Motegi – Impul comes close to victory, ARTA takes advantage

As long as the checkerboard is not agitated, everything is still possible and Tomoki Nojiri and Nirei Fukuzumi (Honda NSX-GT No. 8) can attest to this. While victory seemed promised to the N°12 Nissan GT-R of the Impul team, the two men from ARTA were able to taste the champagne of victory at Motegi, thus securing a second success in a row after the one won a fortnight ago at Autopolis.

However, everything seemed to be smiling on Kazuki Hiramine and Nobuharu Matsushita. Starting 4th, the last city had an excellent first stint, moving up from 4th to 1st position, leaving his teammate behind the wheel of the GT-R in the lead at the end of the 23rd of the 63 laps of the race.

Easily installed in first place, Kazuki Hiramine managed this second stint perfectly and began to see a new success in 2021 after that signed in Sugo in September. But it was not without counting on bad luck, or the bad calculations of his team before the start.

Suddenly in slow motion, Kazuki Hiramine saw Tomoki Nojiri slip past him at turn 2 of the last lap of the race! Mechanical breakdown? No, but the fuel tank is almost empty. In dire straits, the Japanese managed as best he could to rally but in 3rd place on the podium because in the meantime, Ritomo Miyata (Toyota GR Supra N°19 of Racing Project Bandoh) had scolded him.

Tomoki Nojiri would take the checkerboard almost 19 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer to sign a second success in a row with Nirei Fukuzumi, two weeks after Autopolis.