ARTA’s Honda CR-Z GT brings home the win in Sepang for the GT300 Class

Paving the way of the future – it was a race of the racing hybrids in Sepang last Sunday. Taking home a one-two finish for the GT300 class were Honda CR-Z GT hybrids from two hot teams – AUTOBACS Racing Team Aguri & Mugen. As the flag goes off and the grid starts dispersing, the race became a fierce battle between the two CR-Zs.

Despite taking pole position during qualifying, ARTA’s CR-Z GT driven by Shinichi Takagi only managed a small lead for the first 5 laps of the race. It was absolutely tight, with its close competitor right up its tail. Only until the 7th lap – where they managed to pull a 2-second lead over Mugen’s CR-Z GT and kept the lead all the way to the finish.

It’s been a rough time for ARTA as they’ve been returning with rather disappointing results from the last 2 rounds – “so I have to admit that I felt pressure coming into this race at Sepang.” says Shinichi Takagi. The team admits that it was not easy, and that because their closest and biggest competitor, the Mugen CR-Z GT were also running the same tyres and machine made the race that much more interesting.

Position #2 went to the Mugen CR-Z GT – which too was experiencing the same situation as it’s rival. Although they are seemingly similar to each other, one small factor kicks in as the Mugen team has a weight handicap that they had to carry. Despite the minor disadvantage, they still manage to keep a close 2-second gap between the #1 car.

It was nothing short of exhilarating to watch the two hybrids chasing for the win, but another interesting battle was between the Subaru BRZ R&D Sport – GAINER Rn-SPORTS DIXCEL Mercedes SLS – and ManePa LAMBORGHINI GT3 who were fighting for position #3.

Coming from 7th on the grid, Gainer Dixcel SLS driven by Katsuyuki Hiranaka/Bjorn Wirdheim made up 3 places by the first turn and pulling team Subaru BRZ down by 1 position. At the same time, ManePa Lamborghini driven by Manabu Orido/Takayuki Aoki were also running strong and chasing down. Although they did not manage a podium finish, they certainly gave the Subaru BRZ a good fight, as they were hunted down with many close calls on turns between the two teams.

In the end though, Gainer Dixcel SLS took home the 3rd position and marking their podium finish at Super GT Round 3.

Results of Super GT Round 3 – Sepang International Circuit