Nissan Motor : "MOTORSPORTS" THREEBOND NISSAN TECHNICAL COLLEGE GT-R ACHIEVES 2ND PLACE FINISH

March 30, 2015

NISSAN Motor Co., Ltd.
NISSAN Motorsports International Co., Ltd.

March 28th-29th, Twin Ring Motegi (Tochigi)
The opening round of the 2015 Super Taikyu series, the "Motegi Super Endurance" was held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture where the #24 "ThreeBond Nissan Technical College GT-R" (Satoshi Hoshino/Tomonobu Fujii/Mitsunori Takaboshi) achieved a 2nd place podium finish. In addition, Techno Fast Racing Team's #34 "asset ings Z34" took class victory in the ST-3 class.

Commonly known as the "S-Tai," the Super Taikyu series is a firm favorite with Japanese racing fans. As with last season, the opening round was competed at Motegi, after which the series will tour around Japan's major circuits with a total of 6 races. The race distance (hours) for a typical round is usually a 3-hour endurance. However, with the opening round set at 5 hours and the Fuji race scheduled to be 8 hours, the "endurance" flavor of the series has been intensified. Competing in the ST-X class, where overall race victory is decided, is the #24 "ThreeBond Nissan Technical College GT-R," a joint project between the Nissan Technical College and KONDO RACING. Taking the wheel is a new trio of platinum certified pro-driver, Tomonobu Fujii, gentlemen driver, Satoshi Hoshino, and Mitsunori Takaboshi, who will be competing in the SUPER GT'S GT300 class and the All Japan F3 this season. Furthermore, also competing in the ST-X class, is the defending champion, the #1 "GTNET ADVAN NISSAN GT-R," and the #5 "MACH MAKERS GT-R." With this, the NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 has formed the majority of participating vehicles in the ST-X class.

The starting grid for the Super Taikyu is determined on the total time achieved by combining the A-driver and B-driver's best recorded times in official qualifying. After setting the fastest time in Saturday morning's warm-up run, the #24 GT-R continued on this momentum in the afternoon's official qualifying session, displaying solid pace and securing an overall 2nd place start. Jumping one car to the rear, beginning in 4th and 5th, would be the #5 GT-R and #1 GT-R, placing all three in top starting positions.

The race officially began at 12:19pm on Sunday and, in the initial moments, the pack proceeded along in starting grid order. Beginning in 2nd place, the #24 GT-R would move up and down the order due to routine pit stops, but was consistently in the fight for the podium. After racing for 5 hours and 102 laps they passed the checkered flag in 2nd place, securing a podium finish and a fantastic start to the season. Following behind was the #1 GT-R, which was definitely looking set to reach the podium also, but was forced to make an emergency pit at the 90-lap mark. Ultimately, they were forced to retire due to transmission trouble. On the other hand, within the four Nissan Fairlady Zs (Z34) that competed in the ST-3 class, the top qualifying #34 Fairlady Z managed to maintain its position runt up until the end of the race and take home class victory.

Tomonobu Fujii's (#24 ThreeBond Nissan Technical College GT-R/ Race 2nd)
"This being Motegi, a 5-hour marathon race [and tough on the brakes], even from qualifying we were concentrating intently on the car's setup. We started the race in 2nd place and we were all careful to implement our drive according to the strategy that we had developed before hand. Even though this was the S-Tai debut for Hoshino (Satoshi), as well as his first time driving a GT3, he completely met our expectations. Takaboshi (Mitsunori) also pulled out a great performance despite his tough schedule. On top of that, the support we received from all the Nissan Technical College students was outstanding. To be able to achieve such a good result in response to the great deal of support from the whole team makes me really happy."

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