Nissan claims victory in a bonkers SuperGT race at Okayama amid changing weather conditions and a number of red flags. Full report:
The #23 NISMO Nissan Z of Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda survived multiple intervention periods to claim provisional victory at the former Pacific Grand Prix venue, leading the sister #3 NDDP car of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi.
When the action resumed on lap 23, Quintarelli struggled for performance on his Michelins and dropped down the order himself, falling behind Sho Tsuboi , Nobuharu Matsushita and Kazuya Oshima . It left a question mark over whether Matsuda had entered the pits under the safety car, and was thus subject to a penalty. But the issue was never investigated, essentially clearing Nissan of any wrongdoing.
Quintarelli and Matsuda were hence declared the winners of the race, the latter clinching a record-extending 24th victory in the GT500 class with his latest triumph. The #16 ARTA crew of Nirei Fukuzumi and Hiroki Otsu provisionally finished fifth after the squad controversially completed its driver change and mandatory pitstop during one of the several red flag periods. ARTA could be hit with a penalty if found to be in contravention of rules.
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