The Okayama event, on 31 March and 1 April, raised the curtain on the Japanese Super GT Championship. The Nissan GT-R of team Nismo Motul Autech faced a daunting line-up of 40 cars but its two drivers, Satoshi Motoyama and Michael Krumm, defended themselves well. After qualifying in 4th position on the starting grid, Motoyama took the first stint but, because of an outside temperature abnormally chilly for the season, had difficulty in getting his tyres up to temperature. Gaining confidence as the race advanced, he managed to pass the leading cars and took the lead on the 33rd lap. Four laps later, he passed the wheel to Michael Krumm, who also suffered tyre problems. He managed to keep 3rd place for several laps but had to give in, towards the end of the race, to his closest contender and finally finished 4th, 17 seconds from the winners after two hours racing.
For Yutaka Suzuki, manager of Nismo, 'Despite the temperature problems, I think our drivers have done fantastic work. They both experienced big difficulties in bringing their tyres up to temperature, so having fought among the leading cars and even being strong mentally proves the competitiveness of the GT-R this year. It's a very promising result.'
Standings
01// Tachikawa/Hirate - Lexus SC430
02// Izawa/Yamamoto – Honda HSV-10
03// Kaneishi/Tsukakoshi - Honda HSV-010
04// Motoyama/Krumm - Nissan GT-R - Motul
Images : © Nismo
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