# 2018 Okayama GT 300km

The 2018 Okayama GT 300km was the first round of the 2018 Super GT Series. It was held at the Okayama International Circuit in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
The GT500 category was won by Koudai Tsukakoshi and Takashi Kogure in the #17 Real Racing Honda NSX-GT, whilst Yuhki Nakayama and Takashi Kobayashi won the GT300 category in the #18 Team UpGarage Toyota 86.

## Race Report
### Qualifying

Rain affected both qualifying sessions for the GT500 and GT300 categories, which shuffled the grid owing to changing track conditions.

#### GT500

In a what was tumultuous qualifying session, the #17 Real Racing outfit piloted by Koudai Tsukakoshi and Takashi Kogure achieved pole position, after the #24 Kondō Racing Nissan GT-R of Mitsunori Takaboshi and João Paulo de Oliveira had set the pace in the first qualifying session. 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button qualified fifth on his Super GT debut, whilst Swede Felix Rosenqvist qualified in fourth place, cementing a solid run in his debut. One of the biggest shocks to come out of qualifying was the defending champions Ryō Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy failing to get into the second part of qualifying.
| Pos | No | Team | Vehicle | Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2 | Grid |
| 1 | 17 | Real Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.351 | 1:26.905 | 1 |
| 2 | 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.696 | 1:27.058 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | NDDP [ja] by B-Max Racing | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.605 | 1:27.486 | 3 |
| 4 | 6 | Lexus Team LeMans Wako's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.576 | 1:27.570 | 4 |
| 5 | 100 | Team Kunimitsu | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.332 | 1:27.985 | 5 |
| 6 | 24 | Kondō Racing | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.160 | 1:28.659 | 6 |
| 7 | 19 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.619 | 1:29.793 | 7 |
| 8 | 23 | NISMO | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.370 | 1:35.248 | 8 |
| 9 | 1 | Lexus Team KeePer Tom's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.796 | | 9 |
| 10 | 38 | Lexus Team ZENT [ja] Cerumo | Lexus LC 500 | 1:18.877 | | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | Team Impul | Nissan GT-R | 1:18.944 | | 11 |
| 12 | 16 | Team Mugen | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.992 | | 12 |
| 13 | 64 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 1:18.994 | | 13 |
| 14 | 36 | Lexus Team au Tom's | Lexus LC 500 | 1:19.108 | | 14 |
| 15 | 39 | Lexus Team SARD | Lexus LC 500 | 1:19.315 | | 15 |
| Source(s): |||||||

#### GT300

The qualifying session for the GT300 category was just as hectic. The Toyota 86 MC entries in the GT300 class appeared to be the pace setters throughout the weekend, with the #25 Tsuchiya Engineering entry of Takamitsu Matsui and Sho Tsuboi set the initial pace in Q1 with a time of 1:25.232. But, it was ultimately the #88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Marco Mapelli and Kazuki Hiramine took the pole with a time of 1:33.925 in Q2.
| Pos | No | Team | Vehicle | Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2 | Grid |
| 1 | 88 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 1:26.220 | 1:33.925 | 16 |
| 2 | 21 | Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Audi R8 LMS | 1:25.966 | 1:34.082 | 17 |
| 3 | 11 | Gainer | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:25.619 | 1:34.798 | 18 |
| 4 | 65 | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.173 | 1:34.804 | 19 |
| 5 | 25 | Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota 86 MC | 1:25.232 | 1:35.154 | 20 |
| 6 | 96 | LM corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:26.043 | 1:35.236 | 21 |
| 7 | 31 | apr [ja] | Toyota Prius apr GT | 1:25.770 | 1:35.543 | 22 |
| 8 | 55 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | BMW M6 GT3 | 1:26.307 | 1:35.729 | 23 |
| 9 | 18 | Team UpGarage | Toyota 86 MC | 1:25.926 | 1:35.756 | 24 |
| 10 | 61 | R&D Sport | Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | 1:25.674 | 1:36.623 | 25 |
| 11 | 777 | CarGuy Racing | Honda NSX GT3 | 1:26.008 | 1:36.623 | 26 |
| 12 | 5 | Team Mach | Toyota 86 MC | 1:26.029 | 1:36.990 | 27 |
| 13 | 26 | Team Taisan | Audi R8 LMS | 1:26.141 | 1:37.176 | 28 |
| 14 | 2 | Cars Tokai Dream28 | Lotus Evora MC | 1:25.492 | 1:43.462 | 29 |
| 15 | 0 | Good Smile Racing with Team Ukyo | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.316 | | 30 |
| 16 | 34 | Modulo Drago Corse | Honda NSX GT3 | 1:26.505 | | 31 |
| 17 | 10 | Gainer | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:26.524 | | 32 |
| 18 | 52 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Toyota Mark X MC | 1:26.604 | | 33 |
| 19 | 360 | Tomei Sports [ja] | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:26.646 | | 34 |
| 20 | 7 | D'station Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:26.730 | | 35 |
| 21 | 9 | Pacific with Gulf Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:26.730 | | 36 |
| 22 | 87 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 1:26.880 | | 37 |
| 23 | 50 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:26.971 | | 38 |
| 24 | 60 | LM corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:27.001 | | 39 |
| 25 | 30 | apr [ja] | Toyota Prius apr GT | 1:27.009 | | 40 |
| 26 | 117 | EIcars Bentley | Bentley Continental GT3 | 1:27.070 | | 41 |
| 27 | 22 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1:27.339 | | 42 |
| 28 | 35 | Arto Panther Team Thailand | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1:27.587 | | 43 |
| 29 | 48 | Dijon Racing | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 1:27.779 | | 44 |
| Source(s): |||||||

### Race

* GT500 entries
| Pos | Class | No | Entrant | Drivers | Vehicle | Laps | Time / Retired | Grid |
| 1 | GT500 | 17 | Real Racing | Koudai Tsukakoshi Takashi Kogure | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | 1hr 55min 14.381sec | 1 |
| 2 | GT500 | 100 | Team Kunimitsu | Jenson Button Naoki Yamamoto | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1.610 s | 5 |
| 3 | GT500 | 1 | Lexus Team KeePer Tom's | Ryō Hirakawa Nick Cassidy | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 5.582 s | 9 |
| 4 | GT500 | 6 | Lexus Team LeMans Wako's | Kazuya Oshima Felix Rosenqvist | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 5.759 s | 4 |
| 5 | GT500 | 23 | NISMO | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 36.990 s | 8 |
| 6 | GT500 | 24 | Kondō Racing | Mitsunori Takaboshi João Paulo de Oliveira | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 48.375 s | 6 |
| 7 | GT500 | 3 | NDDP [ja] by B-Max Racing | Satoshi Motoyama Katsumasa Chiyo | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 59.362 s | 3 |
| 8 | GT500 | 38 | Lexus Team ZENT [ja] Cerumo | Hiroaki Ishiura Yuji Tachikawa | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:00.357 s | 10 |
| 9 | GT500 | 19 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | Yuji Kunimoto Kenta Yamashita | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:05.532 s | 7 |
| 10 | GT500 | 16 | Team Mugen | Hideki Mutoh Daisuke Nakajima | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1:06.532 s | 12 |
| 11 | GT500 | 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Tomoki Nojiri Takuya Izawa | Honda NSX-GT | 82 | + 1:07.199 s | 2 |
| 12 | GT500 | 39 | Lexus Team SARD | Heikki Kovalainen Kamui Kobayashi | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:10.110 s | 15 |
| 13 | GT500 | 36 | Lexus Team au Tom's | Yuhi Sekiguchi Kazuki Nakajima | Lexus LC 500 | 82 | + 1:11.410 s | 14 |
| 14 | GT500 | 12 | Team Impul | Jann Mardenborough Daiki Sasaki | Nissan GT-R | 82 | + 1:11.838 s | 11 |
| 15 | GT500 | 64 | Nakajima Racing | Kosuke Matsuura Bertrand Baguette | Honda NSX-GT | 81 | + 1 lap | 13 |
| 16 | GT300 | 18 | Team UpGarage | Yuhki Nakayama Takashi Kobayashi | Toyota 86 MC | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 17 | GT300 | 7 | D'station Racing | Tomonobu Fujii Sven Müller | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 18 | GT300 | 25 | Tsuchiya Engineering | Takamitsu Matsui Sho Tsuboi | Toyota 86 MC | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 19 | GT300 | 65 | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Haruki Kurosawa Naoya Gamou | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 77 | + 5 laps | |
| 20 | GT300 | 11 | Gainer | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Hironobu Yasuda | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2018) | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 21 | GT300 | 55 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Shinichi Takagi Sean Walkinshaw | BMW M6 GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 22 | GT300 | 88 | JLOC | Kazuki Hiramine Marco Mapelli | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 23 | GT300 | 0 | Goodsmile Racing by Team Ukyo | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 24 | GT300 | 26 | Team Taisan | Shinnosuke Yamada Shintaro Kawabata | Audi R8 LMS | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 25 | GT300 | 50 | Arnage Racing | Masaki Kano Hideto Yasuoka | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 26 | GT300 | 52 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Taku Bamba Shigekazu Wakisaka | Toyota Mark X MC | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 27 | GT300 | 87 | JLOC | Yuya Motojima Kimiya Sato | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 28 | GT300 | 10 | Gainer | Kazuki Hoshino Hiroki Yoshida | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2018) | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 29 | GT300 | 96 | K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa | Yuichi Nakayama Morio Nitta | Lexus RC F GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 30 | GT300 | 777 | CarGuy Racing | Takeshi Kimura Naoki Yokomizo | Honda NSX GT3 | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 31 | GT300 | 9 | Pacific with Gulf Racing | Rintaro Kubo Keishi Ishikawa | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 76 | + 6 laps | |
| 32 | GT300 | 60 | LM Corsa – OTG Motor Sports | Hiroki Yoshimoto Ritomo Miyata | Lexus RC F GT3 | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 33 | GT300 | 61 | R&D Sport | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 34 | GT300 | 22 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Masaki Jyonai Hisashi Wada | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 35 | GT300 | 30 | apr Racing | Hiroaki Nagai Kota Sasaki | Toyota Prius apr GT | 75 | + 7 laps | |
| 36 | GT300 | 117 | Elcars Bentley | Yuji Ide Ryohei Sakaguchi | Bentley Continental GT3 (2016) | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 37 | GT300 | 48 | Dijon Racing | Masaki Tanaka Taiyou Iida | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2017) | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 38 | GT300 | 2 | Cars Tokai Dream28 | Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh | Lexus Evora MC | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| 39 | GT300 | 35 | Arto Panther Team Thailand | Nattavude Charoensukhawatana Nattapong Horthongkum | Lexus RC F GT3 | 74 | + 8 laps | |
| Ret | GT300 | 21 | Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Richard Lyons Ryuichiro Tomita | Audi R8 LMS | 42 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 5 | Team Mach | Natsu Sakaguchi Yuya Hiraki | Toyota 86 MC | 41 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 31 | apr Racing | Natsu Sakaguchi Yuya Hiraki | Toyota Prius apr GT | 30 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 34 | Modulo Drago Corse | Ryo Michigami Hiroki Otsu | Honda NSX GT3 | 18 | Retired | |
| Ret | GT300 | 360 | Tomei Sports | Yusaku Shibata Takayuki Aoki | Honda NSX GT3 | 17 | Retired | |
| Source(s): |||||||||