Real Honda at centre of FCY SUPER GT overtake controversy

The #17 Real Racing Honda NSX-GT of Koudai Tsukakoshi and Nobuharu Matsushita launched itself into title contention with its first win of the season last month, putting the duo within four points of the championship lead heading into this weekend’s Motegi decider.

However, the validity of the result at Autopolis has been cast into doubt by on-board footage from the Real Honda uploaded to SUPER GT’s official YouTube channel.

The footage shows the #17 car of Matsushita, along with the #19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota GR Supra of Yuji Kunimoto, passing the #22 R’Qs Motor Sports Mercedes AMG-GT3 immediately prior to the Full Course Yellow period that was called on lap 17 of 65 in response to the #5 Team Mach Toyota 86 MC getting stuck in the gravel at Turn 1.

According to the SUPER GT sporting regulations, overtaking is not allowed in the 10-second window prior to the start of a FCY period. A screen in Matsushita’s car can be seen showing the 10-second warning before he arrives at Turn 1.

The normal punishment for this type of offence is a drive-through penalty, to be converted into a 40-second time penalty if applied post-race. 

Had this been applied, it would have dropped Tsukakoshi and Matsushita to eighth place, while the Bandoh Toyota of Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi would drop from fourth to 10th.

Crucially, this would have put the #17 Honda out of the title fight, as they would have been 23 points behind the points-leading #3 NDDP Racing Nissan Z of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi with only 21 on offer this weekend at Motegi.

Chiyo and Takaboshi would have moved up from seventh to fifth in the results, putting them on 60 points, 2.5 points clear of Impul Nissan pair Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine, who would have been promoted from sixth to fourth place.

Kunimitsu Honda pair Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino would have been promoted to victory, and would have headed to Motegi 14 points off the lead, while the #37 TOM’S and #14 Rookie Racing Toyotas would have remained fringe title contenders.

SUPER GT rules dictate that any protests must be filed by 30 minutes after the official declaration of the result at the latest, meaning there is no realistic prospect of the Autopolis result being retroactively changed.

Contacted by Motorsport.com for comment, a GTA spokesperson said the matter will be addressed in Sunday’s press conference prior to the Motegi race.

#17 Astemo NSX-GT

Photo by: Masahide Kamio