The MOTEGI GT300km race, Round 7 of the 2006 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took
place at Twin Ring Motegi (one lap 4.801 km) in Tochigi Pref. on
September 10, and the RAYBRIG NSX driven by Sebastien Philippe and Shinya
Hosokawa raced to their first victory of the season in the GT500 class.
Blessed by fair weather, the race started at 14:00. From the pole
position, Philippe pulled away from the pack to run alone in the lead, and
he held that lead until he turned over the wheel to his teammate,
Hosokawa. Aside from giving up 1st position momentarily for its routine pit
stop, the team maintained its lead throughout the race. This was the
second consecutive win here at Twin Ring Motegi for the RAYBRIG NSX team,
following last season's victory. This win also put Philippe and
Hosokawa on top of the drivers ranking in a tie with the No. 36 Lexus SC team
drivers Juichi Wakisaka
and Andre Lottere. With two races remaining in the series and little
difference in the point standings from 3rd and below, there is sure to be
plenty of hot racing ahead.
In the GT300 class, the JIM CENTER FERRARI DUNLOP machine driven by
Tetsuya Tanaka and Takayuki Aoki came from second position on the GT300
class grid to claim the class victory.
Photos/news used with permission of the SuperGT Series-no reuse without permission of SuperGT.
DaveK
