Real pair Koudai Tsukakoshi and Nobuharu Matsushita had come through to take victory at the end of a thrilling 300km race, beating the #8 ARTA Honda of Tomoki Nojiri and Toshiki Oyu by seven seconds.
However, the #17 Honda NSX-GT shared by Tsukakoshi and Matsushita failed post-race technical inspection due to a skidblock violation.
It marks the second race in succession that a podium finisher has been disqualified for this reason, after the NISMO Nissan crew of Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda lost their second-place finish last month at Suzuka.
ARTA therefore picks up its second win on the trot, as it took victory at Suzuka with its #16 crew of Nirei Fukuzumi and Hiroki Otsu.
Quintarelli and Matsuda move up from third to second, while SARD Toyota pair Yuhi Sekiguchi and Yuichi Nakayama take the final spot on the podium.
Victory had provisionally put Tsukakoshi and Matsushita within one point of the championship lead, but their removal from the results changes the drivers’ standings significantly.
NDDP Nissan duo Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi remain out front, but gain an additional point after moving up from 10th to ninth in the revised results, putting them on 51 points with two races to go.
TOM’S Toyota drivers Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata likewise gain one extra point for seventh place, having finished eighth on the road, but remain two points behind Chiyo and Takaboshi.
Quintarelli and Matsuda are now third, 11 points off the lead, while ARTA pair Fukuzumi and Otsu sit level in fourth place with Rookie Racing Toyota drivers Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita, 14 behind.
Tsukakoshi and Matsushita will head into the final two races of the season with a 22-point deficit to make up to the leaders.
The disqualification of the Real Honda means the winners in both classes at Sugo were stripped of their respective wins, as the GT300-winning Team UpGarage likewise failed post-race inspection.
Revised GT500 results:
Pos. | No. | Car | Drivers | Laps | Time/Diff | Tire | SW |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu |
84 | 2:24’30.932 | BS | 22 |
2 | 23 | MOTUL AUTECH Z | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli |
84 | 2:24’31.461 | MI | 50 |
3 | 39 | DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama |
84 | 2:25’22.590 | BS | 46 |
4 | 1 | MARELLI IMPUL Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette |
84 | 2:25’26.625 | BS | 48 |
5 | 24 | REALIZE CORPORATION ADVAN Z | Daiki Sasaki Kohei Hirate |
84 | 2:25’33.411 | YH | 10 |
6 | 14 | ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita |
83 | 2:24’27.039 | BS | 64 |
7 | 36 | au TOM’S GR Supra | Sho Tsuboi Ritomo Miyata |
83 | 2:24’32.586 | BS | 90 |
8 | 19 | WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra | Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi |
83 | 2:24’32.852 | YH | 48 |
9 | 3 | Niterra MOTUL Z | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi |
83 | 2:24’34.137 | MI | 98 |
10 | 37 | Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra | Ukyo Sasahara Giuliano Alesi |
83 | 2:24’35.254 | BS | 16 |
11 | 64 | Modulo NSX-GT | Takuya Izawa Kakunoshin Ota |
83 | 2:24’35.709 | DL | 38 |
12 | 16 | ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT | Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu |
82 | 2:24’28.068 | BS | 74 |
Ret | 100 | STANLEY NSX-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino |
37 | 1:17’23.008 | BS | 62 |
Ret | 38 | ZENT CERUMO GR Supra | Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura |
35 | 46’02.030 | BS | 36 |
17 | Astemo NSX-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita |
Disqualified | BS | 58 |