SUPER GT Round 5 FUJI GT 300km RACE LEXUS LC500 Achieves Fifth Consecutive Podium

GT500 class

ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38 co-piloted by Yuji TACHIKAWA/Hiroaki ISHIURA finished third place with the all-new LEXUS LC500 at the Autobacs Super GT 2017 series at Fuji International Speedway.

The LEXUS LC500 has now achieved its fifth consecutive podium.

GT300 class

JMS P.MU LMcorsa RC F GT3 No.51 with drivers Yuichi NAKAYAMA/Sho TSUBOI finished ninth place in the GT300 class with the all-new LEXUS RC F GT3. The team has now achieved a top-10 result for the fourth time.

Yuji TACHIKAWA (ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38)

We suffered with the balance of the car since yesterday. It didn’t improve during the 20 minutes warm up today, so we had to change the set up at the grid right before the race. That enabled us to bring the car to a level that can fight. At first, it was difficult to pass a few cars (different brands) ahead of us that had bigger ristrictors, but I was able to pass a few cars when others got caught with the GT300 class and also waited for their misses when the tires started to worn down. It would have been better if we could have gone one more position above, but I think it was difficult. When I think about this weekend’s circumstances, I am satisfied with today’s result. The team points are almost even, so the championship competition starts now. We have some severe weight handicap at the next 1000 km race but that’s the same for the rivals, and we should have a good chance of getting high positions during the long race, so I’m looking forward to achieving good results.

Hiroaki ISHIURA (ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38)

I ended up going after the No.23 car (MOTUL AUTECH GT-R). I thought I could pass them because I knew we had better chances at brake points, but it wasn’t possible to defeat them because I knew I would crash the car if I push too hard with their strong block. I wanted to push during the last lap but I ended up giving them some margin after we caught up with the GT300 class. But we were able to race with a good pace. I was worried about the car since yesterday, and that we had to make a big change to the set up at the grid, but I was relieved after seeing TACHIKAWA drive. I went with the same tires as him, which was not the plan, but it worked out great. For me, I am dissapointed that I couldn’t witn the battle after I went out from the pit, but am happy with the podium.

GT500 CLASS RESULTS

GT300 CLASS RESULTS

Drivers Standings (GT500)

Team Standings (GT500)