March 16th, Suzuka Circuit, Mie Prefecture, Japan – The XANAVI NISMO GT-R (#23), starting from the second on the grid and driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer, won the first race of the 2008 Super GT series in Japan in front of more than 32,000 spectators. Michael Krumm and Masataka Yanagida brought the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (#22) home in the 2nd place for a historic debut race weekend for Nissan.
At 2pm local time, 42 GT race cars started the formation lap led by a Nissan GT-R Safety Car under perfect race conditions. The two NISMO GT-Rs, starting from the front row, made a clean start. Unfortunately, the CALSONIC GT-R (#12) in third place on the grid was hit from behind on the first lap and was taken out of the race for repairs.
Krumm in the #22 car, started from the pole position and crossed the control line at the end of lap one followed by Treluyer behind the wheel of the #23 GT-R. The Nissan pair continued to dominate the rest of the race ahead of the Lexus SC 430 in the third place, creating a gap of more than four seconds by lap forty.
Both leading Nissan’s pitted for tires and a driver change in the middle of the 52 lap race and subsequently changed the race order. Yanagida who took over #22 car from Krumm choose harder tires than Motoyama in the #23 car. XANAVI NISMO GT-R (#23) with more tire grip on softer rubber passed the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (#22) in the hair-pin corner on lap 24 and went on to win the race.
The WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R (#24) driven by Brazilian Joao-Paulo de Oliveira and Seiji Ara completed a steady race performance to finish in 5th position. The YelloHat YMS TOMICA GT-R (#3) driven by Ronnie Quintarelli from Italy and Naoki Yokomizo was in 6th position towards the end of the race but pulled out of the race on lap 42 due to mechanical problems.
Comments:
Motoyama: “Before the race we felt a bit of pressure to make a debut win for the GT-R but believed that we could win because the car was fantastic and the team had done a great job. Combination with Benoit was also very good and we proved to be the strongest pair. I’m really happy that we won the race in the GT-R’s very first race.”
Treluyer: “Our team and the car have been perfect all through the weekend. It was a shame that we did not take a pole position due to my mistake. We know competition will be tougher but believe we can win again since the GT-R is very fast.”
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No real comment as its a tube frame race car with a GT-R looking body, powered by a V8.
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