Hollow Honda win amid chaos
SUPER GT FUJI (JPN)
4 MAY ROUND 2/8
ARTA Honda pairing Tomoki Nojiri and Nirei Fukuzumi won a bizarre Fuji 450Km overshadowed by a huge crash for Nissan driver Mitsunori Takaboshi.
Takaboshi was battling the SARD Toyota of Yuhi Sekiguchi for the lead on lap 59 of 100 when he swerved to avoid a slow-moving GT300 car along the start/finish straight, losing control of his Nissan Z and slamming into the barriers at high speed. Luckily, he was able to exit the wreckage unaided and was cleared of any serious injury.
The incident caused the second of two red flags and, after a 90-minute delay for makeshift barrier repairs, the race resumed but finished behind the safety car. The SARD Toyota of Sekiguchi and Yuichi Nakayama took the chequered flag first, but lost the win to a penalty, awarded because Sekiguchi had touched the front-left corner of his car during the stoppage.
Incredibly, the second-placed car on the road, the TOM’S Toyota of Sacha Fenestraz and Ritomo Miyata, was also penalised due to Miyata making contact with the sister car of Giuliano Alesi while battling for the lead at Turn 1. That gifted Nojiri and Fukuzumi victory ahead of TOM’S pair Alesi and Sho Tsuboi, with Impul Nissan duo Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine third.