Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka prefecture)Round 2 of SUPER GT took place at Fuji Speedway (Oyama-chou, Shizuoka  prefecture) over the April 30th-May 1st weekend, and it was the #23 MOTU   AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) who took victory in heavy  rain. The win was the first for the team in 22 months since their triumph at Sportsland SUGO, Round 5 of the 2009 season. Because of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the first round of the season at Okayama had to be postponed, making this event the first race of the 2011 season. As for the race itself, it was originally planned to be of a semi-endurance distance at 400kms, but this was shortened to 300 kilometres (66 laps) in order to save energy. Partly due to it falling at the start of  Golden Week (Spring Break in Japan) there was a bumper crowd in attendance on race day. Regrettably however, rain began to fall intermittently during the morning, becoming a downpour by the time the Safety Car (SC) led the cars round for a total of five laps at 14:00 before getting the green light to start the race. From 6th on the starting grid, Benoit Treluyer was at the wheel of the #23 GT-R, moving up to 4th place on the opening lap. On lap 11 he advanced to  3rd place after deposing the #6 SC430. He soon took 2nd place, and on lap 18 went into the lead of the race after wresting the position from the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Joao Paolo de Oliveira). From there, he avoided the many spins and crashes at various points around the track, steadily building up a more than 15-second gap on the rest of the field before handing the car over to his teammate Satoshi Motoyama. In order to maintain their position at the top of the leaderboard, the NISMO pit crew opted to not change tyres during the stop. The rain once again became intense just when Motoyama got out on track; however the veteran kept his cool, never relinquishing the advantage as he counted down the laps while controlling the pace during the final stages. With only seven laps  remaining in the originally scheduled distance, red flags were shown due to the intensity of the rain, ending the event due to the weather. With this decision, the #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R took victory. Causing a stir of interest in official qualifying was the performance of the #46 S Road MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli/Masataka Yanagida), new to the GT500 class this season. The car set the quickest time in all of the preliminary sessions, and then despite cooler track temperatures for the afternoon's Super Lap one-shot decider, fell to second by the narrowest of margins, netting a front row start on the car's debut. However, the start of the race was an unfortunate one for Quintarelli, who spun on the opening lap, plummeting down the order. From there he had little chance of making up significant ground, and handed the car over to Yanagida in 11th place, who completed the remaining laps unremarkably, finishing 10th in their debut race. In the #12 GT-R, Oliveira took the start from 3rd on the grid. After the #46 GT-R fell down the order, the top spot was taken over by the #24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda/Bjorn Wirdheim), with which the CALSONIC- liveried GT-R then did battle. On lap 12, #12 GT-R took over the lead, holding the position for six laps before being bested by the #23 GT-R. Subsequent contact with a GT300 machine saw significant damage to the left door and rear quarter panel, necessitating a visit to the pits on lap 21. Work there tookconsiderable amount of time, and Matsuda drove his stint to an eventual 14th-place finish. As expected, the #24 GT-R took over the lead in the race's early stages, though fell back later on. Yasuda, who took over driving duties in the second half, stepped into the car in ninth place, recovering to 7th at the flag.  [ NISMO Director Yutaka Suzuki's comment ] "Today's result is due to both of the drivers and through the perseverance of the other staff. Still, we haven't made the as fast as we need to, therefore I'm not satisfied with the current state of play. However, as this is our first victory in a long time, the result is extraordinary. Moreover, I'm extremely glad to be able to get this result for all those who have come from their suffering in the northeast. I'm extremely glad to be able to share this win with them." [ #23 GT-R driver Satoshi Motoyama's comment ] "Hi everyone. We were able to win the race today due to some extenuating circumstances. The car, the tyres, the engine and Ben all did a magnificent job despite the severe conditions in the rain. It is the perfect start to our season, and I hope you can all look forward to a truly successful year. Thank you all very much." [ #23 GT-R driver Benoit Treluyer's comment ] "The car is really wonderful. As you all could see, the GT-R is absolutely fantastic. This season will surely be a good one, and I hope we all enjoy it together. Thank you NISSAN, and thank you too, to all our supporters."