Audi R8 LMS wins 24-Hour race at Spa-Francorchamps

24-hour Spa-Francorchamps winners : Matthias Ekström / Greg Franchi / Timo Scheider - #33 Audi R8 LMS - Audi Sport Team WRT

INGOLSTADT/SPA : July 31, 2011 – The Audi R8 LMS won the most important endurance race for GT cars ahead of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Audi Sport Team WRT overcame the strongest competition during the 63rd running of the 24 hours of Spa (Belgium). The two DTM stars Mattias Ekström (Sweden) and Timo Scheider (Germany) and the Belgian endurance specialist Greg Franchi shared driving duties in the victorious mid-engine sportscar.

24-hour Spa-Francorchamps winners : Matthias Ekström / Greg Franchi / Timo Scheider - #33 Audi R8 LMS - Audi Sport Team WRT

Experts agreed before the race started that the endurance classic, held since 1924, had never fielded so many potential winners as this year. A total of 62 cars representing 13 different manufacturers joined the grid, including no less than 57 cars of the worldwide booming GT3 category.

The opening stages of the endurance classic in particular fulfilled expectations. Spectators lining the 7.004 kilometer track and in front of television screens enjoyed tough battles for position, countless overtaking maneuvers, retirements and small and big dramas which are typical for a 24-hour race. The Audi R8 LMS was the fastest car in the field from the very beginning. After just a few hours it was clear that the V10 powered R8 sports cars where the favorites for the victory.

The race of the victorious #33 R8 LMS fielded by Audi Sport Team WRT was particularly impressive. The car driven by Mattias Ekström, Greg Franchi and Timo Scheider ran like clockwork for 24 hours, while many other GT3 cars were no match for the stresses and strains of the hard fought endurance race. The brake discs and pads were changed twice as scheduled. Apart from this, the R8 LMS only entered pit lane to refuel, change tires and to swap drivers. At the start of the tenth hour Ekström/Franchi/Scheider took the lead which they duly held all the way to the checkered flag. At the finish the trio had a two-lap lead over the closest rival.

Audi led 22 of the 24 hours. Just after midnight three R8 LMS actually occupied the first three positions. However, while Audi Sport Team WRT also celebrated fourth overall for the #32 car, Audi Sport Team Phoenix was struck by bad luck.

Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase and Frank Stippler led convincingly for many hours in the #99 R8 LMS and had eked out an advantage of almost an entire lap. Just after 1 a.m. Haase lost first place due to a faulty air jack system. Only an hour later the youngster slid off the track on a damp patch at Turn 9 and had to retire the car.

The #98 sister car was hit by a slower car on the left rear wheel while fighting for the lead towards the end of the third hour. Shortly afterwards second gear was lost. Although they had to continue without second gear as a result and lost additional time due to a puncture, Marcel Fässler, Andrea Piccini and Mike Rockenfeller worked their way back up to third from 13th before a gearbox change was required just after midnight. The change cost 1 hour 36 minutes. The trio still managed to battle their way through the field from 36th to 14th thanks to consistently quick laps and in the process recorded the absolute fastest race lap (Mike Rockenfeller / 2m 20.286s).

The second Audi R8 LMS entered by Audi Sport Team WRT put in two exciting comeback drives. After an accident in qualifying, Stéphane Ortelli scythed spectacularly through the field from 41st to second in the opening 90 minutes, before a drive-through-penalty for contact cost almost a lap. Changing the front left suspension components took 24 minutes and threw the #32 car back to a seemingly hopeless 42nd position. However, Filipe Albuquerque, Bert Longin and Stéphane Ortelli had other ideas, overtook car after car and finished the race in an almost sensational fourth overall. This was the icing on the cake for Audi Sport Team WRT which celebrated an important victory in its first outing as "factory” team for Audi.

"Vincent Vosse’s team really did a fantastic job during its home race,” explained Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Mattias (Ekström), Greg (Franchi) and Timo (Scheider) drove fast and without mistakes – and it was exactly this that was the key to victory this weekend alongside the reliability and speed of the R8 LMS. Unfortunately out other three cars were rather unlucky and especially Ernst Moser’s squad. That’s why it was almost like Le Mans at the end: After just a few hours we only had one iron still in the fire – but we won with this car. This shows our strong nerves and team spirit because everybody helped to take the win with the only remaining car.”

The Audi R8 LMS, which is supplied to customers by Audi Sport customer racing since last year, notched up win number 96 this weekend. "After three class victories in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and the one-two in the 12-hour race at Bathurst at the start of the year, this is without doubt the most important victory for the Audi R8 LMS and our still relatively young customer racing program,” said Werner Frowein who is responsible for the company’s customer racing program as Managing Director of quattro GmbH. "I’d like to thank everybody who worked so hard and with so much commitment to make this victory possible. After Le Mans, Audi now stands in the winners list of another great 24-hour race. We were able to show that the R8 is a fantastic sportscar. Our increasing number of customer teams also confirms this.”

One of these customer teams, United Autosports, contested the 24 hours Spa with three R8 LMS. Following an eventful race with drivers Richard Dean, Zak Brown, Stefan Johansson and Johnny Herbert can be delighted with 13th overall and sixth place in the Pro-Am category.

2011 Total 24-Hour Spa-Francorchamps : Race result

Pos	Car	Class	Drivers	Car	Time	Laps	Gap
1	33	PRO	Matthias Ekström / Greg Franchi / Timo Scheider	Audi R8 LMS	24:01:22.333	545
2	76	PRO	Dirk Werner / Edward Sandström / Claudia Hürtgen	BMW Z4	24:02:11.126	543	48.793
3	35	PRO	Kenneth Heyer / Thomas Jäger / Stéphane Lemeret	Mercedes SLS AMG	24:02:07.328	535	44.995
4	32	PRO	Filipe Albuquerqe / Bert Longin / Stephane Ortelli	Audi R8 LMS	24:01:22.579	534	0.246
5	29	PRO	Matteo Bobbi / Frank Kechele / Giacamo Petrobelli	Ferrari 458 Italia	24:02:08.636	531	46.303
6	20	PAM	Ludovic Badey / Franck Morel / Guliaume Moreau / Jean-Luc Beaubelique	Ferrari 458 Italia	24:02:08.095	530	45.762
7	90	PAM	David Jones / Godfrey Jones / Mike Jordan	Mercedes SLS AMG	24:02:48.174	529	1:25.841
8	3	PRO	Yann Clairay / Julien Rodrigues / Pierre Brice Mena	Aston Martin DBRS 9	24:03:03.486	527	1:41.153
9	50	PAM	Jack Gerber / Matt Griffin / Nicola Cadei / Marco Cioci	Ferrari 458 Italia	24:01:24.005	526	1.672
10	43	PAM	Jeroen der Boer / Simon Knap / David Hart	BMW Z4	24:02:22.158	521	59.825
11	41	PRO	Jonathan Hirschi / Markus Palttala / Antoine Leclerc	Ford GT	24:03:36.902	521	2:14.569
12	38	PAM	Andril Lebed / Bret Curtis / Peter van der Kolk / Jeroen van der Heuve	Mercedes SLS AMG	24:03:54.298	518	2:31.965
13	23	PAM	Richard Dean / Zakary Brown / Johnny Herbert / Stefan Johansson	Audi R8 LMS	24:01:21.702	512	0.631
14	98	PRO	Marcel Fässler / Andrea Piccini / Mike Rockenfeller	Audi R8 LMS	24:01:22.799	510	0.466
15	4	PRO	Frederic Makowiecki / Henri Moser / Stef Dusseldorp	Aston Martin DBRS 9	24:02:22.579	510	1:00.246
16	16	PAM	Raf Vanthoor / Marius Ritskes / Bernard van Oranje / Dennis Retera	Mercedes SLS AMG	24:03:15.492	504	1:53.159
17	19	GEN	Brody / Christoff Corten / Mathijs Herkema / Kurt Dujardin	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S	24:01:48.253	493	25.920
18	124	GEN	Martin Rich / Tim Bergmeister / Sebastian Asch / Jochen Krumbach	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S	24:03:26.615	493	2:04.282
19	12	PAM	Arie Luyendyk / Alain Li / Richard Meins / Henri Richard	Audi R8 LMS	23:34:45.942	490	26:36.391
20	79	PAM	Oliver Bryant / Alasdair McCaig / Andrew Smith / Joe Twyman	Aston Martin DBRS 9	24:03:49.698	489	2:27.365
21	888	PAM	Richard Westbrook / Christian Menzel / Mike Stursberg / Hans Guido Riegel	Porsche 997 GT3 R	22:16:18.386	485	1:45:03.94
22	63	GT4	Alex Buncombe / Jordan Tresson / Christopher Ward	Nissan 370Z	24:03:19.826	476	1:57.493
23	116	GEN	Patrick Chaillet / Thierry de Latre du Bosqueau / Benoit Galand / Christoph	Dodge Viper GT3	24:03:59.442	473	2:37.109
24	56	Cup	Marc Faggionato / Thierry Stepec / Thierry Prignaud / Franck Racinet	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	23:10:05.068	470	51:17.265
25	60	PAM	Adam Christodoulou / Glynn Geddie / Phil Quaife / Roger Wills	McLaren GT	24:02:44.783	469	1:22.450
26	82	GEN	Domenique Nury / Bernard Salam / Jean-Marc Merlin / Guy Clairay	Dodge Viper GT3	24:04:12.854	467	2:50.521
27	100	GT4	Christophe Legrand / Raffaelle Sangiuolo / Guiseppe De Pasquale / Wolfgang	BMW M3 GT4	24:02:01.694	465	39.361
28	92	PAM	Marc Duez / Jean Michel Martin / Eric Bachelart	Ford Mustang FR500	24:03:00.210	444	1:37.877
29	57	Cup	Manuel Nicolaids / Fabio Spirgi / Richard Feller / Olivier Baron	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	24:02:13.627	442	51.294
30	85	GEN	Benjamin Bailly / Julien Schroyen / Jose Close / Raphael van der Straten	Ford Mustang FR500	24:03:00.289	437	1:37.956

Images : Audi Motorsport at 24-hour Spa-Francorchamps

    
    
    
    

[Source : AUDI]

2011 Formula 1 : Button wins wet Hungarian Grand Prix

2011 Hungarian GP winner : Jenson Button - McLaren Mercedes, MP4-26

BUDAPEST : July 31, 2011 - Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) made the right tyre choices in changeable conditions to lead in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.


The 2009 world champion won his first grand prix at this track and made his 200th Formula One start in this race. It was McLaren's fourth victory of the year with two wins apiece to Lewis Hamilton and Button.

As the rain came and went, race leader Hamilton was wrong-footed in his tyre choice and lost the lead. A drive-through penalty dropped him down to sixth but he recovered to fourth. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) was third with team mate Mark Webber fifth and Felipe Massa sixth.

Vettel retains the drivers' championship lead with 234 points, followed by team mate Webber on 149, Hamilton on 146 and Alonso one point behind. Red Bull continues to lead the constructors' championship on 383 with McLaren closing up slightly on 280. Ferrari has 215.

At the start, pole man Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) got to the first corner marginally ahead of Hamilton and Button who drew alongside his team mate and challenged for third place at Turns 2 and 3, but Hamilton hung on.

Nico Rosberg and Mercedes team mate Michael Schumacher both got ahead of the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard got alongside Schumacher but couldn't find a way past as both cars fishtailed in the slippery conditions.

The 26th Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring got under way under grey skies and a light drizzle. The air temperature was 17°C and the track just one degree warmer and the drivers had elected to start on intermediate tread patterns.

Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) was carrying a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Nick Heidfeld (Renault) in the German Grand Prix last Sunday and started at the back of the field.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) ran off the track on the parade lap, showing that there was not much grip to be had on cold tyres.

Alonso drove around the outside of Schumacher and got past on the third lap.

Hamilton continued to challenge Vettel at every corner, drawing alongside but not finding enough grip to get past. Alonso got past the second Mercedes of Rosberg but he ran wide of f the track and allowed Rosberg to reclaim fourth place.

On lap four, the relentless pressure from behind by Hamilton paid off, and Vettel made a mistake, running wide and allowing the 2007 world champion past. With a clear track ahead of him, Hamilton quickly opened up a 5-second lead over the next couple of laps.

Button was just 1.7 sec behind Vettel and closing.

Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) was the first to make a pit stop for fresh tyres, choosing to return to the race on slicks, but he was battling for traction on the cold tyres. Button and di Resta were next to stop. A dry line had started to form on the racing line and Button was very careful to stay on it.

Race leader Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 11, also going out on slicks.

After all the leading drivers had pitted and their tyres were up to temperature, Button closed right up on second-placed Vettel and drove around him between Turns 1 and 2, taking second place and setting up a McLaren 1-2. Further back, Webber got past Alonso into fifth. He ran wide off the track in Turn 1 and very nearly lost the place back to Alonso, but survived.

On lap 16, Hamilton set a new fastest lap of the race - 1'28.893 - as he opened his lead over Button to 6.9 sec, with Vettel just 0.8 sec behind Button and within the DRS activation zone. Fifth-placed Alonso was close behind Webber and set a 1'28.814 before Hamilton replied with a 1'28.264 on lap 18.

As the weather data predicted another shower in ten minutes, Massa was close behind Schumacher and hoping to get past into eighth as Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) retired.

As tyre temperatures increased and the track continued to dry, lap times were improved on every lap.

As the Pirellis tyres wore down rapidly, Hamilton's lap times dropped and Button moved closer.

On lap 24, Heidfeld pitted and as he left his pit, his Renault caught fire. He continued down the pit lane but pulled off before joining the track and fled the burning car. A similar thing happened to him at Barcelona earlier this year.

On lap 26, race leader Hamilton pitted, dropping to third place behind Button and Vettel. Button pitted on the next lap as did Vettel and Hamilton resumed the lead. 18th-placed Schumacher spun his Mercedes but continued, and the retired half a lap later.

Massa got past Kobayashi on lap 34, the Japanese having only made one pit stop so far. Alonso was all over the gearbox of Webber's Red Bull unable even to get past on the straight using DRS and KERS.

Alonso was the first of the front-runners to make a third stop, fitting another set of super-softs. After two laps his tyres came up to temperature and he began to lap three second a lap faster than the leading McLarens, 34 seconds ahead.

Webber responded to the threat and pitted on lap 39 followed on the next lap by race leader Hamilton who went out again on super-softs.

Vettel had not yet pitted and was battling serious understeer before he pitted on lap 41, electing to go for the harder compound.

Button pitted for the harder option tyres on lap 42, following Red Bull's strategy and he set a new fastest lap of 1'24.549 on lap 44.

Race leader Hamilton and third-placed Alonso were on the super-softs and would have to pit one more time. Second-placed Button and Vettel and Webber in fourth and fifth were all on the harder option tyres and would probably not have to pit again with 25 laps remaining.

Button was 5.6 sec behind Hamilton and closing on him by 0.7 sec a lap.

Then, dramatically, it began to rain and Hamilton spun coming out of the chicane and recovered behind Button who took the lead on lap 47. Alonso pitted for harder option tyres, leaving Hamilton the only one out there on super-softs and 21 laps left.

With 20 laps to go, Button was leading from Hamilton +1.4, Vettel +2.8, Webber +14.1, Alonso +27.3 and Rosberg +53.6.

As the tyres started to lose temperature on the wet track, Button's lap times dropped and Hamilton began to try and find a way past, which he did on lap 51.

As conditions worsened and the harder slick tyres began to lose adhesion, cars began running off the track all over the place. Hamilton made another small error and Button got past into the lead once more, only to lose it a couple of corners later as Webber pitted for intermediate treaded tyres.

On lap 52, Hamilton also pitted for inters and rejoined in third place. Webber returned to the pits to get rid of his inters as the stewards ruled that Hamilton had impeded another car with his spin and was given a drive-through penalty. He pitted first to drop off his inters and a lap later served his drive-through penalty, dropping to sixth place, close behind the Massa/Webber scrap for fifth place.

Button was then leading by 5.5 sec from Vettel with Alonso in third, 18.3 sec behind.

Webber came out from behind Massa as they started down the main straight and he got past, bringing Hamilton closer and he got past the Ferrari two corners later.

There were no problems though for Hamilton's McLaren team mate. He set a new fastest lap of 1'23.937 and opened up his lead over Vettel to 6.4 sec on lap 59.

Hamilton set a new fastest lap of 1'23.876 as he closed up on Webber a second ahead.

There was a six-way battle for ninth place and Webber and Hamilton arrived on the traffic to find cars all over the track. Webber got wrong-footed and Hamilton dived past the Australian into fourth place, 32 sec behind Alonso with five laps remaining.

On the last lap, Hamilton closed up on the Di Resta / Buemi / Rosberg battle for seventh place with Webber just 0,8 sec behind him, but Hamilton retained the place as his team mate Button took the chequered flag.

Jenson Button celebrates his 200th Grand Prix

2011 Formula 1 : Hungarian Gran Prix - Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	70	Winner	3	25
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	70	+3.5 secs	1	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+19.8 secs	5	15
4	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+48.3 secs	2	12
5	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	70	+49.7 secs	6	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+83.1 secs	4	8
7	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	69	+1 Lap	11	6
8	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	23	4
9	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	69	+1 Lap	7	2
10	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	16	1
11	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	13
12	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	69	+1 Lap	12
13	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	68	+2 Laps	15
14	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	68	+2 Laps	8
15	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	68	+2 Laps	10
16	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	68	+2 Laps	17
17	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	66	+4 Laps	20
18	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT-Cosworth	66	+4 Laps	22
19	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	65	+5 Laps	24
20	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	65	+5 Laps	21
Ret	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	55	+15 Laps	18
Ret	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	26	+44 Laps	9
Ret	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	23	+47 Laps	14
Ret	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	17	+53 Laps	19

2011 Formula 1 : Drivers' Championship Standing

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	234
2	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	149
3	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	146
4	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	145
5	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	134
6	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	70
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	48
8	Nick Heidfeld	German	Renault	34
9	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Renault	32
10	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	32
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber-Ferrari	27
12	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	18
13	Sebastien Buemi	Swiss	STR-Ferrari	12
14	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	STR-Ferrari	10
15	Sergio Perez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	8
16	Paul di Resta	British	Force India-Mercedes	8
17	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Williams-Cosworth	4
18	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	Sauber-Ferrari	0
19	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Lotus-Renault	0
20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	HRT-Cosworth	0
21	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams-Cosworth	0
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Belgian	Virgin-Cosworth	0
23	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Lotus-Renault	0
24	Timo Glock	German	Virgin-Cosworth	0
25	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT-Cosworth	0
26	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	HRT-Cosworth	0
27	Karun Chandhok	Indian	Lotus-Renault	0

2011 Formula 1 : Teams' Championship Standing

Pos	Team	Points
1	RBR-Renault	383
2	McLaren-Mercedes	280
3	Ferrari	215
4	Mercedes	80
5	Renault	66
6	Sauber-Ferrari	35
7	Force India-Mercedes	26
8	STR-Ferrari	22
9	Williams-Cosworth	4
10	Lotus-Renault	0
11	HRT-Cosworth	0
12	Virgin-Cosworth	0

[Source : F1-Official, McLAREN, SUPERSPORT.ZA, CRASH.NET]

2011 SUPER GT : S Road MOLA GT-R wins SUGO GT race

2011 SUGO GT 250 km. GT-500 Race Winners : Masataka Yanagida / Ronnie Quintarelli No. 46 S Road MOLA GT-R - NISSAN GT-R R35

MIYAGI : July 31, 2011 - The "SUGO GT 250km RACE," Round 4 of the 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place at Sportsland SUGO circuit (one lap: 3.704 km x 68 laps) in Miyagi Prefecture on July 31. In the GT500 class race the S Road MOLA GT-R driven by Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli, starting from pole position and running away to a perfect win without ever being threatened by the competition.


Unlike the Saturday qualifying that had been cursed by heavy rains, today's race was run under cloudy skies but free of rain. The race started at 14:00 with the air temperature at a cool 22 degrees C. for this time of year.
Having won pole position in yesterday's qualifying in the S Road MOLA GT-R, Ronnie Quintarelli started the race from the front of the first row and executed a good start. For Quintarelli, the conditions with a dry track and low track temperature where very different from the rainy conditions he had won the pole position in the day before. Nonetheless, he was able to pull away from the pack at a fierce pace.

After all the teams had finished their routine pit stops the S Road MOLA GT-R was more than 20 seconds ahead of the DENSO SARD SC430 running in 2nd place. At the wheel of the MOLA GT-R for the second stint, Masataka Yanagida ran on steadily without losing any of that margin. This perfect pole-to-checkered victory was the team's first win since moving up to the GT500 class. The victory also put the Yanagida/Quinarelli driver pair on top of the point ranking as the eight-race series moves into its second half.
For the Nissan GT-R this was the third win this season. For Yanagida, who was champion of the GT300 class last season, this is his first victory in the GT500 class.

2011 SUGO GT 250 km. GT-300 Race Winners : Ryo Orime / Alexandre Imperatori No. 14 SG CHANGI IS350 - LEXUS IS350

In the GT300 class, the SG CHANGI IS350 driven by Ryo Orime and Alexandre Imperatori came from 3rd-position on the starting grid to give their team its first win. For the Lexus IS350 this is the third win, and the first since 2009, and for Imperatori it is his first win in SUPER GT competition.

(Spectators: 27,000)

Winner Comments

2011 SUGO GT 250 km. GT-500 Race Winners : Masataka Yanagida / Ronnie Quintarelli No. 46 S Road MOLA GT-R - NISSAN GT-R R35

No.46 S Road MOLA GT-R [GT500]

Masataka Yanagida: "It has been a long road [to this first GT500]. Time and again we came close but couldn't win. I want to take this momentum and carry it on to the coming races. I want to say how grateful I am to Nissan and Nismo and all the fans for their support, and to the team and Quintarelli for creating an environment where we were able to win. I also want to say a word of thanks to Masahiro Hasemi, who was my mentor in GT300 until last year. In the race, Ronnie had built us up such a margin of lead that there wasn't much risk, so I just tried to keep concentrated on my driving. I would say that I was more nervous during yesterday's Super Lap, even though I was just watching. I am not going to let myself be satisfied with this win, because there is more to come and our ultimate goal is to win the series title."

Ronnie Quintarelli: "[Watching from the pit] the second half of the race was a very long. The car was in such good condition that I was able to push hard from the very first lap. I believe I was able to build up a good margin of lead and the pit stop and driver change went very well with no misses on the part of the team, and then Yanagida-san managed the machine well all the way to the checkered. I was very happy to see it all. During the race it was slippery on the last curve and I had one dangerous moment. But there was enough of a margin that I was able to take it easy and run a clever race. Since the Michelin tires are known for being good in hot conditions, I was a bit worried about today's cool temperatures, but once I started racing I found their performance was excellent. I am really grateful to Michelin for that."

2011 SUGO GT 250 km. GT-300 Race Winners : Ryo Orime / Alexandre Imperatori No. 14 SG CHANGI IS350 - LEXUS IS350

No.14 IS CHANGI IS350 [GT300]

Ryo Orime: "I'm happy and relieved at the same time. We hadn't been able to deliver good results thus far this season, and personally I was feeling a bit anxious. But we didn't let it defeat us and we kept meeting as a team and worked to improve the machine. This time we were able to show good speed from the qualifying and in the race Alex [Imperatori] gave a good performance. I think all of this is evidence of how hard we have worked. That is why I am so relieved with this result. It was a clean battle between me and Takagi in car No.43 and I think it must have been an enjoyable one to watch for the fans."

Alexandre Imperatori: "I feel very happy. We didn't have a good start to this season but I am happy to say that we got a very good result this weekend. This is my first season competing in SUPER GT and it took me a while to get used to this type of race. But SUPER GT has so many more spectators and fans than the other races I have participated in Europe and in Japanese Formula 3 Championship. That gives me great motivation. This atmosphere is the greatest and I am very happy to have been able to win here. I want to keep winning like this."

2011 SUPER GT : Round 4 - SUGO GT 250 km. Race - GT 500 Race result

Po	No	Machine	Drivers	Time/Diff	Lap	Best lap	Tire	WH
1	46	S Road MOLA GT-R NISSAN GT-R R35 / VRH34A	Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli	1:33'14.162	68	1'17.420	MI	42
2	39	DENSO SARD SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Hiroaki Ishiura Takuto Iguchi	0'22.360	68	1'18.054	MI	10
3	32	EPSON HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Ryo Michigami Yuhki Nakayama	0'23.854	68	1'18.638	DL	2
4	24	ADVAN KONDO GT-R NISSAN GT-R R35 / VRH34A	Hironobu Yasuda Bjorn Wirdheim	0'35.516	68	1'18.345	YH	28
5	6	ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Daisuke Ito Kazuya Oshima	0'43.890	68	1'19.183	BS	36
6	17	KEIHIN HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Toshihiro Kaneishi Koudai Tsukakoshi	0'45.934	68	1'19.118	BS	50
7	100	RAYBRIG HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Takuya Izawa Naoki Yamamoto	1'15.181	68	1'19.461	BS	38
8	19	WedsSport ADVAN SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Tatsuya Kataoka Seiji Ara	1Lap	67	1'19.506	YH	22
9	36	PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Andre Lotterer Kazuki Nakajima	1Lap	67	1'19.722	BS	42
10	8	ARTA HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Hideki Mutoh Takashi Kobayashi	1Lap	67	1'19.636	BS	8
11	38	ZENT CERUMO SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	1Lap	67	1'19.222	BS	30
12	23	MOTUL AUTECH GT-R NISSAN GT-R R35 / VRH34A	Satoshi Motoyama Benoit Treluyer	1Lap	67	1'19.659	BS	52
13	12	CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R NISSAN GT-R R35 / VRH34A	Tsugio Matsuda J.P.L.de Oliveira	3Laps	65	1'19.054	BS	40
Classified (GT500: 47 Laps)
	35	D'STATION KeePer SC430 LEXUS SC430 / RV8KG	Juichi Wakisaka Andre Couto	33Laps	35	1'19.352	BS	2
	1	Weider HSV-010 Honda HSV-010 GT / HR10EG	Takashi Kogure Loic Duval	48Laps	20	1'19.381	BS	48

2011 SUPER GT : Round 4 - SUGO GT 250 km. Race - GT 300 Race result

Po	No	Machine	Drivers	Time/Diff	Lap	Best lap	Tire	WH
1	14	SG CHANGI IS350 LEXUS IS350 / RV8J	Ryo Orime Alexandre Imperatori	1:33'14.532	63	1'25.756	YH
2	74	COROLLA Axio apr GT TOYOTA COROLLA Axio / 2GR-FSE	Morio Nitta Yuji Kunimoto	0'28.729	63	1'25.981	YH	28
3	43	ARTA Garaiya ARTA Garaiya / VQ35DE	Shinichi Takagi Kosuke Matsuura	0'33.138	63	1'25.983	BS	22
4	25	ZENT Porsche RSR PORSCHE 911GT3 RSR / M97/81	Akihiro Tsuzuki Takeshi Tsuchiya	0'57.889	63	1'26.534	YH	22
5	33	HANKOOK PORSCHE PORSCHE 911GT3 R MY2010 / M97/79	Masami Kageyama Tomonobu Fujii	1'00.690	63	1'26.018	HK	44
6	4	HATSUNEMIKU GOODSMILE BMW BMW Z4 GT3 / P65B44	Nobuteru Taniguchi Taku Bamba	1'01.784	63	1'25.612	YH	68
7	11	JIMGAINER DIXCEL DUNLOP 458 Ferrari 458 GTC / F142GT2	Tetsuya Tanaka Katsuyuki Hiranaka	1'02.632	63	1'26.044	DL	90
8	66	triple a Vantage GT2 Aston Martin V8 Vantage / V8	Hiroki Yoshimoto Kazuki Hoshino	1'13.053	63	1'26.394	YH	40
9	5	Mach GoGoGo Syaken RD320R VEMAC 320R / M97/77	Katsuhiko Tsutsui Haruki Kurosawa	1Lap	62	1'26.559	YH
10	88	JLOC Lamborghini RG-3 Gallardo RG-3 / 07L1	Hiroyuki Iiri Yuhi Sekiguchi	1Lap	62	1'25.556	YH	22
11	26	Verity TAISAN Porsche PORSCHE 911GT3 RS / M96/77	Kyosuke Mineo Junichiro Yamashita	1Lap	62	1'26.596	YH
12	41	NetMove TAISAN Ferrari Ferrari F430 GT / F136GT	Shinichi Yamaji Hiroshi Koizumi	1Lap	62	1'26.471	YH	8
13	2	EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 Apple Shiden Shiden MC/RT-16 / 1UZ-FE	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	2Laps	61	1'25.855	YH	10
14	7	EVANGELION RT PRODUCTION MODEL-02 DIRECTION PORSCHE 911GT3 R MY2011 / M97/79	Carlo Van Dam Akira Mizutani	11Laps	52	1'26.711	YH
15	86	JLOC Lamborghini RG-3 Gallardo RG-3 / 07L1	Yuya Sakamoto Takayuki Aoki	18Laps	45	1'26.794	YH	2
16	87	RIRE Lamborghini RG-3 Gallardo RG-3 / 07L1	Atsushi Yogo Manabu Orido	18Laps	45	1'26.920	YH	30
Classified (GT300: 44 Laps)
	27	PACIFIC NAC IKAMUSUME Ferrari Ferrari F430 / F136GT	Yutaka Yamagishi Hideki Yamauchi	21Laps	42	1'26.610	YH	34
	31	HASEPRO MA IWASAKI apr COROLLA TOYOTA COROLLA Axio / 2GR-FSE	Koki Saga Yuki Iwasaki	28Laps	35	1'27.083	YH	16
	62	R&D SPORT LEGACY B4 SUBARU LEGACY B4 / EJ20	Tetsuya Yamano Kota Sasaki	40Laps	23	1'26.154	YH	12
	22	R'Qs Vemac 350R VEMAC 350R / ZK348	Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai	41Laps	22	1'27.108	YH
	69	ThunderAsia MT900M Mosler MT900M / XV	Naoki Yokomizo Hiroki Yoshida	60Laps	3	1'25.699	YH

2011 SUPER GT - GT-500 : Drivers' Championship Standing

Po	No	Drivers	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total	1st Diff	WH
1	46	Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli	5	1	15	20					41	-	82
2	17	Toshihiro Kaneishi Koudai Tsukakoshi	11	3	11	5					30	-11	60
3	23	Satoshi Motoyama Benoit Treluyer	6	20							26	-15	52
4	1	Takashi Kogure Loic Duval	4		20						24	-17	48
5	6	Daisuke Ito Kazuya Oshima		15	3	6					24	-17	48
6	100	Takuya Izawa Naoki Yamamoto	15		4	4					23	-18	46
7	36	Andre Lotterer Kazuki Nakajima	8	8	5	2					23	-18	46
8	24	Hironobu Yasuda Bjorn Wirdheim	2	4	8	8					22	-19	44
9	12	Tsugio Matsuda Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira	20								20	-21	40
10	39	Hiroaki Ishiura Takuto Iguchi		5		15					20	-21	40
11	38	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	3	6	6						15	-26	30
12	19	Tatsuya Kataoka Seiji Ara		11		3					14	-27	28
13	32	Ryo Michigami Yuhki Nakayama	1			11					12	-29	24
14	8	Hideki Mutoh Takashi Kobayashi		2	2	1					5	-36	10
15	35	Juichi Wakisaka Andre Couto			1						1	-40	2

2011 SUPER GT - GT-300 : Drivers' Championship Standing

Po	No	Drivers	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total	1st Diff	WH
1	11	Tetsuya Tanaka Katsuyuki Hiranaka	15	15	15	4					49	-	98
2	4	Nobuteru Taniguchi Taku Bamba	8	6	20	5					39	-10	78
3	74	Morio Nitta Yuji Kunimoto	5	4	5	15					29	-20	58
4	33	Masami Kageyama Tomonobu Fujii		20	2	6					28	-21	56
5	66	Hiroki Yoshimoto Kazuki Hoshino	20			3					23	-26	46
6	43	Shinichi Takagi Kosuke Matsuura		5	6	11					22	-27	44
7	14	Ryo Orime				20					20	-29	40
8	14	Alexandre Imperatori			-	20					20	-29	40
9	25	Akihiro Tsuzuki Takeshi Tsuchiya		11		8					19	-30	38
10	27	Yutaka Yamagishi Hideki Yamauchi	6		11						17	-32	34
11	87	Atsushi Yogo Manabu Orido	11		4						15	-34	30
12	88	Hiroyuki Iiri Yuhi Sekiguchi		3	8	1					12	-37	24
13	31	Koki Saga Yuki Iwasaki		8							8	-41	16
14	62	Tetsuya Yamano Kota Sasaki	3		3						6	-43	12
15	2	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	4		1						5	-44	10
16	41	Shinichi Yamaji Hiroshi Koizumi	2	2	-						4	-45	8
17	5	Haruki Kurosawa		-		2					2	-47	4
18	5	Katsuhiko Tsutsui	-	-	-	2					2	-47	4
19	86	Yuya Sakamoto Takayuki Aoki	1								1	-48	2
20	34	Hiroshi Takamori Michael Kim		1	-	-					1	-48	2

2011 SUPER GT - GT-500 : Teams' Championship Standing

Po	No	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total	1st Diff	WH
1	46	MOLA	8	3	18	23					52	-	82
2	17	KEIHIN REAL RACING	14	5	14	8					41	-11	60
3	23	NISMO	9	23	3	2					37	-15	52
4	6	LEXUS TEAM LeMans ENEOS	3	18	6	9					36	-16	48
5	36	LEXUS TEAM PETRONAS TOM'S	11	11	8	4					34	-18	46
6	100	TEAM KUNIMITSU	18	2	7	7					34	-18	46
7	24	KONDO RACING	5	6	11	11					33	-19	44
8	1	Weider Honda Racing	7	1	23						31	-21	48
9	39	LEXUS TEAM SARD	2	8	3	18					31	-21	40
10	12	TEAM IMPUL	23	1	2	1					27	-25	40
11	38	LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO	6	9	9	2					26	-26	30
12	19	LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH	1	14	3	5					23	-29	28
13	32	NAKAJIMA RACING	4	1	3	14					22	-30	24
14	8	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	3	4	5	3					15	-37	10
15	35	LEXUS TEAM KRAFT	2	2	4						8	-44	2

2011 SUPER GT - GT-300 : Teams' Championship Standing

Po	No	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total	1st Diff	WH
1	11	JIMGAINER	18	18	18	7					61	-	98
2	4	GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO	11	9	23	8					51	-10	78
3	74	apr	8	7	8	18					41	-20	58
4	33	HANKOOK KTR	3	23	5	9					40	-21	56
5	43	AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI	1	8	9	14					32	-29	44
6	66	A speed	23			6					29	-32	46
7	14	Team SG CHANGI	3	1		23					27	-34	40
8	27	LMP MOTORSPORT	9	3	14						26	-35	34
9	25	SAMURAI Team TSUCHIYA		14		11					25	-36	38
10	87	JLOC	14	1	7	1					23	-38	30
11	88	JLOC		6	11	4					21	-40	24
12	31	apr	3	11	3						17	-44	16
13	62	R&D SPORT	6	1	6						13	-48	12
14	41	Team TAISAN CINECITTA	5	5	-	3					13	-48	8
15	2	Cars Tokai Dream28	7		4	1					12	-49	10
16	26	Team TAISAN CINECITTA	3	1	3	3					10	-51
17	5	TEAM MACH	1	-	3	5					9	-52	4
18	86	JLOC	4		3	1					8	-53	2
19	34	HANKOOK KTR	1	4	-						5	-56	2
20	22	R'Qs MOTORSPORTS	3	1	1						5	-56
21	69	ThunderAsia Racing	1	1	3						5	-56
22	360	TOMEI SPORTS	1	1	-						2	-59
23	7	DIRECTION RACING	-	-	-	1					1	-60

Images : 2011 SUPER GT - R4 SUGO GT 250 km. Race

    
    
    
    

[Source : SUPER GT - Official]