The final race of the 2022 SUPER GT opening round “OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE” was held at the Okayama International Circuit on Sunday, April 17, and the GT500 class was No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima / Kenta Yamashita). However, in the GT300 class, the No. 56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami / Joao Paulo de Oliveira) both decided to win in a row once morest Okayama.
The temperature just before the start of the final was 23 ℃ and the road surface temperature was 32 ℃, both of which were considerably higher than the previous day’s qualifying. For this reason, it is quite possible that the team that is content with the lower ranks will strike back once morest the upper teams who use the tires that were faster in qualifying. Under such circumstances, the race started at 2:00 pm. The pole position No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima) was boldly overtaken from the start by No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra in 2nd place in qualifying. However, car No. 14, which kept that position, gradually widened the gap with the following from there.
On the other hand, 2nd and below will be in close quarters. The No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT and No. 38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra follow behind the 39th car. Behind that, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z of the Nissan Z GT500, which was the debut race this time, also came up. In the fierce battle for 2nd and 3rd place, the 2nd and 3rd place were cars 38 and 39 before the scheduled pit work. At this point, it seemed that the TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 was in the upper ranks once more. However, cars 100 and 12 are still close to each other.
In response to the fierce battle behind, Top 14 car widened the margin to 17 seconds and made a pit stop on lap 31. Except for the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT, which took the strategy of pulling only one pit work to the second half because it was not possible to run in the qualifying due to machine trouble, each car made a pit stop around 30 laps. After that, car No. 14 (Kenta Yamashita) was actually the top. Car No. 12, which succeeded in undercutting (going forward using the pit stop), emerged in 2nd place. However, cars 38, 100, and 39 continued closely, and the No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z and No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z were approaching from behind with a fierce catch-up.
Even in the second half, Car 14 will continue to run stably, maintaining a margin of regarding 10 seconds. On the other hand, following 65 laps, the pace of car No. 12 in 2nd place slowed down, and on lap 72, cars 38 and 100, which were approaching behind, had a three-wide battle in Okayama, where the course width was narrow. Car No. 100 came out before here. And car No. 12, which was overtaken by car No. 38, gradually retreated.
Car 12 went down, but the Nissan Z GT500’s debut race wasn’t over. It was car 23 that emerged in its place. He overtook car No. 38 in 3rd place and returned from the start of 9th place in qualifying to 3rd place.
Car No. 14 at the top was a solid run, and with 10 laps remaining, it was the same as a 12-second lead in 2nd place. An unexpected situation awaited when everyone began to think that it was a winning streak in Okayama. There was a second FCY due to a trouble with the GT300 car, and when it was canceled with four laps remaining in the race, the second car No. 100 was approaching car No. 14 by just under 2 seconds. With the restart following the FCY was released, the car spun in front of car 14. I mightn’t avoid this, and I made a light contact and suffered a time loss. It was the 100th car with a whip, but the damage of the 14th car seems to have been light, and the difference can hardly be closed.
In the end, Yamashita kept the difference calmly, and No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima / Kenta Yamashita) won the opening round in Okayama as in last year. Second place is No.100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino). 3rd place was No.23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli), who made the debut of the Nissan Z GT500 on the podium. Before the race, it was Okayama that GR Supra seemed to be overwhelming once more, but the three models shared the podium, which made us feel that the race would be even more fierce this season.
GT500 Class
No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra
Kazuya Oshima
“I won the opening race last year, and I’ve been fighting as a team for a year, and during that time I’ve grown considerably, and I came (to Okayama) thinking that I might get better results than last year, but it’s really good. I was really surprised because I didn’t expect to go. The car was in good condition, and the tires ran to the end without losing grip, and I think it’s really thanks to everyone. As for the stint (running), to be honest, the road surface temperature is a little higher than expected. I think it’s okay because (the race) is over, but when it gets a little hotter than the surroundings, I chose hard tires. It was a start of the final with anxiety regarding what would happen. After 20 minutes of free practice (before the start), I consulted with an engineer and changed the set a little. That is very good. They worked in the direction, and I managed to finish the car with a very good balance in my stint, so I made a margin as much as 1 second with a comma without being distracted by one corner (Yamashita) Kenta (car) ) I thought I’d give it. I kept pushing until I got into the pit (changed). I think I had a very good race. (Round 2 Fuji) Influence of success weight I think the qualifying will be a tough battle, but since it is a new race format with a long distance (450km), I think we will have more chances. This time, we have some points to reflect on, so we will improve it. I want to prepare for two consecutive wins. “
Kenta Yamashita
“First of all, I am grateful to the team for making a really good car. In the first half stint, Oshima (Kazuya) was very fast. (At the qualifying press conference)” (Oshima will be once morest the following car in the final) I’d be very happy if you let me go 10 seconds away. ”But he took me 17 seconds away (laughs). I felt like I had no choice but to win. I’m 17 seconds behind. I wanted to expand it further and win, but the pace didn’t go up a little more than I expected … And the match with the GT300 car was bad, and it was right in front of me that BMW (Car 7) flew away. However, in the second FCY, the car in front (at the restart) half-spun and hit it … There were various dangerous scenes and the pace was not good. At the end, it was close to car 100. I was really happy that I won the championship, but I managed to win the opening race and it was a good opening race for the (target) champion, so I would like to do my best once more. I think there are several ways to take a strategy (for Round 2 Fuji, which will be a 450km race). Think carefully regarding what is best and analyze it (I want to come). Fuji’s race itself was 40kg last year (I want to come) I’m in 2nd place with the success weight of), so my goal is still “winning”. I want to be able to win 2 consecutive wins. “
GT300 Class
No.56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R
Kiyoto Fujinami
“I was very confused regarding tire selection because it was hot on Sunday this time, but when the race started, the tires were perfectly fine and the car was better than I expected. As usual, go ahead of the qualifying. I didn’t have it, but the long tires were really good from the time of the test, and as a result, I was able to go up from the 5th place start to the top and touch JP (De Oliveira) with a baton. I just got it (catch up in the second half), so I’m glad I was able to help it a little today. The next 450km of Fuji is the first race, so I don’t know what will happen or what will really happen, so success The weight is heavy, but I want to do my best so that I can run steadily without mistakes, get points, and avoid spills throughout the season. “
Joao Paulo de Oliveira
“First of all, Kiyoto Fujinami got off to a great start. I was able to control the car and I think it was a very smart and champion-like run. And thanks to the information from Fujinami, we are heading towards the second half. I was able to choose very good tires and my stint went very smoothly. Also, yesterday I made a lot of changes to the car settings and it turned out to be a very good car. Today was a really perfect race. At the next Fuji, I think that the same driver will be able to run two stints in a row, but I think that will create various possibilities and strategies. It is also possible to run two stints without changing the tires. Various elements can be seen in both classes including GT500 as well as GT300, so I can expect various things and I am looking forward to it. ”
Category: Category: F1 / SUPER GT
