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GT: Weekly World Of GT, 7.27
Super GT action from Sugo
John Dagys  |  Posted July 27, 2010   Chicago, IL
The Japanese-based Super GT championship was in action at Sugo last weekend. (GTA)
This week, we have action from Japan with the Super GT championship at Sugo. Check back every Tuesday for your weekly dose of GT racing!

Super GT: Round 5, Sugo

Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi scored Keinhin’s first Super GT victory in dramatic fashion last weekend at Sugo, following late-race misfortunes for the Motul Autech Nissan GT-R, which appeared to be headed to a near certain win.
The thrilling finish ended in a side-by-side duel between two Honda HSV-010s. (GTA)

Starting from pole, Benoit Treluyer stretched out into an early lead in his Nissan GT-R. The Frenchman was over 10 seconds ahead of the GT500 competition when he pitted on Lap 50 to hand over to co-driver Satoshi Motoyama.

Motoyama remained in the lead, but disaster struck with just eight laps remaining. The Motul Autech GT-R ground to a halt on-track, with the engine’s kill switch engaging after being hit by outside debris. While he was able to rejoin after solving the electrical glitch, their hopes of a win were over.

“We were leading by ten seconds and the win was secure,” Duval said. “Everything was going well. We had no worries, no tire degradation and I was in front of the TV monitor ready to make my way to the podium when I saw the car parking up at the side of the track.”

While Motoyama and Duval recovered to finish sixth, their misfortunes gave the lead to the Weider Honda HSV-010 of Loic Duval and Takashi Kogure. However, Kogure came under heavy attack from the sister Honda of Tsukakoshi, setting up a down-to-the-wire battle for the win.

On the last lap, the two Hondas were in a side-by-side duel to the line. Traffic held up Kogure slightly for Tsukakoshi to squeak out the victory, by a mere 0.025 seconds.

The win marked the first podium finish of the season for the Keihin Honda squad as well as the first Super GT victory for Tsukakoshi.
Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi celebrate the GT500 win. (GTA)

“The realization that we actually won hasn't sunk in yet,” Tsukakoshi said. “Once I took the wheel, I decided to continue to work toward the front without getting anxious. Also, I was able to use the GT300 machines to pass other cars in our class.

“When found out that the lead GT-R had stopped and Kogure had taken over the lead, I tried to pass him several times, but it didn't work. At the finish, I couldn't have caught Kogure if there hadn't been a GT300 car in front of him. I think I was just very lucky.

Daisuke Ito and Bjorn Wirdheim crossed the line in third, after starting from eighth on the grid in their Eneos Lexus SC430.

GT500 Results:
1. Kaneishi/Tsukakoshi | Keihin Honda HSV-010
2. Kogure/Duval | Weider Honda HSV-010 +0.025 sec
3. Ito/Wirdheim | Eneos Lexus SC430 +12.633 sec
4. Matsuda/Quintarelli | Calsonic Impul Nissan GT-R +16.466 sec
5. Olivieria/Yasuda | His Advan Kondo Nissan GT-R +37.837 sec

In the GT300 class, Hiroki Katoh and and Hiroshi Hamaguchi also scored their first victory of the season aboard their Apple-K-One Shiden. The duo put in a dominating performance, leading virtually from flag-to-flag.

“There was some uncertainty at the start but the competition gradually fell back, and it got easier after that,” Katoh explained. “We have had a lot of unlucky races recently, so I pushed hard to get us as big a margin as possible in case something happened again.It was tough to do that, but then I heard people saying that it was a boring race because we were alone in the lead. That was a real shock for me!”

The battle for the final two podium positions came down to the Hasemi Sport Tomica Nissan Z and the Toyota Corolla from the Evangelion outfit. The Koki Saga and Kosuke Matsuura-driven car lost the runner-up position on Lap 53 to the Nissan, but it still enough for the Corolla to consolidate a third-place result.

GT300 Results:
1. Katoh/Hamaguchi | Apple-K-One-Shiden
2. Hoshino/Yanagida | Hasemi Sport Tomica Z + 1 lap
3. Saga/Matsuura | Evangelion RT Test Type-01 apr Corolla +1 lap

Next up: Suzuka, Aug 21-22

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