Victory for the #14 Toyota at Okayama, Alesi sixth for his first with Tom's

The Okayama circuit hosted the first round of the 2022 Super GT. In total, 42 cars – 15 in GT500 and 27 in GT300 – took part in this race of almost 300km. From the start of the weekend, attention and eyes were focused on Nissan's change of vehicles, moving from the GT-R to the Z. Although developments of the GT500 cars are frozen until 2024, some Aerodynamic developments have been approved for the Nissan Z's grand debut in the series. Honda, for its part, has completely changed the face of the NSX-GT.

In the GT300 category, new cars have also appeared. One of the most spectacular was undoubtedly the BMW M4 entered by the BMW Team Studie x CSL team. The German manufacturer even decided to send Augusto Farfus, the brand's official driver, to Japan. The Brazilian shared the wheel of an M4 shod with Michelin tires, with Seiji Ara, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2004.

Toyota as boss, three manufacturers on the podium

En 2021, the Toyota GR Supra had dominated the event head and shoulders – five cars entered, including four in the front row at the end of the race – but that was not really the case this year. Only the #14 GR Supra from the ROOKIE team demonstrated extraordinary strength.

The Toyota of Kazuya Oshima, who had taken pole position earlier in the weekend, was closely followed by the #39 GR Supra of Yuhi Sekiguchi, second on the grid, from the first laps. But gradually, the No. 14 widened the gap and counted, at the end of the 20^rd lap, twelve seconds ahead of the #39.

Meanwhile, a fierce battle was going on behind the first two protagonists. The #38 GR Supra, driven by Yuji Tachikawa, took third place at the end of the 17^rd lap against the #100 Honda (Tadasuke Makino) and the #12 Nissan (Bertrand Baguette).

In the second part of the race, the No. 14 (Kenta Yamashita) calmly managed its lead, still more than 12 seconds ahead of its first pursuer. The same could not be said of the peloton. The #12 Nissan (Kazuki Hiramine) took second place after a perfectly executed pit stop.

But in the final stages of the race, the pace of the n°12 seriously dropped, so much so that it was overtaken successively by the Honda n°100 (Naoki Yamamoto) and the GR Supra n°38 (Hiroaki Ishiura).

Then, at 68^rd lap, a GT300 class car suddenly stops on the track, issuing Full Couse Yellow (FCY) on the track. When the race restarted, the fight started again within the peloton. The No. 23 Nissan (Tsugio Matsuda), setting off for 9^rd place on the grid, even found himself provisionally on the podium.

Au 77^rd lap, a GT300 car stopped on the track again. But despite the safety car entering the track for a brief moment, the #14 Toyota (Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita) managed to maintain its advantage and thus win the race. The #100 Honda (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino), who had a solid race, finished in second place, while the last step of the podium went to the #23 Nissan (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli).

This meant that all three manufacturers were represented on the podium in the first race of the 2022 series.

For the BMW M4 of Seiji Ara and Augusto Farfus, the race took a completely different turn following contact with the #55 Honda. Despite their sixth place at the time of the incident, the crew was forced to retire.

The reactions of the winners, the results of the French

Kazuya Oshima: “ The car was running well but we didn't have a chance to test the tires over a long distance before the race. Nevertheless, Kenta [Yamashita] managed the wear and tear well until the end. »

Kenta Yamashita: “ After the second FCY, the car in front of me spun and I couldn't avoid the impact. It cost me time. But I still managed to maintain a good pace thanks to the 17 seconds that Oshima-san had accumulated in the first part of the race. »

As for Sacha Fenestraz and Giuliano Alesi, the two French drivers participating in Super GT this season – within the same team, TOM'S – they were unable to ride the team's championship title last year, for this first event of the season.

For Giuliano Alesi (GR Supra no. 36), starting from sixth position on the grid, the race pace was rather appreciable, as he finished his stint in seventh place. His teammate, Sho Tsuboi, finished the race in sixth position.

On the side of Sacha Fenestraz, he also started from the start, but in 13^rd position, his time behind the wheel of the No. 37 was a little more discreet. The French driver still managed to gain a position at the end of his stint, before Ritomo Miyata finished the round in eleventh place for the crew.

Nissan wins GT300

The No. 56 Nissan of Kiyoto Fujinami and Joao Paolo de Oliveira wins again at Okayama, as in 2021. @GTA

In the GT300 category, the No. 61 Subaru BRZ (Takuto Iguchi) started from pole position, followed by the No. 3 Nissan GT-R GT10 (Riki Okusa) and the No. 3 Honda NSX GT18 (Takashi Kobayashi). But it was the #56 Nissan (Kiyoto Fujinami), fifth on the starting grid, which found itself in the lead halfway through the race.

After the pit stops and refueling, the #56 (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) still maintains a comfortable lead, and will win under the checkered flag. The Kondo Racing crew in the #56 Nissan, already a winner here last year, won with a 14-second lead over the #18 Honda of Takashi Kobayashi and Kakunoshin Ohta. There Mercedes AMG n°65 (Naoya Gamou/Takuro Shinohara) completes the podium.