Round 8 of SUPER GT, the final round of the 2023 season, was held at "Mobility Resort Motegi" on November 4-5.
In Q1 qualifying, Tsukakoshi drove confidently to advance to Q2 for the seventh time in a row. Matsushita took on Q2 and drove aggressively, finishing 2nd place for his best result of the season.
The final race started under cloudy skies, and Matsushita was unable to close the gap with car #3 (Niterra MOTUL Z) in front, and managed to keep his position under difficult conditions as rain started to fall. He lost a position on lap 23 after a tough battle with car #36 (TOM‘S GR Supra) in 3rd position. The team made a pit stop on lap 26 and the driver switched to Tsukakoshi. The team was able to return the machine to the course in 8th. He gradually closed the gap with car #23 (MOTUL AUTECH Z) in front and overtook it on the 53rd lap, moving up to 3rd. But with the intensified rain the team made a pit stop with 6 laps to go to change to rain tires. Returning to the course in 5th position, while rivals were struggling with the wet track surface, car #17 was pushing hard to catch up, but car #3 driving in the lead ran off the course and an Full Course Yellow (FCY) was called. After the FCY was cleared, Tsukakoshi made a strong push again, finishing in 3rd place.
It was a tough season, but we were able to finish the final round of 2023 season and the last run of the NSX-GT with a strong 3rd podium finish. Thank you for your support for Astemo REAL RACING this season.