The fourth round of SUPER GT was held in the scorching southern heat of Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit on June 19th-20th. The compatibility of the Sepang Circuit and NISSAN cars had lead to three straight victories through last year. Nissan hoped to bring a fourth straight win this year.

In the free practice session held on the morning of the 19th, the 26kg weight-handicapped #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda, Ronnie Quintarelli) marked the top time. This time Matsuda would handle the set-up and qualifying attack, and as it was his first time doing so this season he was highly motivated. For this round the #12 GT-R and #23 GT-R were equipped with new specification engines.

The #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama, Benoit Treluyer) was light with a weight handicap of only 6kg. Michelin tyres had brought victory on the hot track surface of Sepang last year, so a similar performance was hoped for this time. Motoyama handled the set-up and qualifying attack for the first time this season. In practice he posted a respectable 4th.

2007 and 2008 Sepang round winners the #24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira, Hironobu Yasuda) seemed hindered by their car's 46kg weight handicap and took 9th in the practice session. They would hope to break into the top eight in the first qualifier, allowing them to move on to Super Lap.

The heat was at its peak when the first qualifying session began at 2:15 pm, with the air temperature at 33 degrees Celsius and the track surface at 41 degrees. Matsuda and the #12 GT-R took 2nd, Motoyama and the #23 GT-R 6th, and Oliveira in the #24 GT-R took 7th, ensuring that all 3 GT-Rs would move on to Super Lap, delighting the Nissan fans.

The tropical sun was still high in the sky at 4:55 pm when the GT500 Super Lap session began. Second out on track, Oliveira in the #24 GT-R suddenly slowed down just after turn three. In the grass at turn eight he stopped the car. It was electrical trouble. The red flag was waved and his session ended.

Motoyama, who had already been on his preparation laps in the #23 GT-R to warm up the tyres, returned to the pit to stand by. He kept up his energy and focus however, and when he returned to the track eight minutes later, warmed up the tyres again and marked the top time to that point. If there hadn't been any hiccups I think I would have had pole position, - he said. However, he appeared satisfied.

Seventh out on track, Matsuda and the #12 GT-R had the top time to that point through the middle section, and while he slowed down somewhat in sector two he came back in the final sector to post the overall top time. The final car out could not beat this time, and Matsuda took his first ever pole position. Meanwhile, the #23 GT-R was 3rd, and the #24 car 8th.

Last year we weren't able to do any better than 2nd in qualifying. We did tests at Sepang back in January, so this time we had confidence. I'm also glad that the new engine performed well. For the race tomorrow I'm going in thinking, if I don't win now, when will I ever do it? said Matsuda, smiling along with Quintarelli and director Kazuyoshi Hoshino.

The 54-lap race began at 4:04 pm on the 20th. Amid the 31-degree Celsius heat, the GT-Rs raced on in air-conditioned comfort. In the #12 GT-R Matsuda maintained the top spot until his pit stop on lap 24 when he handed things over to Quintarelli. However at the second corner of the 37th lap Quintarelli was hit from behind and pushed into a spin. He dropped back to 3rd.

At the last corner on lap 5, the #23 GT-R of Motoyama went off track and fell to fifth place. He returned to the pit on lap 22 to hand the car over to teammate Treluyer, who rose to third by lap 30. However, at the final corner on lap 40, the #23 GT-R ran into the back of the #100 HSV. As a result, he received a drive-through penalty and fell to fifth place.

Oliveira in the #24 GT-R, who had risen to sixth place in the beginning of the race, fell to 10th after going off track at turn 8 on lap 12. He came in to hand the car over to teammate Yasuda on lap 25, who rose to ninth place by the flag, netting the team two points.

At this point, fifth-placed Treluyer began to gain ground, and on lap 47 overtook the #8 HSV to move into fourth place. Then, with a car having gone off track and his pass of the #18 HSV on lap 52, he was up to second, really exciting the fans. He finished the race in this position, his first time on the winner's podium this season.

On lap 44, Quintarelli in the #12 GT-R staged a comeback after the car ahead of him served a penalty, and he went on to finish the race in the top spot with a gap of 13 seconds. He happily took his first win with his new team - his second straight victory at Sepang International Circuit. Excited throughout the race, Manager Hoshino was happy with his first win since the last round of 2008, a year and a half ago.

It was the first time since the second round in 2008 that the Nissan GT-R had come in first and second place, two years ago. The result was Nissan's 4th straight victory in the Malaysian round. Not hiding his excitement, Quintarelli said, - Honestly, I thought it was finished after that accident. The last ten laps were really long. The moment I won, I thought I was dreaming.