Tsuboi and Miyata carved their method by way of from twelfth on the grid to attain their second win of 2023 aboard the #36 Toyota GR Supra and take a seven-point lead within the championship with solely the season finale left to run.
In an exciting and unpredictable 450km race, Miyata caught the long-time main ARTA Honda of Hiroki Otsu within the closing stint of the race, with the pair partaking in a fierce duel for the highest spot.
Otsu had taken over from team-mate Nirei Fukuzumi within the #16 ARTA NSX-GT on lap 59 of 97, whereas Miyata – who changed Tsuboi on the wheel of the #36 automotive on the first spherical of pitstops – made his last cease on lap 65.
However Miyata fought by way of from a internet fifth place to seize second inside a matter of laps, dispatching the points-leading NDDP Racing Nissan of Mitsunori Takaboshi within the course of, earlier than closing down Otsu’s five-second lead.
By lap 80, Miyata had caught as much as the again of Otsu, and after a number of laps of on-the-limit dicing by way of the visitors, Miyata made the decisive transfer up the within on the Flip 11 hairpin on lap 87.
Miyata went on to take the chequered flag by 5 seconds, as Otsu held off the NDDP Nissan that Takaboshi took over for the ultimate stint from Katsumasa Chiyo.
The end result implies that the highest three vehicles within the race are the one vehicles that may nonetheless win the championship within the season finale at Motegi: Fukuzumi and Otsu will head to the finale as rank outsiders in third, 13 factors behind Tsuboi and Miyata with 21 on provide.
The Cerumo Toyota of Yuji Tachikawa and Hiroakj Ishiura was fourth after Ishiura made a late move on the Impul Nissan of Kazuki Hiramine.
The Impul automotive shared by Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette made up floor from thirteenth on the grid with an undercut technique, however fifth place marks the tip of their title defence.
Honda squad Actual Racing had appeared to be within the body for a podium end late on, however Koudai Tsukakoshi pale late on to complete sixth within the NSX-GT began by Nobuharu Matsushita.
Subsequent up have been two extra Toyota squads, the #37 TOM’S automotive of Ukyo Sasahara and Giuliano Alesi and the Rookie Racing machine of Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita.
Naoki Yamamoto’s stand-in at Team Kunimitsu, Iori Kimura, introduced house the NSX-GT he shared with Tadasuke Makino in ninth.
NISMO opted for an unconventional three-stop technique for the Z shared by Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda, however it did not pay dividends and the duo needed to be content material with tenth.
The #8 ARTA Honda was a non-finisher after Tomoki Nojiri went off into the obstacles in his stint, whereas the SARD Toyota was dominated out by mechanical points.
#16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
Photograph by: Masahide Kamio
A nailbiting GT300 contest was gained by Saitama Toyopet Toyota GR Supra pairing Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai, as Yoshida held off the Inging Toyota GR86 GT of Yuui Tsutsumi and Hibiki Taira by simply 0.6s.
Yoshida and Kawaai’s second straight win places them on the cusp of the championship, as they lead with 20 factors – Tsutsumi and Taira would wish to attain the utmost 21 factors and hope their rivals fail to attain to overtake them.
Behind the main two vehicles, the brand new apr Lexus LC500h scored its first podium end within the arms of Kazuto Kotaka and Yuki Nemoto, who gamely held off the works Subaru BRZ of Takuto Iguchi within the closing phases.
Nemoto ensured a podium lockout for Toyota fashions and Bridgestone tyres within the course of, whereas the Subaru crew of Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi made it an-all JAF GT300 high 4.
Better of the FIA GT3 finishers was the Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of Teppei Natori and Joao Paulo de Oliveira, who made just one tyre change en path to a powerful restoration from seventeenth to fifth.
That end result wasn’t sufficient nonetheless to maintain Natori and de Oliveira in title rivalry, with Workforce Studie BMW man Seiji Ara likewise dropping out of the working after ending eighth within the M4 GT3 he shared with Bruno Spengler.
The UpGarage Honda crew that was second within the factors heading to Autopolis was taken out of the race by the Ok-tunes Racing Lexus RC F GT3, as Morio Nitta locked up and clouted the rear of Shun Koide’s NSX GT3 at Flip 1.
Koide and Takashi Kobayashi have been in a position to proceed however completed down in seventeenth place.
GT500 outcomes:
1. #36 au TOM’S GR Supra
2. #16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
3. #3 Niterra MOTUL Z
4. #38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra
5. #1 MARELLI IMPUL Z
6. #17 Astemo NSX-GT
7. #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra
8. #14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra
9. #100 STANLEY NSX-GT
10. #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z
11. #64 Modulo NSX-GT
12. #24 Notice Company ADVAN Z
13. #19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra
DNF #39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra
DNF #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
GT300 outcomes:
1. #52 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT
2. #2 muta Racing GR86 GT
3. #31 apr LC500h GT
4. #61 SUBARU BRZ R＆D SPORT
5. #56 Notice Nissan Mechanic Problem GT-R
6. #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG
7. #88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3
8. #7 Studie BMW M4
9. #11 GAINER TANAX GT-R
10. #10 PONOS GAINER GT-R
11. #50 ANEST IWATA Racing RC F GT3
12. #65 LEON PYRAMID AMG
13. #20 Shade Racing GR86 GT
14. #360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R
15. #6 DOBOT Audi R8 LMS
16. #30 apr GR86 GT
17. #18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3
18. #5 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86
19. #87 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3
20. #60 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra GT
21. #22 R’Qs AMG GT3
22. #48 Shokumou Ok’s Frontier GT-R
23. #9 PACIFIC VSpo NAC AMG
DNF #27 Yogibo NSX GT3
DNF #96 Ok-tunes RC F GT3