#12 Marelli Impul Z takes third in final round of SUPER GT

• #12 Marelli Impul Z secures third on podium

• #3 Niterra Motul Z finishes third in 2024 season standings

• Race served as farewell to Ronnie Quintarelli who retires from SUPER GT

• Nissan Z NISMO GT500 teams look ahead to 2025 season

The final round of the 2024 SUPER GT series took place at Suzuka circuit on December 8. A substitute for Round 5, which was postponed due to a typhoon earlier in the year, the #12 Marelli Impul Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) secured the team’s best placing, fighting through the pack from a starting position of 15th to secure third-place on the podium.

Three Nissan Z NISMO GT500 cars achieved points in the round with the #3 Niterra Motul Z (Mitsunori Takaboshi/Atsushi Miyake) finishing in 7th and the #23 Motul Autech Z (Katsumasa Chiyo/Ronnie Quintarelli) taking 8th place. The result was enough for the #3 Niterra Motul Z to take out third in the overall 2024 standings.

Detailed race report

From the outset, the series finale promised intense competition, with all cars racing without success weights. Going into the round, the #3 Z, ranked 5th in the standings, and the #23 Z, ranked 8th, with both looking to finish the season on a high note. Additionally, the race marked four-time champion Ronnie Quintarelli’s final drive of the #23 Z, having announced his retirements from GT500 competition at the end of this season.

Competitors were greeted with cold conditions as the 300 km race got underway. Starting from 3rd position, the #24 Realize Corporation Advan Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Teppei Natori) struggled with tire warm-up, dropping to 15th place on the first lap. Other teams were more fortunate in the early stages, with the #3 Z (Takaboshi) moving to 6th, the #23 Z (Quintarelli) climbing to 7th, and the #12 Z (Baguette) in 10th place by the fifth lap.

Regaining pace, the #24 Z set the fastest lap of the race on lap 4 and fought its way back to 10th by lap 8. In a tight battle for 5th place, the #3 Z successfully overtook a rival at turn 1 of lap 9, moving up to 5th. On lap 10, an accident caused a leading car to drop back, allowing the #3 Z to take 4th and on lap 16, it made a critical pass at the chicane to secure 3rd position.
As the pit stops began for the GT500 class, the #12 Z was running in 9th place and Kazuki Hiramine took over driving duties at lap 18. Demonstrating determined driving in his final GT500 appearance, Quintarelli pushed the #23 Z up to 5th place before both it and the #3 Z pitted simultaneously on the following lap. Extending its run on the course, the #24 Z was the last GT500 car to pit after completing 20 laps, marking the end of pit stops for the class.

By lap 21, the standings saw Miyake in the #3 Z in 2nd place, Hiramine in the #12 Z in 5th, Chiyo in the #23 Z in 6th, and Matsuda in the #24 Z in 10th, placing all Z cars within the points going into the second half of the race. The #3 Z began closing in on the leader, reducing the gap to under one second by lap 24 and opening an opportunity to overtake. On lap 29, it drew alongside the leader on the main straight and briefly moved ahead entering turn 1, but carried too much speed into the turn only to be overtaken again from the inside.

Despite staying close to the leader, the #3 Z encountered misfortune on lap 31. Following a Full Course Yellow (FCY) triggered by a car in trouble, the race resumed on lap 32. However, as the #3 Z accelerated out of Degner Curves, it spun, dropping to 6th place.

The #12 Z, running in 5th place, moved up to 4th on lap 32 and increased its pace, closing in on the car ahead. On lap 41, it performed a bold overtake on the outside at the chicane to rise to 3rd place. The #12 Z maintained its position steadily through the final 10 laps, finishing in 3rd. The #3 Z finished 7th, while the #23 Z placed 8th. Towards the end of the race, the #24 Z, running in 10th, made an emergency pit stop after 44 laps and completed the race in 15th place.

With all eight rounds of the series concluded, the #3 Z secured 3rd place in the standings, while the #12 Z finished in 6th. Nissan/NISMO will strive to reclaim the championship next season.

Kazuki Hiramine (#12 Marelli Impul Z)
"Today, Baguette did a great job overtaking many cars right from the start. During my stint, the setup and the tires chosen by the team worked really well, allowing me to overtake cars in various places, which I think was fantastic. This was the final race for Calsonic and Marelli, who have supported Team Impul for so long, so getting onto the podium as a way to close out this chapter was a relief and provided a feeling of accomplishment. I’m truly grateful to all the fans and everyone at Marelli."

Bertrand Baguette (#12 Marelli Impul Z)
"I think my opening stint went really well. Especially in the first few laps, I was able to overtake several rivals who were clearly struggling with cold tires. However, after the FCY, I had trouble getting the tires back to optimal temperature, so we decided to switch to an early strategy and hand over to Hiramine, which worked out great. Hiramine was steady and overtook our competitors, helping to put us on the podium. It was a great way to bid farewell to Marelli and to wrap up the season in a positive way. Thanks to everyone for all their support this season!"

Shinichi Kiga (Nissan Teams Executive Director)
"This season, we faced various challenges and went through a lot of trial and error in our races. While there were positive outcomes, we also encountered new issues, and at times, the results didn’t come together as we hoped. However, I believe that the efforts, data, and experiences gained this season will undoubtedly prove valuable in the future. We will leverage what we learned and continue to give our all next season as we work on reclaiming the championship. I want to sincerely thank our fans for their passionate support. All Nissan teams will work together to meet your expectations, so we ask for your continued support."

GT300 Class
In the GT300 class, four Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 cars and one GTA GT300 regulation Fairlady Z competed. The #11 Gainer Tanax Z (Ryuichiro Tomita/Keishi Ishikawa/Kazuki Oki) started from 7th and finished in 8th place, marking its third points finish of the season.