The Sepang round of the 2011 SUPER GT series took place over the June 18-19 weekend at Sepang International Circuit (located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). After qualifying in 2nd place, the #46 S Road MOLA GT-R (Masataka Yanagida/Ronnie Quintarelli) earned the same position in the race. For this year's debutants, it was their first podium.
Under cloudy skies, the race got underway at 4pm with the customary rolling start, the order of which had been decided in the previous day's Super Lap. Sitting on pole was the #1 HSV-010, though the machine that topped the timesheets in Saturday's first qualifying session and again in Sunday morning's warm up was the #46 GT-R. Their performance in those sessions set the scene for what was to come in the race. Ronnie Quintarelli was in charge of the car's set-up and duly took starting driver duties, setting off from the outside of the front row. Latching onto the rear bumper of the pole-sitting #1 HSV-010, he finished the opening lap in 2nd place. From there, he waited for a chance to reverse the leading cars' positions, continuously applying pressure from behind and waiting for his rival to make a mistake. That error never came however, and Quintarelli pitted the #46 GT-R on lap 23, handing the car over to Masataka Yanagida. However, the timing of the stop was not favourable and after changing tyres, the car's pace on its outlap wasn't sufficient to overhaul the #1 machine and the chance of taking over the premier position escaped the team. Yanagida continued to drive at a steady pace throughout the latter stages of the race, crossing the line in 2nd place after the car had completed 46 laps.
Winners of the Sepang round in 2007 and 2008, the KONDO RACING squad was looking for another strong finish this time around. Qualifying in eighth place, Bjorn Wirdheim was given starting driver responsibilities in the #24 GT-R, and he impressed by advancing to fifth on the opening lap while also building up a gap to his pursuers. The Swede made an early pit stop, coming in to hand over to Hironobu Yasuda on lap 16. By lap 29, when all machines had made their stops, the car was running in fourth - and would go on to cross the finish line in that position. Team Director Masahiko Kondo: “Last year we weren't able to finish better than fifth, so this result was crucial for the team and our self-confidence.”
Meanwhile, the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R saw Joao Paolo de Oliveira, who qualified the car 4th, take the wheel for the opening stint. Amidst the confusion at the first corner on the opening lap however, he got pushed into the runoff area. Though there was no damage to the car, he lost valuable positions by falling to eleventh. To add insult to injury, a problem developed with the engine, robbing the team of their top speed. As a result, despite being unable to increase its pace, the car was brought in on lap 16, Tsugio Matsuda jumping into the car. The problem remained unresolved throughout the second half of the race, and Matsuda finished in a disappointing 15th position.
After winning the Fuji round in May, the #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) came to Sepang weighed down with the greatest amount of success ballast among the GT-R entries, 52 kilos. Because of this, the car could do no better than 12th in qualifying. In the race, Treluyer took the wheel for the first half, though the car was beset with suspension trouble, making attacking in the corners impossible. He came in on lap 28, handing over to Motoyama who took charge for the final stint. On this occasion the team made the stop without changing tyres, trying to shave off time to the cars ahead by whatever means possible. Although the machine returned to the track in 6th place, overall pace remained unimproved and the car finished the race in 14th.
