Matsuda and de Oliveira win Super GT round at Okayama22/05/2011
Okayama International Circuit, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Super GT Round 1 (Second event to be held in 2011)
Although originally scheduled as Round 1 of the Super GT championship, the second Super GT race weekend of the season took place at Okayama last weekend (22 May) with 15,000 spectators attending on race day. Tsugio Matsuda and J.P. de Oliveira started the race from second on the grid in their Bridgestone shod Nissan GT-R run by Mr. Kazuyoshi Hoshino, and were leading after a successful pit stop, going on to score their first win of the season.
Qualifying
The Honda HSV squad were expected to set the pace here following the results of their pre-season test in Okayama, and Honda’s driver pairing of Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi took their maiden pole position. Matsuda and de Oliveira qualified second, being in good shape from Friday’s extra free practice. Takuya Izawa and Naoki Yamamoto in their Honda HSV were set to line-up third on the grid. The top five grid positions were dominated by Bridgestone shod cars.
Race
On Sunday the morning free practice session had to be cancelled due to heavy rain, with the weather then improving quickly, allowing the track to dry before the race start. Kaneishi and Tsukakoshi led from pole, the driver pairing of Matsuda and de Oliveira moving up to first place after a fast pit stop. The two leading cars were involved in an exciting battle at the front of the field, touching and spinning. Matsuda led again to take the win but Tsukakoshi was called into the pits for a drive through penalty. Izawa and Yamamoto finished second, as Kaneishi and Tsukakoshi took the third podium place.
Winning drivers
Tsugio Matsuda: “We were in good shape on Bridgestone’s tyres during Friday’s session, so I really wanted to win this time here in Okayama. Fortunately, we won without any damage after the accident with Tsukakoshi.”
J.P. de Oliveira: “I was disappointed at the last round in Fuji, so I wanted to win here. Bridgestone gave us good and consistent grip right from the start and I was able to hand the car to Tsugio in P2. Thank you to the team and Bridgestone.”
Bridgestone tyre engineer: Yoshihiro Hosoya
“Congratulations to Mr. Hoshino and both drivers. They maintained their good form from Friday through to the race. The team showed high performance and very good pace. Bridgestone dominated the top five finishing positions. For Honda, it was a disappointing result here due to some technical troubles and a penalty.”
