TOM’S Lexus Wins 500-Mile Fuji Race

Photo: Super GT

Lexus Team au TOM’S took victory in the 500-mile Super GT race at Fuji Speedway on Sunday with its Lexus LC 500 driven by Kazuki Nakajima and Yuhi Sekiguchi.

The No. 36 Lexus took the lead late in the race, the longest of the Super GT season, when the leading Team Impul Nissan GT-R had engine problems.

This moved the au-backed Lexus into the top spot, and its first win of the season, coming after it ran out of fuel from the lead battle in the closing stages of the last race at Buriram.

It marked Nakajima’s sixth GT500 class win, and his first with Sekiguchi, after four hours and 40 minutes of racing.

Ryo Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy were just 1.5 seconds behind in second position, driving their No. 1 Lexus Team KeePer TOM’S car, giving the Tokyo-based team a 1-2 finish.

The Keihin-sponsored Real Racing car was the best-placed Honda NSX-GT in third, with Koudai Tsukakoshi and Takashi Kogure driving.

Kondo Racing’s Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Mitsunori Takaboshi finished sixth with the highest-placed Nissan, meanwhile.

Sean Walkinshaw and Shinichi Takagi picked up their second win of the season for Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in GT300.

They finished over one lap clear to score their third Fuji win in a row with the No. 55 BMW M6 GT3, ahead of Goodsmile Racing with Team Ukyo’s Mercedes-AMG GT3.

RESULTS: Fuji

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.