Lamborghini concludes Super GT300 season with victory at Motegi

The long-awaited success – Lamborghini and JLOC’s first this season after a difficult campaign prior to the final weekend – is the brand’s seventh in Super GT competition and third at the Motegi circuit. It also marks Lamborghini Factory Driver Kvyat’s maiden victory in GT3 racing, while Kogure notched up his sixth win in the Japan-based championship.

Two races were held on the 2.493km circuit across the weekend, with Saturday’s encounter the replacement round for the cancelled Sepang race from earlier in the season. Kvyat and Kogure showcased the improved pace of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 in qualifying, setting the third-quickest time and finishing fourth in the race. A disqualification for a rival crew subsequently elevated Kvyat and Kogure back to third post-race.
 

The crew of the #88 Huracán then went even better on Sunday morning, with Motegi specialist Kogure taking pole position on his last lap. His effort of 1m45.082 was a mere 0.067s quicker than the second-placed car, while the top five was covered by less than a quarter of a second in an ultra-tight session.

Kogure held onto the lead off the rolling start and maintained a slender margin over the chasing cars across the opening stint. As several others behind adopted a no-tyre change strategy, JLOC elected to go the other way and change the rears when Kvyat took over from Kogure on lap 25.

The longer stop meant the #88 surrendered the lead of the race to the #666 Porsche but, with more life in his tyres as the race wore on, Kvyat’s pace was strong in the second half and the ex-Formula One driver began to close the gap entering the final stages.

There was a brief scare with nine laps remaining however, as Kvyat suffered contact from a GT500 Toyota in the final sector. The #88 survived this contact and, with the aid of a late full course yellow period, utilised the superior grip from the fresher tyres on the Huracán to seize back the lead of the race with three laps to go. Kvyat dived to the inside of turn three under braking, with the pair going side-by-side around turn four before the move was completed at turn five.

From there, the #88 was in the clear and Kvyat brought the car home to victory by over two seconds, to give him and Kogure their first win of the year and end their debut campaign together on a positive note.

Lamborghini Factory Driver, Daniil Kvyat (#88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2): “It was a good race, thank you to the team. It was a difficult race because of our rivals' strategies. But Kogure got pole position, our strategy worked, and it was a great result. I'm very happy to have won the final race. It was an amazing race.”

Team-mate Takashi Kogure (#88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2): “This is a truly wonderful victory. I wanted to stand on the podium with Daniil. Yesterday in the third round, we came in third, but that was after the podium had been decided (so we missed out). As a team, car No.87 also had a chance, which is a shame, but overall, it's a good result. I want to thank everyone on the team.”

China GT Championship – Sepang
Elsewhere, the China GT Championship also drew to a close, with Lamborghini achieving two podium finishes across three races taking place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

Local driver Akash Nandy was joined by Jiatong Liang in the #63 Absolute Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, and the pair took an impressive second place finish in the opening race of the weekend on Saturday after qualifying fourth on the grid.

Pole position for race two, however, was not rewarded with a second victory of the year for the team, as Nandy and Liang had to make do with third place.

Despite qualifying second for the third and final race of the year, a pre-race issue meant the car was forced to start the wet race from the pit-lane. Nandy charged through the field from the back of the grid to break into the top 10 before he handed over to Liang. From there, Liang made yet more progress to finish sixth at the flag.