Impul Nissan pair launch win from fortune
Team Impul Nissan pair Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine scored an unlikely last-to-first victory in an action-packed 450km race at Suzuka. A well-timed safety car period helped the Calsonic-liveried Nissan Z recover from 15th on the grid, but Hiramine, who took over from Baguette at the first round of pitstops, still had to work hard in the closing laps to seal the deal.
The caution period came just as the Impul car was in the pitlane for its second stop, promoting Hiramine to fourth behind the Real Racing Honda of Koudai Tsukakoshi, the SARD Toyota of Yuichi Nakayama (also in the pits at the time) and the NISMO Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda. Hiramine then dispensed with both Nakayama and Matsuda. He dropped back behind Matsuda following an error at 130R, and survived a hairy moment in which Matsuda forced him off the road exiting Degner and almost into the barrier.
A drivethrough penalty for Matsuda cleared the way for Hiramine to attack Tsukakoshi in the closing laps, with the winning move coming at the hairpin on lap 75 of 77. Tsukakoshi held on for second in the car he shares with Nobuharu Matsushita ahead of the SARD machine of Nakayama and Yuhi Sekiguchi, giving all three GT500 manufacturers a car on the podium for the fourth time in five races.
Hiramine’s second win for Impul and Baguette’s first as a Nissan driver means they lead the drivers’ standings by 10.5 points with three races to go.
Tsukakoshi and Matsushita move up to second overall, level on points with TOM’S Toyota pair Sacha Fenestraz and Ritomo Miyata, who finished eighth, and NDDP Nissan duo Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi, who came home fourth.
Mugen Honda pair Toshiki Oyu and Ukyo Sasahara looked good for a win until the safety car, but making their second stop after the caution left them sixth behind the NISMO Nissan, which started on pole and led early on in Ronnie Quintarelli’s hands.