Maiden victory for Keihin at SuperGT round five26/07/2010
Sport Land Sugo hosts round five of SuperGT Championship
The Keihin Real Racing pairing of Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi showed outstanding skill and determination in round five of the SuperGT Championship at Sport Land Sugo, starting from tenth on the grid, to win the race just 0.025 seconds ahead of their closest rival.
Saturday’s qualifying session was fairly routine, with Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer (Nismo) clinching pole position. The Bridgestone–shod pairing of Takuya Izawa and Naoki Yamamoto (Team Kunimitsu) took the second spot, with Hiroaki Ishiura and Kazuya Oshima (Lexus Team Craft) finishing in third.
Treluyer was quick off the line on Sunday and established a big gap from the rest of the field in the early stages of the race. The Lexus Team Craft pairing were also able to gain position and moved into second, after Izawa/Yamamoto spun out. Kaneishi and Tsukakoshi battled hard, gaining positions throughout the race, achieving third spot as the race entered the final stages. The leading Nismo GT-R suffered an electrical fault and wasn’t able to maintain the lead handing over to Kogure. Tsukakoshi continued to fight for position, and closed in on Kogure with only five laps remaining. The two HSV’s ran side by side at the exit of the final corner, on the final lap, crossing the position with only 0.025 seconds between them. It was a maiden victory for the Keihin Real Racing duo.
“We struggled in qualifying but we managed to find good set up on Sunday morning and were able to gain positions in the race. I knew that we could make a podium finish but I did not think that it was possible to win. Thanks to every one for supporting us.”
Toshihiro Kaneishi, Keihin Real Racing driver
“I used full power at the exit of the final corner and we were side by side on the line. It was so close it was not possible to tell who had won. I was really happy when the radio said we had the victory. Thanks everyone. It has not actually felt real just yet.”
Kodai Tsukakoshi, Keihin Real Racing driver
“It was great and exciting finish. Kaneishi and Tsukakoshi had an excellent race and congratulations to them for their maiden win. When we go to the next round, the 700 km Suzuka event, Bridgestone will try to show our domination of the race.”
Yoshihiro Hosoya, Bridgestone Tyre Engineer
