Despite only being able to finish third, Quintarelli was buoyed by Michelin’s improvement in cold conditions, which he had previously identified as a weakness of the French tyre manufacturer.
Third place for Quintarelli and Matsuda leaves the pair 23 points shy of championship leader Naoki Yamamoto in their quest for a first Nissan GT500 title since 2015 with two races to go.
But four-time champion Quintarelli admits that the gap is likely to be too large to bridge, especially with the success handicaps being halved for the next round at Motegi before being removed altogether for the season finale at Fuji Speedway, traditionally a tough track for Nissan.