SEPANG: Unheralded Weider Honda Racing team driver Takashi Kogure turned the formbooks upside down when they got it right in the vital Superlap qualifying session to grab pole position for Round 3 of the Japan Super GT series at Sepang International Circuit yesterday.
Takashi, the team’s first driver, blazed his way to the top of the timesheets in 1:55.984. Both Takashi and Loic Duval had taken turns to put the car through the paces in the practice earlier in the morning and indicated their intentions by coming in second.
Takashi again came in second in the first qualifying session with the top 10 fastest cars advancing to the Superlap session.
And the 31-year-old then timed it to perfection to hand his team an unexpected boost after a slow start to the season.
Weider Honda Racing Team are currently in 12th overall position with eight points after the first two rounds.
They are 24 points adrift of leaders Nismo, made up of drivers Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer.
“The season has not been too good for us and the car was giving us some problems. But today the car’s balance was great and the tyres also were performing well, so we are very happy to start from pole. The entire team did an excellent job,” said Kogure, who showed his delight by pumping his fists in the direction of his team’s pitbox upon stepping out of the car.
After setting the fastest lap in the first qualifying session, Team Mola settled for second spot on the grid with a lap time of 1:56.371 set by Ronnie Quintarelli.
Keihin Real Racing driver Koudai Tsukakoshi clocked 1:56.710 to put his team third on the grid for the 46-lap race today.
Andre Lotterer and Treluyer, who were team-mates in the winning Audi Team Sport at the prestigious 24 Hours Le Mans race last weekend, failed to shine for their respective teams here.
Lotterer, who drove for Lexus Team Petronas Tom with Kazuki Nakajima, suffered disappointment in what is considered their home race as their best lap of 1:58.472 could only put them 11th on the grid.
“I needed one more lap to get the most out of the tyres but we will fight tomorrow,” said Lotterer.
GT500 qualifying rounds
Top 10: 1. Takashi Kogure-Loic Duval (Honda HSV-010 GT) 1:55.984, 2. Masataka Yanagida-Ronnie Quintarelli (Nissan GTR) 1:56.371, 3. Toshihiro Kaneishi-Koudai Tsukakoshi (Honda HSV-010 GT) 1:56.710, 4. Tsugio Matsuda-Jaoa Paolo Oliveira (Nissan GT-R) 1:57.067, 5. Hiroaki Ishiura-Takuto Iguchi (Lexus SC430) 1:57.239, 6. Takuya Izawa-Naoki Yamamoto (Honda HSV-010 GT) 1:57.491 7. Hideki Mutoh-Takashi Kobayashi (Honda HSV-010 GT) 1:57.712, 8. Hironobu Yasuda-Bjorn Wirdheim (Nissan GT-R) 1:57.749, 9. Yuji Tachikawa- Kohei Hirate (Lexus SC430) 1:57.873, 10. Juichi Wakisaka-Andre Couto (Lexus SC430) 1:57.948.
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