2013 SUPERGT : ZENT CERUMO SC430 gets its first win of the season! BMW conquers in the GT300 class

GT500 class winner : No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 : Yuji Tachikawa / Kohei Hirate

The FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 6 of the AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at Fuji Speedway (one lap 4.563km x 66 laps) in Shizuoka Pref. on Sept. 8. In difficult conditions with rain drizzles on and off, the winner of the GT500 class was the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 driven by Yuji Tachikawa and Kohei Hirate. The GT300 class winner was the No. 4 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW driven by Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka.

GT300 class winner : No.4 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW : Nobuteru Taniguchi / Tatsuya Kataoka

On race day at Fuji Speedway there was rain in the morning, but by noon the rain had stopped and the track was mostly dry by the time of the race start at 14:00. In these relatively good track conditions, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 driven by Kohei Hirate made a good start from pole position. The ZENT CERUMO SC430 ran in the lead with its fellow Lexus car, the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S SC430 driven by Andrea Caldarelli, in tow until the Safety Car came out to control the race after machine trouble caused a machine to crash on the 21^st lap. During the time it took to clear up the aftermath of the crash, the ZENT CERUMO SC430 had lost most of its margin of lead. When it became possible for the teams to make pit stops, the ZENT CERUMO SC430 and most of the other cars in the lead group made their routine pit stops and changed drivers. Because some teams didn’t make their routine stops, however, the ZENT CERUMO SC430 had given up the lead by the time it returned to the race with Yuji Tachikawa now at the wheel, and what’s more, it was hit by another car in its first lap out of the pit and ended up in 5^th position as a result. But knowing that not getting the win in this race would effectively end the ZENT CERUMO SC430 team’s title chances, Tachikawa began a hard charge through the pack amid constantly changing conditions as rain began to fall on and off. Finally, by the 43^rd lap of the race, Tachikawa regained the lead. From this point on, Tachikawa would face a tough challenge from the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Koudai Tsukakoshi) but in the end he lived up to his reputation as a mater at the Fuji course and always a strong finisher by fending off the challenge to give his team its first victory of the season.

This was the second win of the season for the LEXUS SC430 and its 18^th overall. For Tachikawa it is his 15^th GT500 career win, bringing him into a tie for most wins by a driver. For Hirate it was his fifth win.

In the GT300 class, the No. 4 GSRHATSUNEMIKU BMW driven by Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka started from 5^th position on the starting grid and took advantage of some fast pit work just after the Safety car came out and succeeded in taking the lead among the cars that had made quick pit stops. After that, the BMW’s second stint driver Taniguchi did a magnificent job of handling the slippery conditions after rain began to fall. In the end, he scored the team’s first win of the season with a massive 47-second lead over 2^nd place at the finish.

This was the fifth win overall for the BMW Z4 in GT300 class competition. For Taniguchi it is his 13^th win, and for Kataoka it is his sixth.

(Spectators: 32,800)

Race winner comments

GT500 class winner : No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 [GT500]

Yuji Tachikawa :

“We didn’t score any season points in the last three races, which put us in about the worst position we have ever experienced. But the team didn’t let this get them down at all, and TRD continued to work hard with us, and as a result, this time the machine was in magnificent condition. For this, I want to thank the team and TRD. When the Safety Car came out, I thought, “Not again!” But, I was able to run well to the end. With this win, we still have a chance to stay in the title race. But, since our goal is nothing less than the title, it is too early to celebrate. We are going to win the next two races, win the title and then we will celebrate.”

Kohei Hirate :

“The last three races were really frustrating because the car felt good but we couldn’t get the results we should have. But, as a result we were able to come to Fuji with only a small weight handicap, so I thought, “This is our chance.” We continued to talk within the team and with Bridgestone about things we could do. When we no-pointed in the last race, I thought our season title chances were now slim. So I came into this race with a new attitude, thinking that we had nothing to lose, and in the end we won.”

GT300 class winner : No.4 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW

Nobuteru Taniguchi :

“This time the machine was in good condition, but to be honest, I didn’t think we would win. But, the tires were also great, and we were able to qualify 5th. More than anything, the team’s perfect timing in making the pit stop when the Safety Car came out was a decisive factor. Then, when some light rain began to fall in the second half of the race, the track condition wasn’t bad enough to warrant a change to wet tires, but it became slippery enough to make it difficult on the slick tires. So, I decided that this was where I had to do my best. Since this is our first win in a while, I am just very happy.”

Tatsuya Kataoka :

“I am relieved that we were finally able to win after some time with no wins. Although I started from 5th position on the grid, I was soon able to move up to 3rd place, and from there I was able to hold that position running at the same pace as the leader. But when the Safety Car came out, the command from the pit to make our pit stop came with absolutely perfect timing and I was able to get in just right. That was a big factor leading to this win. From here on we will have less of a weight handicap and we will be aiming to win both of the remaining races.”

2013 FUJI GT 300km Race : Race result : GT-500 Class

Po	No	Machine	Driver	Time	Laps	Best Lap	Tire	WH
1	38	ZENT CERUMO SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	1:53'20.347	66	1'34.633	BS	46
2	17	KEIHIN HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Koudai Tsukakoshi Toshihiro Kaneishi	2.862	66	1'35.368	BS	52
3	37	KeePer TOM'S SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Daisuke Ito Andrea Caldarelli	8.247	66	1'35.192	BS	58
4	6	ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Kazuya Oshima Yuji Kunimoto	21.705	66	1'35.591	BS	48
5	18	Weider Modulo HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Naoki Yamamoto Frederic Makowiecki	29.431	66	1'35.292	MI	80
6	12	CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R NISSAN GT-R / VRH34B	Tsugio Matsuda J.P.Lima De Oliveira	37.231	66	1'36.400	BS	82
7	1	REITO MOLA GT-R NISSAN GT-R / VRH34B	Satoshi Motoyama Yuhi Sekiguchi	44.094	66	1'35.465	MI	32
8	8	ARTA HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Ralph Firman Kosuke Matsuura	47.62	66	1'35.781	BS	56
9	23	MOTUL AUTECH GT-R NISSAN GT-R / VRH34B	Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli	49.414	66	1'35.900	MI	84
10	24	D'station ADVAN GT-R NISSAN GT-R / VRH34B	Hironobu Yasuda Michael Krumm	1'09.683	66	1'35.742	YH	12
11	39	DENSO KOBELCO SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Juichi Wakisaka Hiroaki Ishiura	1Lap	65	1'35.394	BS	74
12	36	PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Kazuki Nakajima James Rossiter	1Lap	65	1'35.436	BS	68

2013 FUJI GT 300km Race : Race result : GT-300 Class

Po	No	Machine	Driver	Time	Laps	Best Lap	Tire	WH
1	4	GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW BMW Z4 GT3 / P65B44	Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka	1:54'00.235	62	1'41.666	YH	44
2	31	Panasonic apr PRIUS GT TOYOTA PRIUS / RV8K	Morio Nitta Koki Saga	47.884	62	1'42.142	YH	40
3	86	CRYSTAL CROCO LAMBORGHINI GT3 GALLARDO GT3 / CEH	Kouji Yamanishi Shinya Hosokawa	53.269	62	1'42.383	YH	26
4	62	LEON SLS Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 / M159	Haruki Kurosawa Tsubasa Kurosawa	54.931	62	1'42.389	YH	56
5	3	S Road NDDP GT-R NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 / VR38DETT	Kazuki Hoshino Daiki Sasaki	1Lap	61	1'41.901	YH	12
6	10	GAINER Rn-SPORTS DIXCEL SLS Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 / M159	Tetsuya Tanaka Masayuki Ueda	1Lap	61	1'42.118	DL	12
7	11	GAINER DIXCEL SLS Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 / M159	Katsuyuki Hiranaka Bjorn Wirdheim	1Lap	61	1'41.792	DL	84
8	16	MUGEN CR-Z GT Honda CR-Z / J35A	Hideki Mutoh Yuhki Nakayama	1Lap	61	1'41.831	BS	114
9	61	SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT SUBARU BRZ GT300 / EJ20	Tetsuya Yamano Kota Sasaki	1Lap	61	1'41.958	MI	88
10	52	OKINAWA-IMP SLS Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 / M159	Hironori Takeuchi Takeshi Tsuchiya	1Lap	61	1'42.461	YH	84
11	5	MACH GoGoGo SYAKEN GT-R NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 / VR38DETT	Tetsuji Tamanaka Junichiro Yamashita	1Lap	61	1'41.778	YH
12	30	IWASAKI OGT Racing GT-R NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 / VR38DETT	Yuki Iwasaki Igor Sushko	1Lap	61	1'41.773	YH	12
13	21	ZENT Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi R8-LMS ultra / CJJ	Akihiro Tsuzuki Richard Lyons	1Lap	61	1'43.025	HK	6
14	2	EVA RT TEST-01APPLE MP4-12C McLaren MP4-12C GT3 / M838T	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	1Lap	61	1'42.252	YH
15	33	HANKOOK PORSCHE PORSCHE 911 GT3 R / M97/79	Masami Kageyama Tomonobu Fujii	1Lap	61	1'42.747	HK	10
16	55	ARTA CR-Z GT Honda CR-Z / J35A	Shinichi Takagi Takashi Kobayashi	1Lap	61	1'41.924	BS	80
17	22	GREENTEC SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 / M159	Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai	1Lap	61	1'43.326	YH
18	50	Exe Aston Martin Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 / V12	Masaki Kano Hideto Yasuoka	2Laps	60	1'42.194	YH	8
19	0	ENDLESS TAISAN PORSCHE PORSCHE / M97/79	Kyosuke Mineo Naoki Yokomizo	2Laps	60	1'42.947	YH	34
20	87	LA SEINE LAMBORGHINI GT3 GALLARDO GT3 / CEH	Hideki Yamauchi Hiroki Yoshimoto	2Laps	60	1'41.865	YH	42
21	9	NAC KOUKAKUKIDOUTAI ARISE DR PORSCHE PORSCHE 911 GT3 R / M97/79	Shogo Mitsuyama Yu Yokomaku	3Laps	59	1'43.073	YH
22	96	DIJON WAKO'S ENDLESS Z06R GT3 CALLAWAY CORVETTE Z06R GT3 / LS7	Masaki Tanaka Makoto Ikegami	4Laps	58	1'45.828	YH
23	360	RUN UP GROUP GT-R NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 / VR38DETT	Takuya Shirasaka Atsushi Tanaka	9Laps	53	1'43.370	YH

2013 SUPER GT : GT-500 Drivers' Ranking

Po	No.	Driver	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total	Behind	WH
1	18	Naoki Yamamoto Frederic Makowiecki	6	1	8		25	6	46	-	46
2	12	Tsugio Matsuda Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira	5	6	20		10	5	46	-	46
3	23	Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli	11		2	11	18	2	44	-2	44
4	38	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	8	15				20	43	-3	43
5	17	Koudai Tsukakoshi Toshihiro Kaneishi	15		6		5	15	41	-5	41
6	37	Daisuke Ito Andrea Caldarelli		5	1	15	8	11	40	-6	40
7	100	Takuya Izawa Takashi Kogure	20	4	11		2		37	-9	37
8	39	Juichi Wakisaka Hiroaki Ishiura	3	8	15	8	3		37	-9	37
9	36	Kazuki Nakajima James Rossiter		20		1	13		34	-12	34
10	6	Kazuya Oshima Yuji Kunimoto	4	11	4	5		8	32	-14	32
11	8	Ralph Firman Kosuke Matsuura	2	3	3	20		3	31	-15	31
12	1	Satoshi Motoyama Yuhi Sekiguchi	1	2	5	4	4	4	20	-26	20
13	19	Seiji Ara Andre Couto				2	6		8	-38	8
14	24	Hironobu Yasuda Michael Krumm				6		1	7	-39	7
15	32	Ryo Michigami Daisuke Nakajima				3			3	-43	3

2013 SUPER GT : GT-300 Drivers' Ranking

Po	No.	Driver	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total	Behind	WH
1	16	Hideki Mutoh Yuhki Nakayama	4	15	15	15	8	3	60	-	60
2	11	Katsuyuki Hiranaka Bjorn Wirdheim	20	5	11		6	4	46	-14	46
3	61	Tetsuya Yamano Kota Sasaki	6		8	5	25	2	46	-14	46
4	52	Hironori Takeuchi Takeshi Tsuchiya	8	8		8	18	1	43	-17	43
5	4	Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka	15	2	5			20	42	-18	42
6	55	Shinichi Takagi Takashi Kobayashi			20	20			40	-20	40
7	62	Haruki Kurosawa	5	3	3	4	13	8	36	-24	36
8	31	Morio Nitta Koki Saga		20				15	35	-25	35
9	62	Tsubasa Kurosawa			3	4	13	8	28	-32	36
10	61	Takuto Iguchi					25		25	-35	46
11	86	Kouji Yamanishi Shinya Hosokawa		11	2			11	24	-36	24
12	87	Hideki Yamauchi Hiroki Yoshimoto	11	4		6			21	-39	21
13	52	Naoya Gamou					18		18	-42	43
14	0	Kyosuke Mineo Naoki Yokomizo	1			11	5		17	-43	17
15	88	Manabu Orido Takayuki Aoki			6		10		16	-44	16
16	3	Kazuki Hoshino Daiki Sasaki			1	2	3	6	12	-48	12
17	10	Tetsuya Tanaka Masayuki Ueda		1	4	1		5	11	-49	11
18	62	Masanobu Kato	5	3					8	-52	36
19	30	Igor Sushko		6					6	-54	6
20	7	Yuji Ide		6					6	-54	12
21	33	Masami Kageyama Tomonobu Fujii	3				2		5	-55	5
22	50	Masaki Kano Hideto Yasuoka					4		4	-56	4
23	50	Ryohei Skaguchi					4		4	-56	4
24	21	Akihiro Tsuzuki Richard Lyons				3			3	-57	3
25	3	Lucas Ordonez					3		3	-57	12
26	48	Hiroshi Takamori Katsumasa Chiyo	2						2	-58	2

2013 SUPER GT : GT-500 Teams' Ranking

Po	No.	Team	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total	Behind	WH
1	18	Weider Modulo DOME RACING	9	3	11	1	28	9	61	-	46
2	12	TEAM IMPUL	8	9	23		13	8	61	-	46
3	23	NISMO	14		5	14	21	5	59	-2	44
4	38	LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO	11	18	3	1	1	23	57	-4	43
5	37	LEXUS TEAM KeePer TOM'S	1	8	4	18	11	14	56	-5	40
6	17	KEIHIN REAL RACING	18		9		8	18	53	-8	41
7	39	LEXUS TEAM SARD	6	11	18	10	5	2	52	-9	37
8	100	TEAM KUNIMITSU	23	7	14	1	4		49	-12	37
9	36	LEXUS TEAM PETRONAS TOM'S	2	23	3	2	16	2	48	-13	34
10	8	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	5	6	6	23	1	6	47	-14	31
11	6	LEXUS TEAM LeMans ENEOS	7	14	7	7		11	46	-15	32
12	1	MOLA	4	4	8	5	7	7	35	-26	20
13	24	KONDO RACING	2	2	3	8		4	19	-42	7
14	19	LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH	2	2	3	3	9		19	-42	8
15	32	NAKAJIMA RACING	3	1	3	4	1		12	-49	3

2013 SUPER GT : GT-300 Teams' Ranking

Po	No.	Team	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total	Behind	WH
1	16	TEAM MUGEN	7	18	18	18	11	6	78	-	60
2	61	R&D SPORT	9		11	8	28	5	61	-17	46
3	52	OKINAWA-IMP RACING with SHIFT	11	11	3	11	21	4	61	-17	43
4	11	GAINER	23	8	14	1	7	7	60	-18	46
5	62	LEON RACING	8	6	6	7	16	11	54	-24	36
6	4	GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO	18	3	8	1		23	53	-25	42
7	55	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	1	1	23	23		3	51	-27	40
8	31	apr		23		1	1	18	43	-35	35
9	86	JLOC	1	14	5	1		14	35	-43	24
10	87	JLOC	14	7		9		1	31	-47	21
11	0	Team TAISAN KEN ENDLESS	2		3	14	6	1	26	-52	17
12	88	JLOC		1	9	1	13		24	-54	16
13	10	GAINER	1	2	7	4	1	8	23	-55	11
14	3	NDDP RACING			4	5	4	9	22	-56	12
15	21	Hitotsuyama Racing	1		3	6	1	3	14	-64	3
16	33	HANKOOK KTR	4	1		1	3	3	12	-66	5
17	48	DIJON Racing	3	1	3	3	1		11	-67	2
18	7	Bonds Racing	1	9					10	-68	12
19	50	Arnage Racing	1		1	1	5	1	9	-69	4
20	2	Cars Tokai Dream28		1	3	1	1	3	9	-69
21	30	apr	1	1	1	1	1	3	8	-70	6
22	5	TEAM MACH	1	1	1		1	3	7	-71
23	22	R'Qs MotorSports		1		1	1	3	6	-72
24	9	PACIFIC DIRECTION RACING	1	1	1	1	1	1	6	-72
25	360	TOMEI SPORTS	1		1	1		1	4	-74
26	96	DIJON Racing				1		1	2	-76