2015.07.26

RC F looking good again on the final day! ZENT CERUMO RC F takes the fastest. Complete dominance by Lotus in GT300

SUPER GT official test continued at Sportsland SUGO on July 26, and No.38 ZENT CERUMO RC F and No.2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS marked the fastest time in GT500 and GT300, respectively. Blessed with a clear sky from the morning, the teams at SUGO worked intensively on tire selection as well as car setting for not only Round 6, but also the Round 4 Fuji coming in two weeks and the Round 5 Suzuka 1000km in a dry condition with extreme summer heat. If was the last day of testing at SUGO.

 

 

Tachikawa in ZENT CERUMO RC F bests the morning

Unlike the day before where thick white clouds covered up the region, Day 2 of the official test opened up under a clear sky. Strong mid-summer sunlight shined on the track surface from the blue sky extending over high above and the air temperature had reached 30℃ by 9AM already and the track surface temperature also got up high to 40℃.

Teams were conducting different testing menu at this test that, for instance, there were cars testing the second engine of the season which will be rolled out from the next race at Round 4 Fuji and there were cars, like No.37 KeePer TOM'S RC F (Andrea Caldarelli / Ryo Hirakawa), that ran with the first engine but with a narrower fuel restrictor and there were also cars that mounted the weight up to the limit in prospect of Round 6 SUGO in two months. Among all, the six LEXUS RC F's were keeping the good rhythm from the day before and lapping with a fast lap time.

For the GT-R squad, on the other hand, No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) and No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda / J. P. de Oliveira) will have to use a fuel restrictor of one level narrower from the next race at Fuji (with the handicap weight exceeding 50kg, the 50kg worth of handicap is covered by narrowing the restrictor). As NISMO team manager Yutaka Suzuki said, "We narrowed the restrictor and mounted considerable weight," the team were putting their effort in tire selection and car setting with a view towards the race lap rather one-shot quickness. As a consequence, the team sank to the bottom in terms of position on the timing monitor. NSX CONCEPT-GT fleet as a whole also seemed to be focusing on the setting for the racing lap, but No.64 Epson NSX CONCEPT-GT (Daisuke Nakajima / Bertrand Baguette) was consistently marking fairly good lap times in the 1 min 12 sec-mark as if it found the right elements despite the extremely hot condition, possibly because the tires they brought in happened to match well. The team was edging into the RC F fleet with enthusiastic runs.

First session of the day was initially scheduled from 9AM to 11AM, however, since the 10-minute exclusive runs for each of GT500 and GT300 that were cancelled the day before were added to the timetable, the session ended at 11:20AM. Air and track surface temperatures had reached 36℃ and 50℃, respectively, by this time and it sure was like a SUGO's mid-summer extremely/severely hot condition. The top time of this session was 1 min 12.058 sec marked by No.38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura). Other LEXUS RC F's lined up behind the No.38 car, namely No.6 ENEOS SUSTINA RC F (Kazuya Oshima / Yuji Kunimoto), No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S RC F (Daisuke Ito / J. Rossiter), and No.37 KeePer TOM'S RC F, but No.64 Epson NSX CONCEPT-GT was placing fifth position. Nonetheless, the real race at this SUGO is at the end of September and we have two more months to go. It is always interesting to see how each team are predicting the condition of that time.

 

 

Ishiura on ZENT CERUMO RC F gets in the 1 min 11 sec-mark

Afternoon session (Session 4) started at 1:20PM. All cars left their pit and entered the track as the session started to participate in the Safety Car (SC) drill. It then moved on to a normal session from 1:35PM. Air and track surface temperatures as of the session start were 34℃ and 51℃, respectively. From there the air temperature started to drop, but, with the strong sunlight shining on, the track surface temperature rose to 53℃ by the closing phase of the session. It was a tough session for cars as well as drivers and, of course, the tires. That may had been a possible cause, the afternoon session saw three red-flag suspensions and came to an end with the session staying suspended with the third red flag.

Fast pace of the RC F squad remained unchanged in the afternoon session. Moreover, No.38 ZENT CERUMO RC F driven by Ishiura broke the 1 min 12 sec-mark barrier and clocked 1 min 11.962 sec, bettering its own best lap time of the day, and that eventually became the overall fastest time of the day. Given that Tachikawa had also marked a best time in the morning, the team seems to have no blind spot in making a payback at Round 4 held in two weeks at Fuji Speedway. No.19 WedsSport ADVAN RC F (Juichi Wakisaka / Yuhi Sekiguchi) also marked a lap time in the early half of 1 min 12 sec-mark during the session. It placed sixth overall of Day 2.

Out of the GT-R squad, defending champion No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R improved its best time from the morning session by about two seconds, but Ronnie Quintarelli seemed rather cool as he commented, "We had a testing menu for the long-run in the afternoon session and it was the same as the morning session. We found good tires (and that's the reason for marking a good lap time). That's all."

There were many accidents throughout the morning and afternoon sessions on the day, counting four and three red-flag suspensions in the morning and afternoon, respectively. All three manufacturers experienced one of their cars getting involved in an accident, but that is possibly a proof that they were all pushing to the limit. From Round 4 Fuji to Round 5 Suzuka 1000km and to Round 6 SUGO, the series of "3 Mid-summer GT races" are a sure provider of excitement and thrill which no fans should miss.

 

 

 

 

No.2 Lotus continues from the day before to stay fastest of GT300 in 2 sessions

 

 

In the GT300, No.2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS (Kazuho Takahashi / Hiroki Katoh / Hiroshi Hamaguchi) continued from the previous day to take the overall top place. The car marked top time in all of the four sessions from the morning of Day 1 to the afternoon of Day 2. Even after considering that the layout of SUGO is said to be advantageous to the mother-chassised cars, the speed the Lotus showed is noteworthy.

However, it should be noted that two GT-R GT3 cars, No.10 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Andre Couto / Ryuichiro Tomita) and No.3 B-MAX NDDP GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino / Mitsunori Takaboshi), placed second and third in the overall lap time of the second day by putting the mother-chassised / JAF-GT cars behind. Hoshino of No.3 car was saying the day before, "We are no longer focusing on a one-shot lap time at all. We are only considering how far can we hold on with a racing lap time (compared with the qualifying lap time)," but, from the outcome of the day, it can be very likely to see GT-R finishing 1-2 at the next race as well as the Round 4 Fuji in two weeks to complete a three consecutive 1-2 finishes.

 

 

 

We ran without a restrictor (not making any reduction of power by assuming a handicap of 50kg) and with a considerable amount of weight. The car felt good throughout two days. I can actually feel that the level has gone up since Thailand. The fact that we marked a top time is not certain since we don't know how the rivals are (doing with their testing menu). It seemed there were many cars using a narrower restrictor and with a lot of (handicap) weight... So it's not about how you compare with your rivals, I'm just happy with the test because I could feel that our car got better. We must win at the next race in Fuji in order to contend for the title. That's why I'm only thinking about that (win). And, if we can make sure to collect points after that at Suzuka and SUGO... Anyways, it was a satisfying weekend.

 

I hadn't been asked to comment (about top time) for a long while, so this is great (laugh). It is basically the same as yesterday, but we were able to narrow down the setting items even more than yesterday. May be they made the car lighter (by unloading the handicap weight) or something, but there were more than a few that got faster at last minute, but we were able to finish the 2-day test by keeping the top time to ourselves. Our car was really light with very little fuel, but I'm relieved that we were able to mark the top time. Lap time is important indeed, but what's more important is that we didn't have any real problems during the two day. I can see that the car has been upgraded (by working on the setting).

 

 

 

Page Top