Oyu Leads Toyota 1-2-3 in Okayama Qualifying
Photo: SUPER GT
Toshiki Oyu grabbed pole position for this weekend’s SUPER GT opener at Okayama for the Cerumo team, leading an all-Toyota top three.
The No. 39 Toyota GR Supra was third-fastest in Q1 in the hands of GT500 debutant Rikuto Kobayashi, before Oyu paced Q2 with a best time of 1:17.352.
That was enough to beat Sho Tsuboi in the No. 36 TOM’S Toyota, which had topped Q1 in the hands of Kenta Yamashita, by a scant 0.065 seconds, while Nirei Fukuzumi put the No. 14 Rookie Racing car third-fastest less than a tenth further behind.
Honda’s new HRC Prelude-GT will start fourth on the grid as Koudai Tsukakoshi led the brand’s charge in fourth, 0.512 seconds off the pace.
Sacha Fenestraz was quickest in free practice aboard the SARD Toyota, but come Q2 he could only set the fifth-fastest time ahead of Ren Sato’s No. 16 ARTA Prelude.
All three Nissan Z NISMOs made it through to Q2, but the quickest of the three, the Team Impul car, was only seventh in the hands of Kazuki Hiramine, even though co-driver Bertrand Baguette had been second-fastest in Q1.
The works No. 23 NISMO car ended up 10th and last in Q2 as Katsumasa Chiyo lost his best lap for going off-track, putting him behind both Tadasuke Makino in the Team Kunimitsu Honda and Atsushi Miyake in the Kondo Racing Nissan.
The red flags were brought out during Q1 as Hiroki Otsu suffered a crash at the last corner at the wheel of the No. 8 Team HRC ARTA Prelude.
While Otsu escaped a head-on collision with the barriers unscathed, but it means he and Kaku Ohta will be forced to start from the rear of the 14-car GT500 field.
Giuliano Alesi also pulled back into the pits with an engine issue after the red flag, leaving the No. 37 TOM’S car 13th on the grid for Sunday’s opener behind the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota and the Nakajima Racing Honda.
Fujii Scorches to GT300 Pole in D’station Aston
D’station Racing scored pole in the GT300 class as Tomonobu Fujii set the pace aboard the No. 777 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in Q2.
Charlie Fagg had set the ball rolling with the fastest time in his Q1 group, a 1:25.431, before Fujii followed that up with a 1:24.561 in the 18-car pole shootout.
That put Fujii 0.164 seconds clear of second-placed Kazuto Kotaka in the apr Lexus LC500h GT, but an error by Kotaka at the final corner on his last attack lap led to that lap being cancelled, demoting the car he shares with Miki Koyama to third.
Instead, it will be the Inging Toyota GR86 GT of Yuui Tsutsumi, who was 0.262 seconds slower than Fujii in Q2, and newly-promoted second driver Kazuhisa Urabe that starts alongside the D’station Aston on the front row of the grid.
Completing the top five were Yoshiaki Katayama in the Velorex Ferrari 296 GT3, the only one of the Italian marque’s three cars that remains in pre-Evo spec this weekend, and Tatsuya Kataoka in the Goodsmile Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Shunsuke Kohno was fastest in the second Q1 group in the LM Corsa Lexus LC500 GT, but co-driver Hiroki Yoshimoto could only manage sixth in Q2.
Ex-Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat qualified the No. 88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in 14th for his SUPER GT debut, two places behind the sister No. 77 car.
Subaru suffered a difficult start to its first season with the new six-cylinder engine for its BRZ, as Takuto Iguchi qualified 13th in his Q1 group, which leaves the No. 61 car he shares with Hideki Yamauchi down in 25th on the grid.
The Okayama 300km begins Sunday at 1:20 p.m. local time (12:20 a.m. EST).
Source: Sports Car 365