2021 SUPER GT Round 8 Report

【SUPER GT Round 8 / Fuji】

Realize NATC GT-R Turns 17th Grid Into Fifth Place,
Kondo Racing Secures GT300 Championship Runner-up.

SUPER GT Round 8

Date 2021/11/27-28
Venue Fuji Speedway
Weather Fine
Surface Dry
Race Lap 66Laps
(1Lap = 4,563m)
2021 SUPER GT Round 8

The 2021 Super GT Championship’s eight-round series reached its final stop, the concluding round at Fuji Speedway. The teams were allowed to dismount the Success Weight from their cars in this season finale, and the two Yokohama-shoed GT300 cars had a chance to win the class championship title when the event with no weight handicap began.

While autumn wore on and winter was coming, it wasn’t too cold yet to be outside at the race track located at the base of Mt. Fuji, as was the case in the previous round at Motegi. However, the track temperature was considerably lower this time, especially on the qualifying day.

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When the official qualifying session got underway on Saturday, November 27th, the air/track temperatures were at 10/13 degrees centigrade. Under such an extreme condition, in the GT300 class, five Yokohama Tire users from Group A and six more from Group B were fast enough to go on to Q2. Most notably, Yuya Motojima in JLOC Lamborghini GT3 was the fastest in Group B. Atsushi Miyake driving Takanoko-no-yu GR Supra GT, which was one of the title contenders, came in fourth in the same group.

On the other hand, Kiyoto Fujinami, behind the wheel of Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College (NATC) GT-R, ended Q1 in ninth, thus failing to give his partner, Joao Paulo de Oliveira, an opportunity to get a better starting position.

By the hands of Takashi Kogure, JLOC Lamborghini GT3 set the fourth-fastest time in Q2 and became the highest-ranked Yokohama-shoed car. Tatsuya Kataoka in GoodSmile Hatsune Miku AMG, Takamitsu Matsui in Hoppy Porsche, and Yuui Tsutsumi sharing the Supra with Miyake also performed well and secured the seventh, eighth, and tenth grid, respectively. So, these Yokohama users’ strong showing in the race was quite possible.

In the GT500 class, Yuji Kunimoto and Daiki Sasaki, in the driving seats of WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra and Realize Corporation ADVAN GT-R, tried to survive the fight for Q2. They were on the bubble until the last minute but were eventually bumped out from the top eight slots for Q2, finishing Q1 in 11th and 13th.

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The weather was fine again on Sunday, November 28th. And the air/surface temperatures were back in the expected window, as they were 12/23 degrees when the race was about to start. So many thought Yokohama-shoed cars should have tapped their potential in the race. As if trying to answer the expectations, Kunimoto in WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra moved up to ninth immediately after the start and kept up with the leading cars’ pace.

However, lights are usually followed by shadows. On Lap 4, Kumimoto was entangled in an accident at Final Corner. Although he could continue, the car’s handling balance was destroyed by the damage from the collision.

As a result of the incident, Realize Corporation ADVAN GT-R with Sasaki behind the wheel was now running in 11th. Whereas most other teams opted for the shortest possible first stint, the team went for a longer one. Consequently, Sasaki once became the interim race leader before his pit stop, but he couldn’t build any significant margin during the stint, partly because the track temperature dropped to 14 degrees by then. Thus, when Mitsunori Takaboshi rejoined the race after the driver change on Lap 32, he found himself running in 11th again, and it became their finishing position.

Kunimoto handed the car to Ritomo Miyata on Lap 23. But the latter was forced to make two more stops for technical reasons, and the team lost hope for a good result. So, WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra ended the race in 13th, three laps down from the winner.

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As for the GT300 class, Motojima in JLOC Lamborghini GT3 led the Yokohama Tire users in the race’s early part. They looked to keep the position even after the driver changed to Kogure. But GoodSmile Hatsune Miku AMG, now with Nobuteru Taniguchi in the driving seat, managed to get ahead of Kogure’s Lamborghini, making the most of their quicker pit stop on Lap 25.

The championship-leading Subaru BRZ was running behind Taniguchi’s AMG, and Oliveira at the wheel of Realize NATC GT-R followed it with another car between them. Hence, the GT300 class title was still within reach of the Realize-backed team.

Meanwhile, both Pacific NAC Carguy Ferrari and Hoppy Porsche, with Naoki Yokomizo and Matsui behind the wheel of each car, extended the first stint almost to the limit and made their stop on Lap 43 and 44. While Takeshi Kimura, taking over the Ferrari from Yokomizo, fell back to the mid-field later, Kimiya Sato in the Porsche managed to keep the position that Matsui earned during his extended stint.

Kogure overtook Taniguchi on Lap 44 and even came up to third, as the race leader’s car had a mechanical problem. Then, however, Kogure also faced his car’s malfunction and gave way to Taniguchi. The GoodSmiled AMG driver was now third, and Oliveira followed in fifth, holding the BRZ between them, so the things still looked hopeful for the Yokohama Tire camp.

However, with only two laps to go, the BRZ passed by Tanuguchi’s AMG because there was a miscommunication between a GT500 car’s driver and Taniguchi when he was lapped by the former. As a result, he missed the podium finish and ended the race in fourth.

Realize NATC GT-R couldn’t better the position from fifth during the remaining laps and had to settle for the runner-up in the championship. By finishing in sixth, Hoppy Porsche got the fourth point finish of the season at the track where the car had been generally weak. This round was the team’s final race with a Porsche, as they are preparing a new car for the following year. Takanoko-no-yu GR Supra GT came in seventh and concluded the championship in fifth.

DRIVER VOICE

Nobuteru Taniguchi [GoodSmile Hatsune Miku AMG]

—Result : 4th. in the GT300 class—
“Had I held them two more laps, we would have finished in third. It’s so frustrating that I lost the third place that was so close to us. I drove in the second half of the race and felt that the tires weren’t working at their best. But it was just my feeling. In fact, my pace seemed to be comparative with the leaders, so I must admit the tires did a great job in that point of view. I mean the feeling wasn’t ideal, but the pace was good. Otherwise, we might not have finished in fourth. I think we were the highest placed Yokohama Tire user, but we have to work even harder to aim for better results.”

ENGINEER VOICE

Takayuki Shiraishi [THE YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO., LTD.]

“In the GT300 class, Realize NATC GT-R tried hard in the qualifying session, but they were left out of the top eight for Q2 in the group, which was just unfortunate. We regret that we couldn’t give them the tires that provide better grip even under the conditions like that Q1.

“They played catch-up in the second half of the race, which was exactly what we expected beforehand. Nevertheless, I feel that we still have something to work on the speed of GT-Rs in the qualifying. At the same time, we have to react to the other tire manufacturers’ improvements which sometimes exceeded our anticipation. So, we must do everything correctly to get the upper hand in the GT300 class on the whole next year.

“Regarding the GT500 class, it was a tough race for us. Particularly, WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra was involved in an accident, and the car’s balance wasn’t quite right after that. Therefore, we don’t know how the tires themselves performed at the moment, but we will review it with today’s data and check how the tires would have worked, had the car been in its proper form.

“As for Realize Corporation ADVAN GT-R, we met our performance target to a certain extent. Still, compared to other tire manufacturers, the car’s race pace wasn’t good enough. The issue will be one of our tasks in the coming off-season. And we had some valuable findings from the very long first stint they did.

“As for the GT500 class, the results were better than those of last year on the whole. From the viewpoint of target achievement, on both of the construction side and the compound side, we have set a certain number of specific short-term targets and met each of them. We are working hard at the tasks before us, aiming for at least one race win next year.”