Suzuka SUPER GT: Huge crash brings race to early end

The #23 NISMO Nissan Z of Matsuda and the #87 JLOC Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Matsuura were caught up in a frightening accident at 130R that brought out the red flags on lap 59 of 77.

Both Matsuda and Matsuura were reported to be conscious and ok, with Matsuda being transferred to hospital, although no replay of the accident was shown on TV, nor were images of the crash site shown.

Some time after the accident, it was announced that the race would not be resumed, with the 75 percent threshold required for full points to be awarded having been reached.

However, there was confusion as to which GT500 car would be awarded the win, as the race-leading #3 NDDP Racing Nissan had yet to complete its second mandatory refuelling stop.

The remainder of the GT500 cars had completed both stops, with the #19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota GR Supra running second ahead of the #36 TOM'S Toyota.

Should the #3 Nissan be given a penalty for not completing its second stop, it would mean a first win since 2016 for the Bandoh car shared by Yuji Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi.

Leading the way in the GT300 class was the #7 Team Studie BMW M4 GT3 of Seiji Ara and Masataka Yanagida.

UPDATE: The GT500 results were provisionally announced with the #3 NDDP Nissan of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi awarded the victory by 31.782 seconds ahead of the Bandoh Toyota.

The #36 TOM'S Toyota of Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata was classified third ahead of the Impul Nissan of Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine in fourth and the Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX-GT of Tadasuke Makino and Naoki Yamamoto in fifth.

In GT300, Studie BMW pair Ara and Yanagida were confirmed as the winners ahead of the Inging Toyota GR86 of Hibiki Taira and Yuui Tsutsumi, with the Saitama Toyopet Toyota GR Supra of Kohta Kawaai and Hiroki Yoshida third.

NISMO announced that Matsuda has been transferred to hospital by helicopter for further examination.

Provisional race results:

GT500

1. #3 Niterra MOTUL Z
2. #19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra
3. #36 au TOM'S GR Supra
4. #1 MARELLI IMPUL Z
5. #100 STANLEY NSX-GT
6. #14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra
7. #16 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
8. #24 Realize Corporation ADVAN Z
9. #17 Astemo NSX-GT
10. #38 ZENT CERUMO GR Supra
11. #37 Deloitte TOM'S GR Supra
12. #8 ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT
13. #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z
14. #64 Modulo NSX-GT
15. #39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra

GT300

1. #7 Studie BMW M4
2. #2 muta Racing GR86 GT
3. #52 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT
4. #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R
5. #11 GAINER TANAX GT-R
6. #61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT
7. #60 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra GT
8. #10 PONOS GAINER GT-R
9. #30 apr GR86 GT
10. #20 Shade Racing GR86 GT
11. #25 HOPPY Schatz GR Supra GT
12. #96 K-tunes RC F GT3
13. #65 LEON PYRAMID AMG
14. #31 apr LC500h GT
15. #360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R
16. #6 DOBOT Audi R8 LMS
17. #244 HACHI-ICHI GR Supra GT
18. #50 ANEST IWATA Racing RC F GT3
19. #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG
20. #5 Machsyaken Air Buster MC86
21. #27 Yogibo NSX GT3
22. #88 JLOC Lamborghini GT3
23. #87 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3
24. #9 PACIFIC Vspo NAC AMG
25. #48 Shokumou K's Frontier GT-R
26. #22 R'Qs AMG GT3
Ret #18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3