Threebond Nissan Technical College GT-R Takes Maiden Win

Okayama prefecture, Japan – Round 4 of the Super Taikyu Series took place at Okayama International Circuit over the weekend. Contesting the GT3 class, the #24 Threebond Nissan Technical College GT-R (Tomonobu Fujii/GAMISAN/Katsumasa Chiyo) scored its first victory of the season.

On the opening lap of Sunday's race, a multi-car crash occurred, taking out the ST3-class #5 OKABE JIDOSHA Makers Z34 (Daisuke Imamura/Mitsunori Atake/Tsuyoshi Shirai).

Once the Safety Car period had ended and the race resumed, starting driver Fujii in the #24 GT-R pushed the pace, and in an instant increased his lead. With almost a third of the three-hour race completed, second stint driver GAMISAN took over. During the second stint as well, the gap over second place increased, and within that hour had grown to over one minute. After 62 laps, third stint driver Chiyo took over. During the final stage of the race, with oil scattered all over the track and having to pass groups of slower moving cars which were one lap behind, Chiyo was unable to increase the lead as in the opening stage of the race. However, the driver who also competes in a GT3-spec GT-R in SUPER GT, calmly steered the car to the checked flag. It was the first championship victory for #24 GT-R in three races since its debut.

In the ST1 class, the #3 ENDLESS ADVAN 380RS-C (Kyosuke Mineo/Yukinori Taniguchi/Shinichi Takagi), which had used up one of two mandatory pit stops during the Safety Car period right after the start of the race, increased its lead over second place in the second half of the race. However, during the final stint, the car suffered electrical problems and had to make an urgent and unscheduled pit stop. The repair work took a considerable amount of time, but despite the delay, the #3 ENDLESS ADVAN 380RS-C still managed to seal third place.

In the ST3 Class, the #35 asset Techno Z33 (Kazuhiro Koizumi/Hiroki Yoshida/Makoto Hotta) started fifth in class after qualifying and crossed the finish line third for their first appearance on the victory stand this season. The car that sidestepped the #35 Z machine for a come-from-behind second-place finish was the #15 Okade Jidosha DIXCEL Team Tetsuya Z34 (Masaaki Nagashima/Tetsu Tanaka/Tetsuya Tanaka), which had qualified sixth. Additionally, the #63 Rire Racing & Leyjun Z33 (OSAMU/Katsunori Ikeya/Katsuyoshi Tanaka) made a spot appearance in the race, finishing sixth in class.

In every race, the #24 GT-R uses student mechanics as part of its team staff. On this occasion, roughly 50 students, from Nissan Motor Technical College Yokohama and its sister school Nissan Motor Technical College Kyoto, took part in the race weekend's activities. In the practice sessions on Friday, the #24 GT-R collided with another vehicle, resulting in damage to the car, but the professional and student mechanics were able to cooperate and make repairs. There was also electrical trouble on qualifying day, but the drivers were able to brush that aside, and with spirited driving, take pole position for the first time. The following day they achieved their first victory, much to the joy of the students on hand.

Tomonobu Fujii (GT3-class race winner)
"The project started this year, and ever since Coach Kondo announced our goal to win at that press conference, I've wanted to somehow take victory, and as soon as possible. I am very glad that so many students came to give their support at this race, and that we were able to win thanks to all of their help - and also that I was able to achieve the first victory in the FIA GT3-spec GT-R in Super Taikyu."

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