Super Taikyu: Podium result for Team Nova Audi at Suzuka Day 2

Johan Laubscher

The Japanese Super Taikyu Endurance Championship headed to Suzuka for round six. Nova Engineering took part with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra and performed very well during the weekend.

Round six of the Super Taikyu had a three race format. The weekend was split into three races, with a duration of forty minutes each, instead of the normal single endurance race setup. Nova Engineering (Team Nova) have now become a regular team in the Super Taikyu with their R8 LMS ultra. Their #8 car was driven by the duo of Seiji Ara and Shohei Yuzawa this weekend. 

Qualifying on Saturday yielded fourth, second and fifth place starting positions for the three races respectively. Race one followed the qualifying sessions, with Yuzawa driving to a top five finish in race one held yesterday afternoon.

Races two and three were held on Sunday. The second race saw Seiji Ara starting from second position and competing very well. He brought the Audi home to the finish for Team Nova's first podium result with their Audi, finishing third overall. Race two was again won by the #1 Petronas Syntium Mercedes-Benz SLS ahead of the #81 GTNET Nissan GTR GT3.

The third and final forty minute sprint race saw Shohei Yuzawa behind the wheel. He started from fifth and collected the team's third top five result for the weekend by finishing fourth. Race three was won by the #28 Petronas Syntium Mercedes-Benz SLS ahead of their teammates in the #1 SLS and the #81 GTNET Nissan GTR GT3 in third.

The Super Taikyu results can be seen HERE.

The finale of the Super Taikyu will be a three hour race held at Autopolis in November.

Photo credit: Super Taikyu

Super Taikyu: Team Nova Audi Top 5 and front row at Suzuka Day 1

Johan Laubscher

The Japanese Super Taikyu Endurance Championship headed to Suzuka for round six. Nova Engineering took part with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra and performed very well on Saturday,  day one of the event.

Round six of the Super Taikyu had a three race format. The weekend was split into three races, each with a duration of forty minutes, instead of the normal single endurance race setup. Qualifying along with the first race was held on Saturday, followed by the second and third races on Sunday.

Nova Engineering (Team Nova) have now become a regular team in the Super Taikyu with their R8 LMS ultra. Their #8 car was driven by the duo of Seiji Ara and Shohei Yuzawa this weekend. 

Qualifying was split between the drivers of each car, up to three drivers per car. Seiji Ara was able to post the second fastest time during the A driver segment of qualifying. His teammate, Shohei Yuzawa, posted the fourth fastest time during the B driver segment. 

The grid for race one was comprised of the times from segment B, thus the #8 Audi R8 LMS ultra lined up fourth for race one. The second race starting grid was based on segment A and the Audi would line up second on the grid. The third and final race starting grid was a combined aggregate from segments A and B, the Audi pairing netted fifth place.

The first race was held on Saturday and the Team Nova R8 LMS ultra, with Shohei Yuzawa behind the controls, crossed the line in fifth place. Race one was won by the #1 Petronas Syntium Mercedes-Benz SLS ahead of two Nissan GTR GT3s and the sister #28 SLS in fourth.

The Super Taikyu results can be seen HERE.

Races two and three are set for tomorrow at Suzuka. We wish the best of luck to the Nova Engineering squad to continue their good form. 

Photo credit: Super Taikyu

Super Taikyu: Top Ten result for Nova Engineering Audi R8 LMS ultra at Okayama

By Johan Laubscher

The Super Taikyu was at Okayama this weekend. It was round five of the season and it was a three hour event.

The Nova Engineering Audi R8 LMS ultra made its third consecutive appearance in the series. Seiji Ara and Shohei Yuzawa were behind the wheel of the #8 Audi R8 LMS ultra at round five.

They qualified seventh overall for the three hour endurance event. By the end of the first hour they had dropped outside of the top ten, but they had recovered to sixth place overall by the end of the second hour. Ultimately they finished in seventh place overall.

The race was won by the #28 PETRONAS Syntium Mercedes-Benz SLS ahead of the #24 Nissan GT-R and the #1 PETRONAS Syntium SLS.

Round six of the Super Taikyu will be taking place at Suzuka in September. It will consist of three heats, each forty minutes in length. 

Photo credit: Super Taikyu

Super Taikyu: Team Nova Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Fuji 7 Hours

By Johan Laubscher

The Japanese Super Taikyu Endurance Series headed to Fuji Speedway for round four, a seven hour endurance event. The Nova Engineering Audi R8 LMS ultra competed in this endurance race.

Nova Engineering, listed as Team Nova on the series entry lists, debuted their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra in Super Taikya at Twin Ring Motegi last time out. The team had a difficult race and finished the three hour event in sixth overall.

At Fuji the #8 Nova Audi R8 LMS ultra was again driven by Seiji Ara, Akira Shibuya, and Shohei Yuzawa. Ara is the headline driver in the car as he was the 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours winner, having taken that victory in the Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Audi R8. 

During qualifying they achieved seventh place overall and in the GT3 class. The race itself was long and testing, and even included heavy rain during the final few hours, a race of survival. Team Nova dropped back during the first hour and they were classified thirty-ninth by the end of the first hour. They then began a very good recovery drive which saw them moving up through the field. By the fourth hour the Audi was back inside of the overall top ten and continued to perform well. Ultimately the Nova Engineering team completed the seven hours in sixth place within the GT3 class. 

The race was won by the #1 Petronas Syntium Team Mercedes-Benz SLS. The Fuji weekend results can be seen HERE.

Super Taikyu will host the fifth round of the season at Okayama for a three hour race in the beginning of September.

Photo credit: Super Taikya GT3 Japan