A GR8(6) Race At Okayama!!! (Week 13)

Kabort Motorsport
Dec 8, 2022
4 min read

As The Battle Of The Little Wings headed to Oran Park, the brand new "Shiny New Shakedown" series was headed to the Toyota's home country of Japan.

I don't know why, but I always try my best to avoid racing at circuits which no longer exist - and I've done pretty well (keeping this up) since my debut year.

Oran Park was demolished and replaced by a housing estate back in 2010 - which gave me a perfect opportunity to test out the new Toyota GR86 racing car.

In midnight practice, I found the car to be "significantly different to anything I've driven before" and comparable to a sponge - but a good type of sponge.

Being a completely new car, I knew I wasn't going to be challenging for the fastest time out on track - I was just there to see if it would be a viable option to race for a season.

In qualifying, I was absolutely on pace with where I thought I'd be - lower half of the Top 10. (8th)

Into the braking zone of turn 1, I'd be in 7th (P3 stalled/launched so early he thought he jumped, and then was spun out at turn one too) - but would immediately be hit from behind, spinning into the turn 1 gravel bed.

After recovering, and driving out of the gravel bed, I was 20th before I got spun out (by a different driver) again, putting me to 21st and plumb last.

Despite this, I finished Lap 1 in 17th/22nd....Due to:

21st) P5 only doing qualifying and not showing up for the race (#7)

20th) P4 lost control early in the lap and completely broke his engine after a hefty head-on impact with the wall. (#14)

19th) Then-P17 (who spun me out Turn 2 - had his own start dramas) crashed out again and gifted me 19th (#13) - He did not finish.

18th) The pole-sitter (and leader at the time) (#31) lost control at the final corner, but on re-joining pulled straight in front of P9 - P9 having nowhere to go other than the side/rear of the then-leader.

17th) P3 who had a drive-through/stop-go penalty for ever so slightly jumping the start. (#9)

After the massive mis-fortune of the leader spinning out, P2 (#118) took an easy victory - winning by 13 seconds.

Now, because I'm an incapable moron, I only saved the first and last lap/s (should have saved the whole replay first!) - Nevertheless, the bits I do remember, were absolute chaos, with cars spinning off left right and centre on every lap.

As my replay ended, P9 (#1) spun out before being collected by P9 (#2) and P10 (#05) - P10 heavily. - all three finished - although P11 (#28) also got slightly involved, he retired - although possibly due to something later on that lap.

The driver behind this incident was car #11 (P12) - and after slamming into the leader, he retired at the end of the same lap - he may have had some involvement in the incident in front and called it quits

Car #13 also retired on lap 2.

The Final Lap

The final lap of the race was probably one of the most exhilarating laps I've ever had/done - filled with thrills and spills.

On the straight between Turn 1 & 2, I was less than 2 seconds behind (but not quite within 1). By the long back-staight, I was within 1 second - and the driver ahead was about to have the worst sector of his life...

Into the heavy braking zone at the end of the straight, the driver ahead brakes ever so slightly earlier - but uses more force - by the time we both turn in, I'm on his bumper and can smell every last drop of his sweat.

To make matters worse, upon approaching the corner, there was a backmarker that had spun, and was sitting perpendicular to the the apex, about a GR86ths-width away from the apex - as the driver ahead passes, the backmarker begins to roll forward - butt-clenching - although it gives me a slight advantage, forcing me to take a tighter line on exit - but I screw up my line to the next corner - he inches out a millescule gap, but I make it up by running a "more aggressive" line through the next turn - and with slipstream along the next straight, the gap is all but made up.

Despite him defending to the inside, through the next corner, we are about net-even - into the penultimate corner, it's every man for himself, I get a slightly tighter line and get the power on earlier, he once again defends to the inside...he keeps the position. One corner and 300 meters were left...could he hang on to it?

I brake later into the final corner. significantly. I can count the droplets of sweat of his forehead...I'm all over his bumper, I may have used all of the kerb available to me - but I had two things he did not: Slipstream and momentum - by letting the car run out slightly wide, I'm able to get on the power earlier (out of the corner) and use this momentum to cut back to the inside...

Him cutting through the air massively helps me - 200m, 100m, 50m...It's neck and neck....It's a tie-breaker...but it looks as though Robin JUST takes it - had the finish line been any further up the straight, Robin would not have finished in 5th - matching his race at Lime Rock. Anything is possible - even from 20th after being spun out.