AUTOBACS SUPER GT // ROUND 4 @ SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT

The 4th Round of the AUTOBACS Super GT series was held at the Sepang International Circuit. It rained heavily during the first 45 minutes of Saturday's Practice Session. As the weather improves, in the GT500 class, the EPSON NSX driven by Loic Duval and Yuki Nakayama set the fastest time with a 2:04.677 lap. S-Road MOLA Z driver pairings of Kazuki Hoshino and Masataka Yanagida set the fastest time for the GT300 class with a time of 2:24.907... [read more]

RAYBRIG NSX, pitlane after qualifying.

EPSON NSX, Saturday Practice Session.

The sun started to shine again in the evening, so it was a dry qualifying session with the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (above) grabbing pole position with a time of 1:58.124, just 0.071 seconds faster than the 2nd place car, HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R. The I.M JIHAN CO.LTD•APPLE•Shiden took pole for the GT300 class, only to be penalised later due to a handicap weight infraction. The pole went to S Road MOLA Z and the I.M JIHAN CO.LTD•APPLE•Shiden was penalised and will start the race from the back of the grid

KEIHIN NSX in the treacherous rain, Saturday Practice Session.

The race was scheduled to start at 16:00 local time on Sunday. As teams took to the grid, unexpected transmission problem for pole sitter MOTUL AUTECH GT-R forced them to start from the pitlane. This puts the HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R (above) driven by Ronnie Quintarelli effectively on pole. Quintarelli puts a brilliant performance from the start leading into Turn 1 and kept his place until lap 30 when he pitted and handed the car to Hironobu Yasuda. Yasuda kept his cool and drove to the chequered flag to take their 1st win of the season.

ENEOS SC430, K1 grandstand in the background.

The KEIHIN NSX driven by Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi took 2nd while the ARTA NSX (above) driven by Ralph Firman and Takuya Izawa took the last step of the podium.

In the GT300 class, the I.M JIHAN CO.LTD•APPLE•Shiden took the win with an impressive charge from the back of the grid. The starting driver Hiroki Katoh took advantage when a crash occured on the 1st lap and took several cars out. Katoh moved from 19th to 10th in just a single lap and continued pushing until the 1st pitstop. Hiroki Yoshimoto took charge from there to record a superb win by finishing 9 seconds ahead of No. 9 WedsSport IS350 driven by Manabu Orido and Tatsuya Kataoka No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORSAMEMIYASGC 7 driven by Nobuteru Taniguchi and Ryo Orime took 3rd place.

For more photos from the 4th round of the AUTOBACS Super GT Series, click here

Photo/Editorial: Anas Zakaria