The “45th International Suzuka 1000km” race, Round 6 of the 2016 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at the Suzuka Circuit (one lap 5.807 km x 173 laps) in Mie Prefecture on August 28. In a battle worthy of the longest race in the SUPER GT series at 1,000 km, the winner of this year’s contest staged in difficult conditions that saw rain falling intermittently was the seasoned veterans of the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F team (Yuji Tachikawa/Hiroaki Ishiura), who rose from an 8th position grid start to claim a magnificent come-from-behind victory. In the GT300 class race, the No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT team (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) proved their prowess once again in the long 1,000km Suzuka race to claim victory.
The Suzuka 1,000 km race with its long tradition celebrated its 45th running this year. It is also an especially important because of the extra series points its top finishers receive because of the race’s length. Conditions were difficult for this day’s race, as rain fell off and on from the morning. Before the start of the race, the rain had stopped, but because the track was still covered with wet spots, some teams elected to start the race with wet-use tires.
At the start, the pole-sitting No. 15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT (Hideki Mutoh) made a good start and took the lead, but chasing hard from 8th position on the grid came the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Yuji Tachikawa). With its clear speed advantage on the slippery track, the ZENT CERUMO RC F claimed the lead by lap 17. After that, the Nissan GT-R cars gave chase, but the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R had to drop out of the race when the machine caught on fire, and the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R lost ground due to a penalty stop. With these setbacks, it was the No. 36 au TOM’S RC F (Daisuke Ito/Nick Cassidy) that rose to 2nd position in the middle stages of the race. With consecutive wins in the Suzuka 1000km, this is a team with proven endurance race expertise, and on this day it had risen from an 11th position start to stand in 2nd position. As rain fell again in the latter stages of the race, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F and the No. 36 au TOM’S RC F staged an exciting battle that saw them trade places a number of times. In the end, Ishiura in the faster No. 38
ZENT CERUMO RC F ran off the track in one breath-taking moment on the last lap, but with no mishap he managed to recover and run on to claim the team’s first victory of the season. Finishing third was the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R, thanks in part to the efforts of GT500 class rookie Mitsunori Takaboshi who was called in suddenly for this round to take the place of one of the team’s regular drivers due to injury.
This win gave Yuji Tachikawa his 15th career GT500 class win, while his teammate Hiroaki Ishiura claimed his fourth GT500 win and his first with this team. Also, for the team and for the Lexus RC F, this was the first win of the season.
In the GT300 class, the 2nd-place starting No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi) managed to overcome a collision in the latter stages of the race that caused it to run off the track and fight back to claim its first victory of the season. For the BRZ, which also won its first SUPER GT victory on the Suzuka 1000km, this was the Subaru car’s third win in the long Suzuka 1000km race.
(Spectators: 34,000)
No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F [GT500]
Yuji Tachikawa: “I am happy to get this win, but I am really exhausted right now. I have never felt so exhausted after a Suzuka 1000km. It was tough, but it was worth the effort. It yesterday’s qualifying, it was my mistake that caused us to end up way back in the field, so I wanted to do something to somehow make up for that. I am really relieved now that I was able to do that.”
Hiroaki Ishiura: “I was really baffled when the rain started falling again at the end of the race. In the last chicane I wasn’t able to stop. But, I am glad that I was able to get to the checkered flag first. Until now, this has been a difficult season for us, but I kept telling myself that with [Yuji] Tachikawa-san as my teammate there is no way that we can’t win, and I kept trying my best. I am really glad that we were able to get this win.”
No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT [GT300]
Takuto Iguchi: “It was a very long haul, but I am glad we won. This win came because of the team’s hard work. Today’s spin-out came when I was bumped during my stint, but I told myself not to give up and to keep pushing to the end. The timing was fortunate when the Safety Car came out, and (with the exception of sinning out after being bumped by another car) it was a perfect race in one sense.”
Hideki Yamauchi: “Personally, this is my first win, but I feel especially great that this first win came at the Suzuka 1000km. It has been really worth all the effort that [Takuto] Iguchi and I have made as a team. I also feel that this victory is due to the support we have received from all the fans. For this, I am truly grateful.”