Baguette: Impul Nissan Podium ‘Feels Like 2022 Again’

Photo: SUPER GT

Nissan driver Bertrand Baguette says finishing third in last weekend’s Okayama SUPER GT opener has given him a feeling about being able to challenge for the title he hasn’t experienced since Team Impul’s title-winning 2022 campaign.

From seventh on the grid, Baguette rose to third after making a series of overtakes before handing over the No. 12 Nissan Z NISMO to co-driver Kazuki Hiramine.

Although Hiramine was unable to challenge the two Toyota GR Supras in front, with the title-defending No. 36 TOM’S car of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita scoring victory, Baguette said the result was still a major source of encouragement.

It marked the first race for the Z NISMO in its upgraded 2026 spec, with the other two Nissans, the Kondo Racing and NISMO cars, finishing eighth and ninth respectively.

“I enjoyed that a lot to be honest,” Baguette told Sportscar365. “It was one of my best races for a long time.

“I had a good feeling with the tire, the pace was good and I actually think I was at an advantage over the others at the beginning.

“Then I arrived just behind No. 36 and I lost a bit of grip on the front tire and the pace became similar to them. It was impossible to catch and pass them.

“Still, this opening stint paved the way for us to finish third, and I am really happy to start the season like this. We were the only ones who could challenge Toyota.”

He added: “Of course there is still some disappointment because you always want to win and No. 36 won, which is becoming a bit boring for us!

“But today I felt we could at least challenge them, which is good.”

Baguette and Hiramine have not finished higher than fifth in the championship in the three years since they won the title together in 2022, and have also not finished a race higher than third, although they lost a second-place finish for excessive plank wear in last year’s Motegi finale.

Asked to compare Impul’s performance in the opener compared to recent seasons, Baguette replied: “This feels like 2022. That year, we were running P2 and then we had [tire] pick-up issues and we ended up P7, but we were able to fight the top guys.

“Now I feel similar to 2022. It’s only the first race, but the feeling right now is that we can challenge. We were right behind the two top Toyotas [in the first stint] and it’s been a long time since we have been able to do this.

“It also means a lot to be able to challenge Toyota in equal conditions, with everyone on zero kilos, on pure pace, especially with the updated Z NISMO.

“It’s also good for the championship to have another car challenging Toyota, so I hope we can continue to do so.”

Baguette admitted that time is tight for Impul to fully understand the reasons for its strong form before the second race at Fuji in early May, but expressed confidence that the team will be able to challenge consistently in the second half of the year.

“We need to understand what worked well and replicate this for future races,” said Baguette.

“This time we took a different way [on tire selection compared to the other Nissans], and it was a good choice, so we need to analyze what went well with that.

“If we can really understand that, I think we can be back and challenging Toyota.”

Source: Sports Car 365