Fuji Speedway played host to Round 4 of the Super Taikyu Series on Sunday, August 11th. In the series' annual seven-hour race, the #17 NOPRO Demio (Toshihiko Nogami/Tatsuya Nogami/Kenichi Kogara/Tatsuya Tanigawa) took victory in the ST5 class. This is the first win for the Demio in one year and four months, since the opening event of the 2012 season. The #99 RS☆R Demio finished eighth, as did Murakami Motors' NC Roadster (ST4 class).



Former GT driver Tatsuya Tanigawa, a contributor to the victory, had this to say: “I drove from the start of the race. Before rounding the first corner I passed the car in front and moved up to third. After a number of laps, I was able to get into second place, and for a while continued on in that position. About an hour and 40 minutes later I pulled into the pit for refueling, but we didn't change drivers or tires before pulling out, and were able to retake the top position. About 50 minutes after that, I handed over to Kogara. We flew through a whole bunch of laps in the top spot, but after switching over to Nogami Jr. it started to rain. It was a struggle driving on slicks, but we changed to rain tires and Kogara went out again in the rain. Only during the final hour of the race did the track surface begin to dry, so we changed back to slicks, and I got to be the one to drive past the checkered flag. At that time, there was only a 17-second gap back to the second place car, so we couldn't relax and had to keep things up for a final push. We definitely won thanks to that final spurt. Manager Nogami's direction during the race was spot on, Nogami Jr. did his best driving on slicks in the rain, and Kogara's control of the vehicle in the rain was a sight to behold. Finally, many thanks to the tireless and faultless work of our mechanics, who allowed us to take this victory.”