NISSAN GT-R Comes 4th

April 4th, Okayama International Circuit (Mimasaka city, Okayama prefecture)
Round 2 of SUPER GT kicked off at Okayama International Circuit on Sunday, April 4th. After qualifying in third place, the CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (#12 Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) maintained its position throughout the first half of the race, coming back after the driver switch in fourth before battling hard for third in the latter stages and finishing fourth.

Under blue skies and with an ambient temperature of 16 degrees, the race got underway in perfectly spring-like conditions. Concerns about an accident at the start were unfounded and the GT500 pack got away cleanly. However, after the tenth lap there were incidents of contact and spins around the track. While those behind changed, the #12 GT-R maintained its position. Start driver Quintarelli kept out of any of the trouble unfolding around him, staying in touch with the car ahead and running down the laps consistently.

On the 42nd lap he came in, handing the car over to teammate Matsuda. The GT-R returned to the track in eighth place, and after all stops had been made, rose back up to fourth. Matsuda initially gave chase to the #38 SC430, keeping a gap of about one second and the chance of trading places with his rival. Being a generally narrow track with a multitude of accelerating and decelerating points, Okayama International Circuit offers few opportunities for passing and while Matsuda waited patiently to make his move, the #38 SC430 made its escape. In the race's final stages, he came upon the #1 SC430, then running third behind the similar #38 machine, but never had the chance to make a pass and so came home a strong fourth and the best of the NISSAN GT-Rs.

The MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (#23 Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) qualified seventh. Motoyama moved up one position right away, stealing 6th place on the race's first lap. He fell back to 7th on lap 7, running in the middle of a big group, and on lap 13 had dropped to 9th. Then on lap 15 he was hit up the rear by the #32 HSV-010 and forced off track. Unable to rejoin the race, he retired on the spot. The #32 was subsequently given a penalty for the incident.

Winners of the season-opening last race, the HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (#24 Joao Paolo de Oliveira/Hironobu Yasuda) were running with 40kgs of handicap weight. Qualifying 12th, Oliveira took the start. After battling with other cars he was 9th at one point, returning to 11th later on. Taking the wheel for the second half of the event, Yasuda acquitted himself well making no mistakes as he ran in 11th. It looked as if the team were on for an 11th-place finish, only for the car to slow on the final lap and end up 12th.

- #12 GT-R driver Tsugio Matsuda's comment:
"I really wanted to move up one spot and finish the race in third, but unfortunately there was no chance.
I gave it my best effort and I believe I put in a good performance. So we can think of this as our starting point and hope to score higher next time. This race was one fraught with frustration."

- #12 GT-R driver Ronnie Quintarelli's comment:
"Thank you for your support today. I believe we had a car capable of a better result and so it's disappointing to miss out on the podium. No doubt we'll be stronger at the next race at Fuji. Please continue rooting for us."

Related URL: NISSAN MOTORSPORTS

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