Bertrand Baguette, Kazuki Hiramine and the Impul team are the 2022 Super GT Champions!

The MOTEGI GT 300km RACE GRAND FINAL, Round 8 of the 2022 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on November 6 (Sun.) at Mobility Resort Motegi (4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Prefecture. In the GT500 class, the No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) started from pole position to win the race. The series title went to the race’s 2nd-place finisher, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette). In the GT300 class, it was also a win from pole position for the No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Hideki Mutoh/Iori Kimura), but in a trouble-bent contest for the season title it was the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) that emerged the champions.

This final race of the season started at 1:00 in the afternoon. Starting from pole position in the GT500 race, the No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT (Tadasuke Makino) safely held its lead while being chased by the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto), the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Bertrand Baguette) ranked 2nd in the Drivers title race, and others. Meanwhile, behind them there was a collision between the top-ranked No. 3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z Katsumasa Chiyo) and the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri). This resulted in a penalty being placed on car No. 3 that dropped it out of competition at the front. Also, when the GT500 class leaders caught up with the GT300 class back markers, there were multi-car collisions. This resulted in a Safety Car intervention that was taken advantage of by the 3rd-ranked No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Nobuharu Matsushita) that enabled it to move up to 4th place from a 10th-position start.

During the second half of the race, car No. 100 (Naoki Yamamoto) maintained its lead, while being chased by car No. 12 (Kazuki Hiramine), the No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kenta Yamashita) and car No. 17 (Koudai Tsukakoshi). Also moving up was car No. 3 (Mitsunori Takaboshi), adding more fuel to the intense race and title competition.

However, despite the fact that the lap times of the top four cars remained competitive to the end, no direct battles resulted and No. 100 was able to run on unchallenged to its first victory of the season. Finishing 2nd was car No. 12, while 3rd place went to car No. 14, thus giving one place in the top three to each to the three makers, as had been the case in the qualifying. As car No. 3 was unable to rise higher than 4th place, the season title went to the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette), which gave TEAM IMPUL its first season title since 1995 (in what was at the time the All Japan GT Championship).

In the GT300 class race, the pole-starting No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3 (Hideki Mutoh/ Iori Kimura) dropped to 2nd position for a while but emerged again in the lead in the second half of the race and went on to take a pole-to-win victory in this final round of the season. Meanwhile, a trouble-filled contest for the GT300 class season title was going on back in the field. Despite being the top contender for the title, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) developed machine trouble that dropped it out of range for any series points. Another top title contender, the No. 10 TANAX GAINER GT-R (Ryuichiro Tomita/Riki Okusa), also fell off the pace and dropped back in the field. As the result, the point leader up until the last round, car No. 56, managed to maintain its point lead and take its first championship title since the 2020 season.

*Spectators: Nov. 6 (race day) 26,000 / Nov. 5 (Qualifying day) 13,500

■ GT500 class Series Champion and Race Winner Comments

No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z

Kazuki Hiramine: “We did it! Thank you, everyone. It was a tough race. I want to give my heartfelt thanks for all the support we have received until now from the people at Bridgestone and CALSONIC and for lots of support from our sponsors, not to mention everyone on our team and our Team Manager Mr. Hoshino and my great teammates. I also want to thank the team for taking me on as a driver. I have run out of strength and words, and all I can say is thank you, thank you all.”

Bertrand Baguette: “A lot happened before I actually started driving, like the battle with car No. 19 [in 2nd place] and the pick-up [of rubber from the track] on the tires, as well as the FCY (Full Course Yellow) call and the Safety Car intervention. But I was still able to believe in myself and move forward in position. In the second half, Hiramine-san ran a fantastic race to bring us to the 2nd-place finish. And that also brought us the championship title.”

■ GT300 class Series Champion Comments

No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R

Kiyoto Fujinami: “This was really great. We won the title in 2020 but lost it last year. It wasn’t an easy task to get consecutive titles. And there was trouble again in this race [that kept us from getting any series points], so this is really a miracle. I knew that if we didn’t give up hope to the end, we could still win the title. After we won the first round of this season, the Success Weight we had to carry was a real burden. But thanks to the great efforts of the team and the people at Yokohama Tire, we were able to maintain our lead in the series points, and that got us to this amazing result. I am really so glad for this all.”

Joao Paulo de Oliveira: “With heavy load of Success Weight we had to carry from the second round onward this season, we fought on though the tough races that followed. In this race, there was really nothing to do when our tire came off. But we managed to keep running and get back to the pit. When I heard from the team over the radio [after the finish] that we had won the championship, I couldn’t believe it. But I was just so happy. I want to thank the team and Fujinami-san. And I want to thank everyone for cheering for us today.”

■ Race Winner Comments

No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT [GT500]

Naoki Yamamoto: “Although it was the last race of the season, I am glad that we were able to run a strong race. But today’s real stars were the people of the CALSONIC IMPUL Z team. I want to congratulate them and say that I hope we will race well again next season.”

Tadasuke Makino: “In the early stages of the race we were able to maintain a good pace, but when the Safety Car came out, we lost the lead we had built up. But after the restart I was able to keep calm as I drove, and I think that is why I was able to pass it on to Yamamoto-san for the second half. This year we had difficult races up to mid- season, and then things got steadily better in the second half of the season. And I think that in this final round we were able to show our team’s strength, so I am very happy.”

No.55 ARTA NSX GT3 [GT300]

Hideki Mutoh: “It had been a difficult season up until now, so I really wanted us to get a good result in this final round. And I am glad that we were able to end it with the best possible result in this win. Personally, I was happy to be able to enjoy a celebration of my 100th race with a great result like this. I want to thank everyone who has cheered for and supported me until now.”

Iori Kimura: “I’m not going to cry today (laughs). I am happy that we were able to start from the best possible position as pole starters and to see that best view all the way to the goal. Since this has been a year when I have been supported until this result by all the fans and our sponsors, and by our Team Manager Mr. Suzuki and everyone on the team, I am really glad to have been able to end it all in such a good way.”