Breaking News – Dome Honda HSV-010 takes 2010 Super GT Title

Honda has done it ! The HSV-010 takes the championship in its first season thanks to the great work of the Dome team and its pair of wickedly fast drivers, Loïc Duval and Takashi Kogure. They came second to the TOM’S Lexus of Juichi Wakisaka and André Lotterer in the Motegi race earlier today but that was enough for them to become champions in GT500. In the GT300 category, the Hasemi Sport Nissan Z put in a solid performance to win the race from pole, unexpectedly winning the category title along the way, their rivals failing to score significant points this round.

The task of the Weider HSV-010 squad was made easier even before the race started when their main rival, the number 6 Eneos Lexus, inadvertently ran the pit lane red light on the way to the grid. A 20 second stop and go was immediately issued, effectively ruining the chances of the Lexus outfit. But Duval and Kogure could not cruise to the checkered flag as they were chased to the flag by another Lexus, the number 1 TOM’S car. The last 20 laps were a furious nose to tail battle between the two cars; Kogure in the Honda refusing to relent even though the championship was in the bag. Eventually the Lexus got past and won the race but not after some hair raising door banging action between the two that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.

In GT300, the number 3 Z got off the line cleanly and set about building a secure gap between themselves and their rivals. The title chaser Corolla Axio number 74 put itself out of the fight pretty much immediately with a non scheduled trip through the gravel, rejoining way back in the ranks. The most dangerous adversaries to the Nissan outfit, the Garaiya number 43 and the Mazda number 7, found themselves stuck in the middle of the pack and unable to score the necessary points at the end to prevent the Z drivers from becoming champions.

The GT300 Hasemi Motorsport pair was ecstatic after the race; taking the championship was beyond their best expectations. This is the second time that the paring of Masataka “Ma” Yanagida and Kazuki Hoshino have won the GT300 championship after taking the title for the Mola team in 2008. In both cases, they were not the fastest car on the track for most of the season but used their experience to get precious points when it counted – an important lesson for less consistent hopefuls.

We will be back very soon with more details and more pictures. In the meantime, congratulations to the new champions!

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Words – Pierre Laurent Ribault

Photos – Pierre Laurent Ribault