Suzuka Super GT: New Nissan Z dominates for first GT500 win

Just over a fortnight after Takaboshi's horrifying crash at Fuji Speedway, which required Nissan to rebuild the car around a spare chassis, Chiyo aced the start of Sunday’s 300km race to lay the foundations for both his and Takaboshi’s first victory in the GT500 ranks.

Lining up third in the #3 Michelin-shod Nissan Z, the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour winner eased past the #37 TOM’S Toyota GR Supra of Sacha Fenestraz into Turn 1 and then made a brave pass over Yuji Kunimoto’s Bandoh Toyota at the high-speed 130R to end the opening lap in the lead of the race.

An early Full Course Yellow for Bertrand Baguette’s stranded Impul Nissan and a full-blown Safety Car on lap 11 of 52 following a crash for a Honda GT300 car did throw a spanner in the works, but Chiyo’s position was never threatened as he remained comfortable out front.

TOM’S tried to undercut the Nissan by bringing in Fenestraz to the pits on lap 19 of 52 to hand over the car to teammate Ritomo Miyata, but such was Chiyo’s lead that he could make his stop two laps later and still allow teammate Takaboshi to emerge from the pitlane comfortably in front.

A late safety car on lap 40 following an incident for the #244 Max Racing Toyota GT300 car wiped out the healthy lead Takaboshi had built since taking over the driving duties from Chiyo, but the 29-year-old made a perfect restart after the SC retreated with nine laps to go en route to a comfortable win.

It marked the first victory for the new Nissan Z GT500 contender in only its third start in the category, as well as the fourth successive win for the Yokohama-based manufacturer at Suzuka following its double triumph in 2020 and another victory in last year’s event.

Second place in the race went to the Real Racing Honda of