The MOTEGI GT GRAND FINAL, Round 8 of the 2016 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, was held at Twin Ring Motegi (lap = 4.801 km x 53 laps) in Tochigi Pref. on November 13. The Motegi event this time included a race on Saturday to make up for the Autopolis Round 3 race that had to be
The Motegi event this time included a race on Saturday to make up for the Autopolis Round 3 race that had to be cancelled in May due to the Kumamoto Earthquakes. This meant that the final Round 8 race on this day was the second of two consecutive days of racing for the competing SUPER GT teams.
Round 7 on Saturday was won by the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F (Heikki Kovalainen/ Kohei Hirate), with Kiwi Nick Cassidy claiming 3rd – his second podium in his debut season as a Lexus Factory Driver in the formitable GT500 class.
In the Round 8 final race, GT500 class race winner was the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F (Heikki Kovalainen/ Kohei Hirate) in a stunning victory run from pole position that also brought the team the season Driver championship title.
In the GT300 class, the No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takeshi Tsuchiya/Takamitsu Matsui) won the race and in doing so also won the GT300 class Drivers Championship title.
In this day’s qualifying session run from 9:05 in the morning, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F team’s Kohei Hirate had won pole position, the second pole in two days, following the one won by teammate Heikki Kovalainen in the Round 3 qualifying the day before.
And, as with the day before, this day’s race began with the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F (Kohei Hirate) making a good start from pole position to take control of the race. Chasing the leading DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F in the early going were two more RC F machines, the No. 6 WAKO’S 4CR RC F (Andrea Caldarelli) and the No. 37 KeePer TOM’S RC F (Ryo Hirakawa).
Coming to Twin Ring Motegi as leader of the season ranking and looking for its third consecutive title, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) was running in 8th position and apparently not in top form. After taking the lead in the season ranking with its win in yesterday’s Round 3 race, No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F was now running strongly in the front when it made its routine pit stop.
The LEXUS TEAM SARD mechanics performed the pit work with no mistakes and sent Heikki Kovalainen back into the race effectively in the lead in the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F. When all of the teams had completed their pit stops, the DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F was securely in the lead.
In the later stages of the race, the No. 6 WAKO’S 4CR RC F(Kazuya Oshima) was closing in on No. 39’s rear, but Kovalainen, with his F1 driving experience remained calm and certain as he took the checkered flag first by just 0.472 sec. For Kovalainen, who began competing in SUPER GT last season, this was his first win, and for Hirate it was his sixth.
This victory also won the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F pair of Kovalainen and Hirate the 2016 Drivers championship. The Team championship also went to the No. 39 LEXUS TEAM SARD, meaning that the long awaited first title for this venerable team that has been competing in SUPER GT since its inaugural year, 1994, came as a double title. For Kovalainen it is his first title and for Hirate his second in the GT500 class.
Kiwi Nick Cassidy’s fourth place finished netted he and Daisuki Ito 5th overall in the 2016 Super GT Championship.
In the GT300 class, the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT team’s Yuichi Nakayama won the pole position in the morning qualifying. In the race, the No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga) had run in the lead from pole position.
Meanwhile, the No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takeshi Tsuchiya) that had come into this race as the ranking leader and starting from 6th position on the grid was now struggling to hold that position and elected for an early routine pit stop with the strategy of running the second half without a tire change. This strategy proved successful and brought them up to tail the leading No. 31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Yuichi Nakayama) in the late stages of the race
