Autopolis – Nojiri and Fukuzumi offer victory to ARTA and Honda

Fourth on the grid, the No. 8 ARTA Honda NSX-GT driven by Nirei Fukuzumi watches from afar the fight between Kenta Yamashita (Toyota GT Supra Eneos N°16) and Toshiki Oyu (Honda NSX-GT Mugen N°16), from which the first city comes out in the lead at the end of the first lap. But now, the No. 16 is practically out of the race for victory since it must carry out a 5-second Stop & Go for having changed the engine.

Once the penalty was carried out, Toski Oyu took the opportunity to regain his right and lead the first part of the race until the tragedy of the 18th lap. While in charge at Autopolis, the Japanese saw his left rear give way and was therefore forced to retire, leaving Takuya Izawa (Honda NSX-GT Modulo No. 64) in the lead.

Meanwhile, the race was neutralized once again due to an incident between two GT300 cars opening the salvo of pit stops at the end of the 24th lap. While he decided to wait until the 29th loop to refuel, Takuya Izawa saw the second ARTA driver, Tomoki Nojiri, who had passed through his garage three loops previously, slip past him and steal the leadership position.

Excellent in the second part of the race, the driver of the No. 8 Honda NSX-GT then opened a huge gap to cross the line, arriving on the 65th lap with more than 28 seconds ahead of the Tachikawa-Ishiura duo ( Toyota GR Supra Zent No. 38) which deprives Honda of a double at Autopolis. The Japanese manufacturer can, however, keep smiling since this is its first victory there since 2007. Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli (Nissan GT-R Motul Autech No. 23) complete the podium.

Recently crowned Super Formula champion, Tomoki Nojiri signs his sixth success in Super GT while Nirei Fukuzumi wins his second in the category.