Hasemi’s GT-R Victorious in Super GT Rd 4 in SIC
The Super GT round 4 in Sepang International Circuit today was won by HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R driven by Ronnie Quintarelli and Hironobu Yasuda for their first victory of the season.
To avoid the midday heat of tropical Malaysia, the race was scheduled to start at 16:00. The second-place qualifying HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R started from the front of the grid due to the pole position holder was, MOTUL AUTECH GT-R was having some engien trouble and had to start from the pit.
The HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R’s starting driver, Quintarelli, kept that lead to lap 30 before turning the wheel over to teammate Yasuda at the routine pit stop. Once Yasuda took over, he was never threatened for the lead, due in part to a furious battle for 2nd position raging behind him. Eventually, he ran on to victory with a big lead over the field.
This marked the first victory for the Hasemi Motor Sports team in the GT500 class since Round 7 of last season. The team’s Manager, Masahiro Hasemi, is known as a famed driver of years past.
In the GT300 class, the I.M JIHAN CO. LTD APPLE Shiden driven by Hiroki Katoh and Hiroki Yoshimoto staged an furious charge from the very back of the pack to win a stunning victory. It’s indeed an amazing feat to start at the tail end to become the podium winner!
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==[GT500]===================================
No.3 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R
Ronnie Quintarelli: I am really happy. I thought we might have a chance of winning here at Sepang even before we came. The team has done a fantastic job with the machine preparation and Michelin prepared some great tires for us. Also, we two drivers did training to prepare for the heat. So, I feel this victory was truly a product of everyone’s efforts. I can’t help congratulating myself and the team. Car No. 1 had trouble before the start that took it out of the lead, so I was able to run at my own pace and concentrate on tire management too. With the exception of the times when I got stuck behind GT300 machines, I had no problems. There was also a time when the tires were losing grip, but after the 20th lap or so it got better and stayed good until the pit stop. The tires performed better than I expected. So I was able to turn the machine over to Yasuda with a good margin of lead, and the team’s pit works was also fast too.”
Hironobu Yasuda: I am also very happy. I really caused the team a lot of trouble with my big crash at Suzuka that nearly totaled the machine. So, I was hoping that I could returned that debt with a victory. Now that has happened, and that makes me happiest of all. The NSX teams came into this race with a strategy of getting an advantage by only changing two tires, and there was one dangerous moment when I came out of the pit and doubled up with an NSX machine. But I was able to keep position, and I worked hard to pull away after that. Once I got away, Manager Hasemi told me [over the radio] that I didn’t need to push too hard. He said I could relax and stay cool. After that I just ran with an eye on the margin between the machines behind me.”
==[GT300]===================================
No.2 I.M JIHAN CO.LTD APPLE Shiden
Hiroki Katoh: Yesterday’s events were frustrating [being disqualified after winning the class pole] but I told myself that the race wasn’t over because of it, and that it only meant that the chance of winning had been narrowed to some degree. That made my desire to win even stronger. The race also went well strategically, and the team staff did a great job for us. The car and the tires were both very good. I am really happy with this result.”
Hiroki Yoshimoto: Since I came to the team from Round 2, we have had to start at the very back of the grip or 3rd from the back, so I was worried that people would say I brought bad luck to the team. But like Katoh-san told me to do, I turned that frustration into competitive spirit on the track and was able to come to the race with a positive attitude. Katoh-san started and we had some good luck with the accidents up in front of him, but we also had the skills to get around them and keep working hard as a team to get past the frustration and not give up. And the result was that everyone put together a perfect race. On my stint the tires were also performing perfectly from beginning to end. But at the end, it was by no means just a matter of maintaining a margin. I don’t think I could have pushed any harder if I was told to.”
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RACE RESULTS TOP 3
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[GT500 CLASS]
1 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R – R.Quintarelli and H.Yasuda
2 KEIHIN NSX? – T.Kaneishi and K.Tsukakoshi
3 ARTA NSX – R.Firman and T.Izawa
[GT300 CLASS]
1 I.M JIHAN CO.LTD APPLE Shiden – H.Katoh and H.Yoshimoto
2 WedsSport IS350 – M.Orido and T.Kataoka
3 M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7 – N.Taniguchi and R.Orime
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Full results and pictures of the race below.
