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ASIA/OCEANIA FINAL
Japan’s Ryota Kokubun (Akagi_1942mi) Wins Race 1!
The "FIA Gran Turismo Championship 2018 Nations Cup" Asia/Oceania Regional Finals
2018/10/11

The first race of the finals took place on Suzuka Circuit with the competitors driving N500 class supercars.

Japan’s Ryota Kokubun (Akagi_1942mi) in a 911 GT3 took pole position after laying down the top time in qualifying mere moments before time was up. Second on the grid was Hong Kong’s Jonathan Wong (saika159-) in a 458 Italia. Japan’s Shogo Yoshida (gilles_honda_v12) driving an NSX and Tomoaki Yamanaka (yamado_racing38) in an AMG GT S were positioned behind them on the second row.

It was a clean start as no one wanted to be involved in an early-race pile up.

As the race progressed, saika159 kept a slower pace, as did gilles_honda_v12, who had problems with tire wear early on. The early leader, Akagi_1942mi took advantage of this, widening his lead over the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the pack, despite running off the track at the chicane on Lap 1 after a slight collision with another driver, Autralia's Cody Nikola Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) in a Viper GTS moved up to 6th position.

On Lap 3, still struggling with his tires gilles_honda_v12 oversteered through the 130R, allowing yamado_racing38 to move up to 3rd.

On Lap 4, gilles_honda_v12, in 4th place, dove into the pits for a tire change. Nik_Makozi was assessed a five-second penalty for driving over the white line while leaving the pits.

Not wanting to get caught in pit traffic, Akagi_1942mi, saika159- and yamado_racing38 waited another lap before heading into pit lane. Thanks to his keen tire conservation Akagi_1942mi was able to maintained his lead.

With two laps left, yamado_racing38 managed to close the gap between him and saika159-, but was unable to ultimately get around him.

After completely dominating the race, never relinquishing his lead, the victory went to Japan’s Ryota Kokubun (Akagi_1942mi) in a stunning pole-to-checker finish.

Comments from the winner: Ryota Kokubun (Akagi_1842mi)

Much like the race on Day 1, I started from pole position, so I was able lay out my own plans for the race. Because I changed tires on Lap 5, after the halfway point on this eight-lap race, I was able to avoid any traffic and keep my own pace throughout and that was my key to victory.

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