I really concentrated at the start. Then I worked right away to get a good margin over the pack, and after that I ran with an eye on how the tires were holding out. I had to pass a lot of back-lappers but I was able to hand over the machine to Satoshi with no problem. I'm glad that I was able to do my job."

No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Z [GT300]

Winners - Press Conf.

Takayuki Aoki:"To tell you the truth, I am quite relieved. I didn't think it would take us this long to get a win. We just lost the win at SUGO (round 5) and I think there was considerable frustration throughout the team. I saw this as our last chance for a win, so I'm very happy that we made it happen. The race went just according to plan. Since there was a need to save the tires, I just kept the leader in sight, knowing that we could win in the end. I thought the tires would lose grip sooner, but Yokohama made us some good tires and I was able to hold out to the pit stop. With a 30-second margin at that point, I knew we could make it. We have had a lot of tough races this year, but now I feel redeemed. It will be tough to win the title at this point, but we are not giving up. I am going to go all out in the final round."

Tomonobu Fujii: "I came to DAISHIN with the intention of winning the championship but have been unable to get the results I wanted, so I am very relieved to get this win. It was tough going in the Friday practice, so the team worked late into the night to make some major improvements in the machine. That changed the flow and Aoki san went out and got us a good position in the qualifying. After that, I knew that we could win if everyone did their jobs as they can. In the race, Aoki san kept the lead No. 11 machine just in front of him throughout his stint and our pit work was fast. I knew that the first lap out of the pit would be important, and since we had made our pit stop early, I tried to gain as much ground as I could before the others settled in. The final round won't be easy but I am not going to give up until it is over."

AUTOPOLIS
Length : 4.674km x 65Laps =303.81km
Weather: Fine
Course : Dry

2008 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 8
SUPER GT in KYUSHU 300km : GT-500 Race result

Pos	No	Driver	Machine	Time/ Retired
1	23	Satoshi Motoyama Benoit Treluyer	XANAVI NISMO GT-R	1:56'36.729
2	32	Loic DUVAL Katsuyuki Hiranaka	EPSON NSX	0'18.490
3	1	Ralph Firman Takuya Izawa	ARTA NSX	0'35.781
4	38	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	ZENT CERUMO SC430	0'47.340
5	22	Michael Krumm Masataka Yanagida	MOTUL AUTECH GT-R	0'47.637
6	3	Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo	YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R	0'50.145
7	18	Ryo Michigami Takashi Kogure	TAKATA DOME NSX	0'51.443
8	36	Juichi Wakisaka Andre Lotterer	PETRONAS TOM'S SC430	0'56.749
9	100	Yuji Ide Shinya Hosokawa	RAYBRIG NSX	1'02.272
10	12	Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe	CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R	1'07.445
11	17	Katsutomo Kaneishi Toshihiro Kaneishi	REAL NSX	1'20.833
12	25	Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki Ishiura	ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430	1'32.079
13	39	Toranosuke Takagi Andre Couto	DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430	1'33.372
14	6	Akira Iida Bjorn Wirdheim	ENEOS SC430	1'43.091
15	35	Peter Dumbreck Tatsuya Kataoka	houzan KRAFT SC430	1Lap
16	24	J.P.L. De Oliveira Seiji Ara	WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R	8Laps

SUPER GT in KYUSHU 300km: GT-300 Race result

Pos	No	Driver	Machine	Time/ Retired
1	81	Takayuki Aoki Tomonobu Fujii	DAISHIN ADVAN Z	1:56'53.057
2	43	Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi	ARTA Garaiya	0'38.720
3	2	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	Privée KENZO Asset Shiden	0'39.930
4	46	Kazuki Hoshino Hironobu Yasuda	MOLA LEOPALACE Z	1'06.212
5	33	Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Masami Kageyama	HANKOOK PORSCHE	1'24.305
6	77	Tetsuya Yamano Carlo Van Dam	CUSCO DUNLOP SUBARU IMPREZA	1'24.554
7	4	Ryohei Sakaguchi Masaki Matsushita	EBBRO UEMATSU 320R	1'25.491
8	11	Tetsuya Tanaka Masayuki Ueda	JIMCENTER ADVAN F430	1'26.516
9	95	Kohei Hirate Keisuke Kunimoto	Lightning McQueen apr MR-S	1'33.179
10	19	Manabu Orido Tsubasa Abe	WedsSport IS350	1'43.936
11	31	Kyosuke Mineo Yuya Sakamoto	DOUBLEHEAD avex apr MR-S	1Lap
12	52	Takuya Kurosawa Takuto Iguchi	GREEN TEC KUMHO IS350	1Lap
13	110	Hidetoshi Mitsusada Daisuke Ikeda	KUMHO BOXSTER-GT	1Lap
14	62	Shinsuke Shibahara Haruki Kurosawa	WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 408R	1Lap
15	26	Nobuteru Taniguchi Shinichi Yamaji	YUNKER POWER TAISAN PORSCHE	2Laps
16	118	Takashi Miyamoto Guts Jyonai	4CARAT SON GT3	3Laps
17	666	Shogo Suho Junichiro Yamashita	Rakuten BOMEX 320R	3Laps
18	5	Tetsuji Tamanaka Katsuhiko Tsutsui	Proμ MACH-GO 320R	3Laps
19	88	Hideshi Matsuda Naohiro Furuya	triple a GALLARDO RG-3	5Laps
20	7	Hiroyuki Iiri Ryo Orime	ORC AMEMIYA SGC-7	15Laps
21	87	Hisashi Wada Muneyuki Kurihara	AKTIO GALLARDO RG-3	16Laps
Classified (GT300: 42 Laps)
	111	Hiroshi Koizumi Tsubasa Kurosawa	ARKTECH BOXSTER-GT	20Laps
	66	Koji Yamanishi Atsushi Yogo	triple a MURCIE RG-1	44Laps

Driver Championship Standings : GT-500

Pos	No.	Drivers	Points
1	23	Satoshi Motoyama Benoit Treluyer	74
2	18	Ryo Michigami Takashi Kogure	60
3	36	Juichi Wakisaka Andre Lotterer	59
4	22	Michael Krumm Masataka Yanagida	57
5	38	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	57
6	1	Ralph Firman Takuya Izawa	49
7	12	Sebastien Philippe	41
8	12	Tsugio Matsuda	41
9	100	Yuji Ide Shinya Hosokawa	41
10	35	Peter Dumbreck Tatsuya Kataoka	40
11	3	Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo	39
12	32	Loic DUVAL Katsuyuki Hiranaka	35
13	24	Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira Seiji Ara	34
14	6	Bjorn Wirdheim	28
15	25	Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki Ishiura	20
16	6	Akira Iida	20
17	100	Kosuke Matsuura	19
18	17	Katsutomo Kaneishi Toshihiro Kaneishi	15
19	36	Carlo Van Dam	11
20	22	Dominik Schwager	10
21	6	Daisuke Ito	10
22	39	Toranosuke Takagi Andre Couto	5
23	6	Roberto Streit	5
24	23	Fabio Carbone	3
25	17	Koudai Tsukakoshi	1

Driver Championship Standings : GT-300

Pos	No.	Drivers	Points
1	43	Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi	75
2	46	Kazuki Hoshino Hironobu Yasuda	73
3	2	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	67
4	81	Takayuki Aoki Tomonobu Fujii	58
5	7	Hiroyuki Iiri Ryo Orime	54
6	26	Nobuteru Taniguchi Shinichi Yamaji	51
7	95	Keisuke Kunimoto	50
8	77	Tetsuya Yamano	48
9	77	Kota Sasaki	43
10	31	Yuya Sakamoto	41
11	19	Manabu Orido Tsubasa Abe	35
12	95	Kohei Hirate	33
13	31	Kyosuke Mineo	26
14	62	Haruki Kurosawa	23
15	62	Shogo Mitsuyama	22
16	4	Ryohei Sakaguchi Masaki Matsushita	21
17	66	Koji Yamanishi Atsushi Yogo	18
18	33	Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Masami Kageyama	18
19	95	Kazuya Oshima	17
20	11	Tetsuya Tanaka Masayuki Ueda	14
21	7	Hiroyuki Matsumura	11
22	110	Hidetoshi Mitsusada Daisuke Ikeda	11
23	62	Shinsuke Shibahara	9
24	26	Keita Sawa	7
25	77	Carlo Van Dam	5
26	5	Tetsuji Tamanaka Naoya Yamano	4
27	5	Tetsuji Tamanaka Naoya Yamano	4
28	111	Hiroshi Koizumi	3
29	111	Tsubasa Kurosawa	3
30	52	Takuya Kurosawa Takuto Iguchi	3
31	27	Takashi Inoue Hwang Jin Woo	2
32	27	Yasuhiro Takasaki	2
33	5	Katsuhiko Tsutsui	1
34	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi	1

Constructor Championship Standings : GT-500

Pos.	No.	Team	Points
1	36	PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S	87
2	23	NISMO	82
3	38	TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO	75
4	18	DOME RACING TEAM	74
5	22	NISMO	67
6	100	TEAM KUNIMITSU	60
7	35	houzan TOYOTA TEAM KRAFT	60
8	12	TEAM IMPUL	55
9	24	KONDO RACING	55
10	3	HASEMI MOTOR SPORT	52
11	1	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	52
12	6	ENEOS TOYOTA Team LeMans	50
13	32	NAKAJIMA RACING	49
14	25	TOYOTA TEAM TSUCHIYA	39
15	17	REAL RACING with LEON	27
16	39	TOYOTA TEAM SARD	20

Constructor Championship Standings : GT-300

Pos.	No.	Team	Points
1	46	MOLA	97
2	43	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	85
3	2	Cars Tokai Dream28	80
4	81	TEAM DAISHIN	79
5	7	RE AMEMIYA RACING	66
6	95	apr	63
7	26	Team TAISAN with NISHIZAWA	60
8	77	CUSCO RACING	57
9	31	apr	41
10	19	RACING PROJECT BANDOH	39
11	62	WILLCOM R&D SPORT	38
12	4	Team UEMATSU NOVA	38
13	33	HANKOOK KTR	33
14	66	JLOC	27
15	11	JIMGAINER	19
16	110	ARKTECH MOTORSPORTS	17
17	5	TEAM MACH	15
18	52	TEAM TAKEUCHI with SHIFT	11
19	111	ARKTECH MOTORSPORTS	10
20	27	TEAM SHADOW	7
21	88	JLOC	6
22	87	JLOC	6
23	70	TEAM GAIKOKUYA	5
24	666	AVANZZA ROSSO	5
25	118	TOMEISPORTS	5
26	16	Team UEMATSU NOVA	1
27	170	TEAM GAIKOKUYA	1

Pit Work (#23)

[Source : 2008 AUTOBACS SUPER GT - NISSAN]