Nissan duo rise from shunt to Suzuka success
SUPER GT SUZUKA (JPN) 25 OCTOBER ROUND 6/8
Nissan GT-R drivers Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda scored an unlikely second victory of the Super GT season at Suzuka despite having to come through from last-in-class on the grid.
A crash for Matsuda at Dunlop corner in qualifying left the works NISMO machine starting at the back of the 15-car GT500 field, but a mid-race caution period fell at the perfect time for the GT-R to vault from outside the top 10 to the head of the field.
Quintarelli stopped on lap 22 of 52 – just before the safety car was scrambled – and, with the rest of the field slowed, Matsuda rejoined in the lead. After the restart, the veteran held off Impul Nissan racer Kazuki Hiramine to claim the flagship NISMO team’s second Suzuka victory in a row.
Team Aguri Honda pair Tomoki Nojiri and Nirei Fukuzumi once again finished third having started on pole, with Nojiri leading the opening stint only to fall behind the second-placed car of Daiki Sasaki and Hiramine during the pitstop phase.
The top Toyota GR Supra, the Cerumo car of Hiroaki Ishiura and Yuji Tachikawa, ranked fifth behind the NDDP Racing with B-max Nissan of Katsumasa Chiyo and Kohei Hirate.
Kazuya Oshima and Sho Tsuboi in the second Cerumo Supra failed to score in 12th place but maintain a one-point lead in the championship ahead of TOM’S Toyota duo Nick Cassidy and Ryo Hirakawa, who were eliminated after Cassidy hit the back of Tadasuke Makino’s Kunimitsu Honda on the entrance to the pitlane.