On Oct. 18, the qualifying for the SUPER GT IN KYUSHU 300 km, Round 8 of the 2008 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at the AUTOPOLIS (lap = 4.674 km) in Oita Pref. In this qualifying, the XANAVI NISMO GT-R (drivers: Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) qualified 1st in the GT500 class and will start from the pole position in the race on the 19th.

For the XANAVI NISMO GT-R team, this is their second pole position of the season, following one in round. This PP is also the sixth of the season for the new Nissan GT-R in its debut SUPER GT season.

In the GT300 qualifying, Tetsuya Tanaka won his first class pole of the season driving the JIMCENTER ADVAN F430.  

Spectators: 15,300

Pole position winner comments

No. 28 XANAVI NISMO GT-R [GT500]

Benoit Treluyer: “This is the greatest. But we didn’t have a good set-up this morning and I was worried. I became extremely nervous, because I wanted to win the pole position. But when I went out on the track for the Super Lap the machine felt very good and that enabled me to drive with confidence. How about tomorrow’s race? I had a dream that the machine ran perfectly and I was able to hand it over to Satoshi still in the lead. I hope that is the way it goes tomorrow (laughs).”

Satoshi Motoyama: “I am very happy. Because, as Benoit just said, he was very nervous and he didn’t look confident (laughs). But in the Super Lap he ran very well and got a good time for us. This race is very important toward winning the series title and everyone on the team was tense, but after this result we will be able go into tomorrow’s race feeling good.”

No. 11 JIMCENTER ADVAN F430 [GT300]

Tetsuya Tanaka: “It’s been a long time since I got a pole position. It is the first time since the Autopolis race five years ago. I wet into the qualifying today aiming to get the pole position, and that made me more nervous than usual. So I am especially relieved with this result. I made a mistake on the first turn of my Super Lap, but I got everything together well after that. The machine and the tires were perfect. Since trouble and collisions with other machines have kept me from getting good results this season, I want to put together a good race tomorrow and get us up on the podium.”

Masayuki Ueda: “As Tetsuya said, we were out to win the PP this time, so this is a relief. At the same time, thinking about tomorrow’s race gives me butterflies (grimacing laugh). This is my second year in the GT and I have been driving the Ferrari since last year. This year I have felt the machine getting faster with each race. I am going to do my best in tomorrow’s race to make the most of the position Tetsuya won us today.”