GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R takes 2nd step of the podium

July 26-27 Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka) - After a hiatus of one month since the 2nd round at Sportsland SUGO, round 3, the "Super Taikyu 7 Hour Race" was held at Fuji Speedway and the #81 "GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R" (Kazuki Hoshino / Naofumi Omoto / Takayuki Aoki) started from pole position in the STX class and took 2nd place on the podium.

Beginning from a 2nd place qualification the #24 "ThreeBond Nissan Technical College GT-R" (Tomonobu Fujii / GAMISAN / Mitsunori Takaboshi / Daiki Sasaki) experienced machine trouble at about the 2 hour mark. The whole crew, including students from the Nissan Automobile Technical College performed repairs and returned the car to the course but it again started to show slowing pace. After pitting a second time for repairs it ultimately passed the checkered flag at 4th in class.

After the race, Fujii went on to say, "Although we were able to win the opening round at Motegi, we ended the 2nd round in SUGO with no points. This time, despite qualifying 2nd, we had a difficult race due to technical difficulties. I'm glad we were able to somehow come home in 4th under those circumstances."

In addition, in the ST-3 class the #35 "asset ings Z34" (Shuji Maejima / Masahiro Sasaki / Kazuki Hirokawa / Hironobu Yasuda) displayed overwhelming speed in qualifying to grab pole position. In the final race it also drove at a pace that tore away from the competition and saw it take ST-3 class victory. In 2nd place was the same team's #34 "asset ings Z34" (Satoshi Matsubara / Kiyoto Fujinami/ Takao Onishi) and coming in at 3rd was the #5 "Okabe JIDOSHA MAKERS Z34" (Kazuomi Komatsu / Kenichi Sugibayashi / Tsuyoshi Shirai / Daisuke Imamura) making this a Z34 dominated podium. Hironobu Yasuda, who drove the #35 "asset ings Z34" commented, "To begin with I drove to ensure I kept the car in one piece. It was a difficult race because we received a penalty, so I'm happy we could come home with a victory."

Kazuki Hoshino (#81 GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R, Race 2nd)
"Although the condition of the car and tires were great, after we made contact with another vehicle we began to have trouble with the paddle shift. It’s disappointing because we had a chance of winning. However the fact that we could take 2nd place on the podium despite that situation is great.”

Naofumi Omoto (#81 GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R / Race 2nd)
"The status of the car and the strategy was good. We were just unlucky. The way the race panned out wasn’t bad either. We’ll do our best in the next round.”

Takayuki Aoki (#81 GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R / Race 2nd)
"Until the middle we were having a great battle with the #3 but unfortunately we had some contact which resulted in some troubles and us not being able to take victory. However, if you think about the series rankings I think it was good that we could come away with 2nd”

• [Race Results] - Round 3 ST-X class
• [Race Results] - Round 3 ST-3 class

<Related Link>
NISSAN MOTORSPORTS Web Site

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