r/super_gt • u/Michal_Baranowski . • Nov 03 '24
(Spoiler) On The Brink Of Championship After Motegi Victory Spoiler
https://www.dailysportscar.com/2024/11/03/tgr-team-au-toms-on-the-brink-of-championship-after-motegi-victory.html9
u/Michal_Baranowski . Nov 03 '24
Unusual penultimate round of the season at Motegi wasn't as interrputed with SC as Autopolis round, but there were some FCY and plenty of on-track action. Very interesting race to follow.
GT500 - hard to find words for Team TOM's #36 Toyota. Heaviest car on the grid, fuel restrictions and yet they absolutely dominated the race to score a second win this year. Definitely the best team on the grid in Super GT right now. 18 points of advantage before season finale at Suzuka. With 23 points to score, it sounds like a formality, but in Super GT nothing is guaranteed. Still, #36 is absolutely the main favourite to defend their championship, especially with no success ballast in place at Suzuka. Other TOM's car is out of the championship fight though. #37 suffered an early technical failure and wasn't classified today. Despite this disappointment, what a turnaround for #37 comparing to last season. Last year they struggled for points, now they were in championship pursuits and winning two races in 2024. 4 out of 7 races so far won by Team TOM's - they are a menace.
Good race for ARTA Hondas. #8 won a hard battle against Cerumo Supra for second place. #16 came just behind #38 in fourth, fighting for the last ten laps. Something to celebrate for Honda at their own home track.
Third podium this year for Team Cerumo #38 Supra. Another great showing from them, but Toshiki Oyu really had to sweat when defending against #16 ARTA Honda. He couldn't keep #8 behind, but was successful with #16 and helped #38 finishing in third place. Just like TOM's #37, Team Cerumo has improved significantly this year comparing to last season. Thanks to this podium, #38 stays mathematically in the championship.
Fifth place for Autopolis winners - Team SARD #39 Supra. Decent showing, keeping Kunitmitsu Honda and Nissans behind. Kunimitsu Honda #100 improved after their pit stop and thanks to Team Rookie Supra retiring, #100 finished in sixth place, thus they keep the championship alive. It will be difficult though.
Not a good day at Motegi for Nissans. Nismo factory cars completely couldn't mount any challenge for a podium position. #3 was involved in a three-way tangle with Real Racing Honda and apr Lexus, forcing Honda to retire and causing apr to lose a lot of time. Seventh place for #3 means that Nissan won't win the championship this year. #23 was in ninth, losing even to Kondo Racing car of all teams. Impul? Even worse, 11th place and no points.
Nakajima Racing Honda started from a suprising pole position and tried to hold on. Absolutely couldn't keep TOM's #36 and ARTA #8 behind early on, but coming to the pits they were doing decently. Sadly, after their pit stop #64 Honda fell down the order and eventually finished in 10th.
GT300 - second in a row, third overall this season - victory for JLOC Lamborghini #88 after a commanding run and coming from 17th on the grid. What a drive. They keep the championship fight in GT300, 9 points behind Leon Racing Mercedes - which finished second today. Third position for Team UpGarage Honda #18, which has had a horrible season up to this point so far. Gutted for apr Lexus which was involved in a fight for a good position, but became a victim of Nismo #3 and Honda #17 clashing together.
Another break failure at Subaru. The same thing caused a major accident at Autopolis. Luckily there was more run-off space at Motegi today, but what a dreadful season for Subaru. Car is just not working well this year at all.
One more race to go - postponed Suzuka round in December 8th. It will be a 300km race instead of initially planned 350km. No success ballast, back to full speed with championships to win.
2
u/SportscarPoster Nov 04 '24
Suzuka with no ballast and no fuel restrictions. We could see some outrageous lap times from the GT500s.
11
u/chjvdb Nov 03 '24
Incredible race by the 36 TOM'S team. Being the heaviest car and still winning in such commending fashion is amazing. The very strong win by the 88 JLOC team coming from 17th place is also great to see. The championships are not yet decided but the 36 Supra running without ballast will be a force to be reckoned with. The fight between the Leon AMG and 88 JLOC for the championship will be fun to see on a cold Suzuka circuit.