| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 of 8 of the 2018 Super GT Series | ||
| .png.webp) | ||
| Date | 8 April 2018 | |
| Location | Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan | |
| Course | Permanent road course 3.703 km (2.301 mi) | |
| Overall results | ||
| GT500 Winners | ||
|  Koudai Tsukakoshi  Takashi Kogure #17 Real Racing | ||
| GT300 Winners | ||
|  Yuhki Nakayama  Takashi Kobayashi #18 Team UpGarage | ||
The 2018 Okayama GT 300km was the first round of the 2018 Super GT Series. It was held at the Okayama International Circuit in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
The GT500 category was won by Koudai Tsukakoshi and Takashi Kogure in the #17 Real Racing Honda NSX-GT, whilst Yuhki Nakayama and Takashi Kobayashi won the GT300 category in the #18 Team UpGarage Toyota 86.
Race Report
Qualifying
Rain affected both qualifying sessions for the GT500 and GT300 categories, which shuffled the grid owing to changing track conditions.[1]
GT500
In a what was tumultuous qualifying session, the #17 Real Racing outfit piloted by Koudai Tsukakoshi and Takashi Kogure achieved pole position, after the #24 Kondō Racing Nissan GT-R of Mitsunori Takaboshi and João Paulo de Oliveira had set the pace in the first qualifying session. 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button qualified fifth on his Super GT debut, whilst Swede Felix Rosenqvist qualified in fourth place, cementing a solid run in his debut. One of the biggest shocks to come out of qualifying was the defending champions Ryō Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy failing to get into the second part of qualifying. [1]
| Pos | No | Team | Vehicle | Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2 | Grid | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Real Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.351 | 1:26.905 | 1 | 
| 2 | 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.696 | 1:27.058 | 2 | 
| 3 | 3 | NDDP by B-Max Racing | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.605 | 1:27.486 | 3 | 
| 4 | 6 | Lexus Team LeMans Wako's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.576 | 1:27.570 | 4 | 
| 5 | 100 | Team Kunimitsu | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.332 | 1:27.985 | 5 | 
| 6 | 24 | Kondō Racing | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.160 | 1:28.659 | 6 | 
| 7 | 19 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.619 | 1:29.793 | 7 | 
| 8 | 23 | NISMO | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.370 | 1:35.248 | 8 | 
| 9 | 1 | Lexus Team KeePer Tom's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.796 | 9 | |
| 10 | 38 | Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.877 | 10 | |
| 11 | 12 | Team Impul | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.944 | 11 | |
| 12 | 16 | Team Mugen | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.992 | 12 | |
| 13 | 64 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.994 | 13 | |
| 14 | 36 | Lexus Team au Tom's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:19.108 | 14 | |
| 15 | 39 | Lexus Team SARD | Lexus LC 500 | 1:19.315 | 15 | |
| Source(s): [2] | ||||||
GT300
The qualifying session for the GT300 category was just as hectic. The Toyota 86 MC entries in the GT300 class appeared to be the pace setters throughout the weekend, with the #25 Tsuchiya Engineering entry of Takamitsu Matsui and Sho Tsuboi set the initial pace in Q1 with a time of 1:25.232. But, it was ultimately the #88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Marco Mapelli and Kazuki Hiramine took the pole with a time of 1:33.925 in Q2. [1]
| Pos | No | Team | Vehicle | Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2 | Grid | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 1:26.220 | 1:33.925 | 16 | 
| 2 | 21 | Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Audi R8 LMS | 1:25.966 | 1:34.082 | 17 | 
| 3 | 11 | Gainer | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:25.619 | 1:34.798 | 18 | 
| 4 | 65 | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.173 | 1:34.804 | 19 | 
| 5 | 25 | Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota 86 MC | 1:25.232 | 1:35.154 | 20 | 
| 6 | 96 | LM corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:26.043 | 1:35.236 | 21 | 
| 7 | 31 | apr | Toyota Prius apr GT | 1:25.770 | 1:35.543 | 22 | 
| 8 | 55 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | BMW M6 GT3 | 1:26.307 | 1:35.729 | 23 | 
| 9 | 18 | Team UpGarage | Toyota 86 MC | 1:25.926 | 1:35.756 | 24 | 
| 10 | 61 | R&D Sport | Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | 1:25.674 | 1:36.623 | 25 | 
| 11 | 777 | CarGuy Racing | Honda NSX GT3 | 1:26.008 | 1:36.623 | 26 | 
| 12 | 5 | Team Mach | Toyota 86 MC | 1:26.029 | 1:36.990 | 27 | 
| 13 | 26 | Team Taisan | Audi R8 LMS | 1:26.141 | 1:37.176 | 28 | 
| 14 | 2 | Cars Tokai Dream28 | Lotus Evora MC | 1:25.492 | 1:43.462 | 29 | 
| 15 | 0 | Good Smile Racing with Team Ukyo | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.316 | 30 | |
| 16 | 34 | Modulo Drago Corse | Honda NSX GT3 | 1:26.505 | 31 | |
| 17 | 10 | Gainer | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:26.524 | 32 | |
| 18 | 52 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Toyota Mark X MC | 1:26.604 | 33 | |
| 19 | 360 | Tomei Sports | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:26.646 | 34 | |
| 20 | 7 | D'station Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:26.730 | 35 | |
| 21 | 9 | Pacific with Gulf Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:26.730 | 36 | |
| 22 | 87 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 1:26.880 | 37 | |
| 23 | 50 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.971 | 38 | |
| 24 | 60 | LM corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:27.001 | 39 | |
| 25 | 30 | apr | Toyota Prius apr GT | 1:27.009 | 40 | |
| 26 | 117 | EIcars Bentley | Bentley Continental GT3 | 1:27.070 | 41 | |
| 27 | 22 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:27.339 | 42 | |
| 28 | 35 | Arto Panther Team Thailand | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:27.587 | 43 | |
| 29 | 48 | Dijon Racing | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:27.779 | 44 | |
| Source(s): [3] | ||||||
Race
| GT500 entries | |
| Pos | Class | No | Entrant | Drivers | Vehicle | Laps | Time / Retired | Grid | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT500 | 17 | Real Racing |  Koudai Tsukakoshi  Takashi Kogure | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | 1hr 55min 14.381sec | 1 | 
| 2 | GT500 | 100 | Team Kunimitsu |  Jenson Button  Naoki Yamamoto | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1.610 s | 5 | 
| 3 | GT500 | 1 | Lexus Team KeePer Tom's |  Ryō Hirakawa  Nick Cassidy | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 5.582 s | 9 | 
| 4 | GT500 | 6 | Lexus Team LeMans Wako's |  Kazuya Oshima  Felix Rosenqvist | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 5.759 s | 4 | 
| 5 | GT500 | 23 | NISMO |  Tsugio Matsuda  Ronnie Quintarelli | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 36.990 s | 8 | 
| 6 | GT500 | 24 | Kondō Racing |  Mitsunori Takaboshi  João Paulo de Oliveira | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 48.375 s | 6 | 
| 7 | GT500 | 3 | NDDP by B-Max Racing |  Satoshi Motoyama  Katsumasa Chiyo | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 59.362 s | 3 | 
| 8 | GT500 | 38 | Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo |  Hiroaki Ishiura  Yuji Tachikawa | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:00.357 s | 10 | 
| 9 | GT500 | 19 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh |  Yuji Kunimoto  Kenta Yamashita | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:05.532 s | 7 | 
| 10 | GT500 | 16 | Team Mugen |  Hideki Mutoh  Daisuke Nakajima | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1:06.532 s | 12 | 
| 11 | GT500 | 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri |  Tomoki Nojiri  Takuya Izawa | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1:07.199 s | 2 | 
| 12 | GT500 | 39 | Lexus Team SARD |  Heikki Kovalainen  Kamui Kobayashi | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:10.110 s | 15 | 
| 13 | GT500 | 36 | Lexus Team au Tom's |  Yuhi Sekiguchi  Kazuki Nakajima | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:11.410 s | 14 | 
| 14 | GT500 | 12 | Team Impul |  Jann Mardenborough  Daiki Sasaki | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 1:11.838 s | 11 | 
| 15 | GT500 | 64 | Nakajima Racing |  Kosuke Matsuura .svg.png.webp) Bertrand Baguette | Honda NSX-GT | 81 | + 1 lap | 13 | 
| 16 | GT300 | 18 | Team UpGarage |  Yuhki Nakayama  Takashi Kobayashi | Toyota 86 MC | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 17 | GT300 | 7 | D'station Racing |  Tomonobu Fujii  Sven Müller | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 18 | GT300 | 25 | Tsuchiya Engineering |  Takamitsu Matsui  Sho Tsuboi | Toyota 86 MC | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 19 | GT300 | 65 | K2 R&D LEON Racing |  Haruki Kurosawa  Naoya Gamou | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 20 | GT300 | 11 | Gainer |  Katsuyuki Hiranaka  Hironobu Yasuda | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2018) | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 21 | GT300 | 55 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri |  Shinichi Takagi  Sean Walkinshaw | BMW M6 GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 22 | GT300 | 88 | JLOC |  Kazuki Hiramine  Marco Mapelli | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 23 | GT300 | 0 | Goodsmile Racing by Team Ukyo |  Nobuteru Taniguchi  Tatsuya Kataoka | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 24 | GT300 | 26 | Team Taisan |  Shinnosuke Yamada  Shintaro Kawabata | Audi R8 LMS | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 25 | GT300 | 50 | Arnage Racing |  Masaki Kano  Hideto Yasuoka | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 26 | GT300 | 52 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave |  Taku Bamba  Shigekazu Wakisaka | Toyota Mark X MC | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 27 | GT300 | 87 | JLOC |  Yuya Motojima  Kimiya Sato | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 28 | GT300 | 10 | Gainer |  Kazuki Hoshino  Hiroki Yoshida | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2018) | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 29 | GT300 | 96 | K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa |  Yuichi Nakayama  Morio Nitta | Lexus RC F GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 30 | GT300 | 777 | CarGuy Racing |  Takeshi Kimura  Naoki Yokomizo | Honda NSX GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 31 | GT300 | 9 | Pacific with Gulf Racing |  Rintaro Kubo  Keishi Ishikawa | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 32 | GT300 | 60 | LM Corsa – OTG Motor Sports |  Hiroki Yoshimoto  Ritomo Miyata | Lexus RC F GT3 | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 33 | GT300 | 61 | R&D Sport |  Takuto Iguchi  Hideki Yamauchi | Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 34 | GT300 | 22 | R'Qs Motor Sports |  Masaki Jyonai  Hisashi Wada | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 35 | GT300 | 30 | apr Racing |  Hiroaki Nagai  Kota Sasaki | Toyota Prius apr GT | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 36 | GT300 | 117 | Elcars Bentley |  Yuji Ide  Ryohei Sakaguchi | Bentley Continental GT3 (2016) | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 37 | GT300 | 48 | Dijon Racing |  Masaki Tanaka  Taiyou Iida | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2017) | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 38 | GT300 | 2 | Cars Tokai Dream28 |  Kazuho Takahashi  Hiroki Katoh | Lexus Evora MC | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 39 | GT300 | 35 | Arto Panther Team Thailand |  Nattavude Charoensukhawatana  Nattapong Horthongkum | Lexus RC F GT3 | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| Ret | GT300 | 21 | Audi Team Hitotsuyama |  Richard Lyons  Ryuichiro Tomita | Audi R8 LMS | 42 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 5 | Team Mach |  Natsu Sakaguchi  Yuya Hiraki | Toyota 86 MC | 41 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 31 | apr Racing |  Natsu Sakaguchi  Yuya Hiraki | Toyota Prius apr GT | 30 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 34 | Modulo Drago Corse |  Ryo Michigami  Hiroki Otsu | Honda NSX GT3 | 18 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 360 | Tomei Sports |  Yusaku Shibata  Takayuki Aoki | Honda NSX GT3 | 17 | Retired | |
| Source(s): [4][5] | ||||||||
References
- 1 2 3 "Okayama Super GT: Honda locks out front row, Button fifth". motorsport.com. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ↑ "Round 1 OKAYAMA GT500 - Qualifying". supergt.net. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
- ↑ "Round 1 OKAYAMA GT300 - Qualifying". supergt.net. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
- ↑ "Round 1 OKAYAMA GT500 - Race". supergt.net. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- ↑ "Round 1 OKAYAMA GT300 - Race". supergt.net. Retrieved 2018-07-10.