Japanese GT 2010 - Suzuka, Japan, race report

23 Mar 10

It was a successful first round of the Super GT for YOKOHAMA at Suzuka, Japan, on 21 March. From 10th on the grid, the HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R team in the GT500 class claimed the first race victory of the season.

As the race started, the heavens opened and it began to rain, making the track slippery, and resulting in a number of cars spinning on the first lap. During this, Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira in the HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R moved steadily through the field, taking the lead on lap 25. In order to save time and their lead, the team decided not to change their YOKOHAMA ADVANs and continued to race, creating a bigger gap from their pursuing competitors.

Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira’s team-mate, Hironobu Yasuda, then took over, maintaining their position to claim the win; the team’s fourth since entering the Super GT.

After the race Hironobu Yasuda said, "We finished 10th in every [practice] session yesterday, so I still can't believe that we won. But, at the same time I am very happy we did. What makes me happiest of all is the fact that we were able to pay back the team crew for staying up all night to repair the car [after a crash during qualifying]. The idea to go with a no-tyre-change race strategy was Manager Kondo's suggestion after the morning practice. And it was finally decided to go with that plan just before we made our pit stop.”

Meanwhile, in the GT300 class, YOKOHAMA locked out the top five finishing positions, with Nobuteru Taniguchi and Ryo Orime in their M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7 taking the win. The UP START MOLA Z finished second, while the WedsSport IS350 completed the podium.

When asked about the win, Ryo Orime said, "Suzuka is a special circuit for me. This is where I went to racing school and this is the course I have competed on most often in SUPER GT. To be able to get a pole-to-checkered victory here has been a real confidence-builder for me.