The Fuji GT 500 km Race, Round 3 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at Fuji Speedway (one lap 4.563 km x 109 laps) in Shizuoka Pref. on May 4, and victory went to the 11th-place qualifiers, the XANAVI NISMO Z driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons. As can be expected from a long 500 km race like this, there was a good number of car contacts, crashes and machine trouble occurring one after another. Through it all, the experienced Motoyama-Lyons pair constantly moved up through the pack to take the lead by the end of their second pit stop. It was a perfect come-from-behind victory scenario acted out with skill and precision. The GT300 class victory went to the ARTA Garaiya driven by Morio Niita and Shinichi Takagi. (Spectators: 54,800)
[ Winner Comments ] No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z [GT500] Satoshi Motoyama: “I really can’t believe this has happened. Although, I was confident that we had the capability to get a podium finish. Our car is strong when it comes to full race configuration and we had a good team strategy and it was executed well. I had told the fans that we were going to win Fuji this year even though it was not been a good course for us in the past, and we had developed the machine toward this goal. So, as a NISMO driver I am relieved to have accomplished this. In the remainder of the season I want to get another win. ” Richard Lyons: “This is a truly wonderful result. We owe it to the support we have received from the team, the fans and everyone. Considering the change in the point system this year, today’s win is very important. I hope we can win another race like this in the season. “
No. 43 ARTA Garaiya [GT300] Morio Niita: “I am extremely happy. This is ARTA’s 10th year and that has put some pressure on us as drivers for the team. There was a very strong desire to win this time and I am glad that this desire was realized. I want to see us win the next race too and put ourselves in contention for the title. ” Shinichi Takagi: “When the red flag came out to stop the race at one point it was not good for our race strategy. It should have been an easy race for us (laughs). The Michelin tires were a powerful weapon for us because they allow us to run the same consistently fast times for half the race. Thinking in terms of the series, we have to be in there with no mistakes in every round from here on. “
| 
|