Super GT – Nick Cassidy and Ryo Hirakawa titled at Motegi

Championship leaders before appearing in the 2017 Super GT final at the Twin Ring Motegi, Nick cassidy and his teammate on the #500 Lexus LC37 – Team KeePer Tom's Ryo hirakawa, could be satisfied with a second place to win the title.

And it was this result that brought the crown to the Lexus drivers, beaten in this final round by the Nissan GT-R n°23 – Nismo of Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda, who still retained a hope of coronation at the start of the race.

Starting from pole, Quintarelli controlled the start, after a small contact with the No. 500 Lexus LC6 – Team LeMans Wako of Andrea Caldarelli just before the green light.

If the No. 23 Nissan had no problems and mastered its subject, the fight for places on the podium saw the No. 500 Lexus LC6 lose several positions at the start of the race, notably allowing Nick Cassidy and Ryo Hirakawa to quickly climb into second position.

Under the checkered flag, Quintarelli and Matsuda pocketed their first success of the season, and the first for Nissan in 2017. But the second place of Cassidy and Hirakawa was enough to make the Lexus duo happy.

The podium is completed by the #500 Lexus LC38 – Team ZENT Cerumo of Yuji Tachikawa – Hiroaki Ishiura. Note the setbacks of the No. 500 Lexus LC36 – at James Rossiter's Team Tom's – Kazuki Nakajima, victims of a suspension problem and who lost any chance of playing the leading roles.

In GT300, the title goes to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°4 – Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO of Nobuteru Taniguchi – Tatsuya Kataoka, third in this final behind the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT65 – LEON CVSTOS of Haruki Kurosawa – Naoya Gamou and the #6 BMW M3 GT55 – ARTA of Shinichi Takagi – Sean Walkinshaw.

Race ranking

Discover the full report of the 2017 Super GT final at Motegi, in AUTO issue 2140hebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.