Kaku Ohta and #8 ARTA grab GT500 pole at Fuji; Ponos Ferrari clinch dominant GT300 pole
- Tarun Suresh
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Gt300
Q1
Group A
Practice toppers, Ponos Ferrari with Takuro Shinohara behind the wheel, were the first to set a competitive lap time with a 1:37.100 time, almost seven tenths quicker than their practice time.
Tyre wear seemed to be a big issue during qualifying with most teams struggling to maintain their tyres for longer than the first two sectors.
However, at the end, nobody could top the Ferrari 296 out front. The second fastest team, the UpGarage Mercedes, were almost seven tenths back.
While the gap up top was titanic, the gap between second and the Qualifying 2 cut-off of ninth was less than three tenths.
Those who failed to qualify for Q2 were, in order: HELM GTR, Venteny Huracan, Shade Racing Mercedes, Anest Iwata Nissan Z, D’Station Aston Martin and the R’Qs Mercedes.
Group B
The green brave Supra was the first to set a push lap with a 1:37.360 lap time. Group B proved to be much more competitive than the first group, with lap drivers constantly coming within a couple of tenths of the Supra up top.
It seemed like saving tyres until the end was the strategy to go with as the two who committed to it, the apr Lexus and the Car Guy Ferrari, climbed to the top of the sheets.
The Lexus was third fastest, with the Ferrari setting the fastest lap.
Those who were eliminated were, in order: Mach 5 Lexus, apr GR86, Runup x SOL GTR, Gainer Nissan and the Hoppy Supra.
Q2
The Pacific BMW was the first to set a flying lap but was quickly usurped by a slew of other cars as the time kept ramping up.
The fastest of the bunch early on was the Ponos Ferrari with a 1:36.209 time.
However, as the lap times started dying towards the end, nobody could top the time of the leading Ferrari, handing the Ponos 296 pole position.
A staggering six tenths back was the Syntium Lexus in second and the Uni-Robo Ferrari eight milliseconds behind in third.
The Car Guy Ferrari was a close fourth with the UpGarage Mercedes rounding off the top five. While the gap between the top two was six tenths, the rest of the field was separated by around half that.
GT500
Q1
The Modulo Prelude was the first to go on a push lap, but was soon usurped by fellow Hondas ARTA and STANLEY Kunimitsu.
Times were quickly ramping up towards the end, and it was the Astemo Prelude who topped the sheets, leading a Honda 1-2-3.
It seemed like the Toyotas struggled this time around as the BoP seems to have caught up, the most notable elimination being reigning champions the No.36 Team TOM’S.
Those who were eliminated were, in order: No.36 Team TOM’S, WedSport Supra, SARD Supra and the Kondo Nissan.
Q2
The Modulo Prelude was the first on a competitive lap, with just a minute and a half to go.
Similar to Q1, the lap times started ramping up quickly, and when the dust settled after a hectic qualifying session, it was the #8 ARTA Prelude driven by the returning Kakunoshin Ohta up top, grabbing pole position.
Three tenths back in second was Tadasuke Makino in the STANLEY Kunimitsu Prelude.
Koudai Tsukakoshi in the Astemo Prelude was a further three tenths back to round off a Honda 1-2-3.
Toshiki Oyu in the Cerumo Supra was the leading Toyota with the pole sitter’s sister car, the #16 ARTA Mugen, in fifth.
The Hondas look strong amongst the GT500 pack, but the Cerumo have the most realistic chance at spoiling the Honda party up front. It's a similar case in GT300 with the Ferraris occupying three of the top four spots on the grid tomorrow.
The race starts at 13:30 JST tomorrow.
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