27-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Sakaguchi shatters 18-year-old course record at Sepang
SEPANG: WedsSport Advan Toyota GR Supra, driven by Yuji Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi, will start from pole position for the Autobacs Super GT championships tomorrow after a dominant display in the qualifying rounds at the Sepang International Circuit today.
Sakaguchi secured his fifth career GT500 pole in spectacular fashion, clocking a blistering 1:49.748 in Q2 – shattering the 18-year-old course record of 1:54.306 set by Takashi Kogure in 2007.
His teammate Kunimoto had earlier topped Q1 to hand Sakaguchi the chance to fight for pole, and the 21-year-old delivered in emphatic style, giving the team the best possible start as they chase a record seventh consecutive GT500 class victory tomorrow.
A jubilant Sakaguchi said he had an enjoyable outing at the Sepang track and was looking forward to the race tomorrow.
"I'm happy to be here, first time to race in Sepang for Super GT and there's a lot to deal with (during the race) but it was very exciting and we managed to push and I enjoyed the track," said the 25-year-old in the post race press conference.
ARTA Mugen Honda Civic Type R-GT's Tomoki Nojiri-Nobuharu Matsushita were second with 1:50.350 in the qualifying rounds, while Modulo Honda Civic's Takuya Izawa-Riki Okusa were third fastest with 1:50.388.
There was drama early in Q2 as Sacha Fenestraz of TGR TEAM SARD was forced to park his SARD car, which had been fastest in Friday morning practice, with an apparent engine fire.
While the fire was quickly controlled, with Fenestraz emerging unharmed, it left the SARD car 10th on the grid, with the status of its engine not immediately clear.
Meanwhile, championship leaders Sho Tsuboi-Kenta Yamashita of TGR TEAM au TOM'S qualified eighth after clocking 1:51.064.
In the GT300 category, Takashi Kobayashi and rookie Yuto Nomura grabbed the spotlight as the UPGarage Mercedes-AMG GT3 claimed pole with a new lap record of 2:02.110.
