2016.06.18

[Official Tests at SUGO - Day 1] CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R sets new course record! Lotus is fastest in GT300 class

SUPER GT official tests at SUGO - Day 1

The third official SUPER GT tests for this season began at Sportsland SUGO on June 18th. Although it was a test bout, this run marked the first in a month and a half for SUPER GT machines since Round 2 at Fuji Speedway, due to the cancellation of the Autopolis event as a result of the earthquake in Kumamoto. After their crashes during tire tests at Suzuka Circuit, the No. 64 Epson NSX CONCEPT-GT and No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG were still undergoing repairs, and were unable to join. As a result, 14 machines from the GT500 class and 23 machines from the GT300 class gathered at Sportsland SUGO this day, making a total of 37 machines.

 

 

 

RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT fastest at morning session resembling mid-summer

While air and track surface temperatures at the start of the race were at 25℃ and 39℃, respectively, a strong, midsummer like sunlight brought these temperatures up to 28℃ and 47℃ by the end of the session. These figures are high for this time of year. However, Section Chief Masayuki Matsumoto, overseer of tire development for the SUPER GT at Bridgestone, commented, “Although these temperatures were high, they fell within a range that we had anticipated. These conditions were good for testing for the actual race, which will be held in July.”

The No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT (Takuya Izawa) marked a top time of 1'12.124, late in the morning session. Close behind this were the No. 46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama) and the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Yuji Tachikawa). Seemingly foretelling a tough race at SUGO, NSX CONCEPT-GT, GT-R, and RC F machines were placed intermittently throughout the top 10.
These top three machines, however, all carry little handicap weight, with the No. 100 having 2 kg, No. 38 having 10 kg and No. 46 having 30 kg. Surprisingly, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), carrying the heaviest handicap of 80 kg after their back-to-back wins, placed 9th, but with a time only 0.952 seconds behind first place. Concerning mid-season tactics, Manager Toshikazu Tanaka, general manager of the Nissan teams, explained, “I don't believe that No. 1 can beat our rivals, when thinking purely in terms of speed. Therefore, I plan to concentrate on race settings instead. We hope to gather as many points as we can in the finals though managing our tires, brakes, etc., while we bring the relatively (within the Nissan team) lighter No. 46, 12 and 24 into higher positions in order to give as few points as possible to our rivals.”

 

 

CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R marks amazing time during class-exclusive session

Afternoon sessions began at 14:30. The air and road surfaces temperatures were at 30℃ and 50℃, respectively, the hottest seen of the day. Teams seem to have been successful at longer runs, with their performances at the upcoming SUGO round in mind: while the morning session had three red flag stops, the afternoon session went relatively smoothly, with only one such delay. At the end of the session, the GT500 and GT300 classes took their respective 10-minute exclusive sessions. Up until then, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Tachikawa) had the top time of 1'12.140 sec. This best time, marked by No. 38, however, would soon be outshone.
In the end the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) marked the best time, with a 1'11.367 lap, beating the course record of a 1'11.607 lap. The GT-R additionally made a 1-2 finish with the No. 24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Daiki Sasaki) coming in with a similarly record-breaking time, at second. No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT (Naoki Yamamoto), finishing first in the morning session, improved its time from the morning to come in third. Project leader (PL) Masahiko Matsumoto of the Honda GT project seemed confident in staging a comeback, remarking: “Although it is difficult to say, due to the fact that the different teams have their respective menus, I believe the four Honda cars can potentially achieve times in the 1 min. 11 sec. range, but I was unable to envision [No. 12] having an 11.3 sec. lap at this point,” he admitted, though still showing confidence that the Honda camp can make a comeback in the coming round.

 

 

 

 

 

Mother chassis strong again At SUGO! SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS fastest in GT300

With its mid- to high-speed turns, Sportsland SUGO is the ideal course for the GT300 class mother chassis, said to have the edge in cornering. The No. 25 VivaC 86 MC (Takamitsu Matsui) was able to break the course record in the morning session, scoring the fastest time with a 1'18.737 lap. Top driver/engineer Takeshi Tsuchiya, coupled with the aggressive, young driver Matsui, seemed a confident duo.
Early in the afternoon session, The No. 2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS (Kazuho Takahashi/Hiroki Katoh) took the top position on the time board, and by mid-session had re-set the class record, beating the No. 25 with a 1'18.676 lap. During the final class-exclusive 10 minutes, the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Tomonobu Fujii) approached but was unable to beat the times of No. 2 and No. 25, taking third with a 1'19.229 lap.

 

   

 

 

Official tests to continue on June 19, also with open pit time and other events for spectators

Tensions mount among teams and drivers during the official tests, as they work in preparation for Round 4 at SUGO in July. For fans, however, there are perks and attractions that are different from normal SUPER GT race events, with free entry into the paddock area, and open pits and the opportunity to experience a ride on the track during the mid-day break. Racing good stands and concession stands were also open to spectators despite June 18 being a test day, and many fans came out to enjoy the day at the track.
Again on June 19th (Sunday), 2-hour sessions beginning at 9:00 and 13:30 are planned.

 

 

I was able to test a number of different types of tires during today's testing. Our vehicle's tuning is progressing, and I am getting better response. It was a good day overall, but we were unable to make extended runs with our tires, and as a result we were unfortunately unable to make a 100% assessment of our tires. Ideally, we would have made 15 consecutive laps on the same set of tires; the red flags only allowed us 7-8 laps to check for grip and wear. Otherwise, things went OK. During the morning session, balance was terrible to the point where I doubted we could go on with the testing, but we were able to change the settings and remedy that problem, for the most part, during the interval. Since tomorrow's menu will be the same, I think we will be able to get in our long-run testing, and we will be able to judge our tires for Round 4.

 

To begin with, our car, or rather the mother chassis, is said to be good at SUGO. Most of all, however, the air and track temperatures were higher than we had expected, giving us conditions that were close to what we can expect for the coming race (at Sugo in July), so we were able to get good data from our tire testing, which was important. But in the coming race, I wonder if we will be able to use the tire that gave us our fastest time (due to issues with its endurance). If we can [adjust the machine settings] to be able to use this tire, things will look hopeful for the race [in the next round]. Takahashi-san also had a good feeling with things, and that is important progress. Anyway, until now we have been plagued by trouble [this season] and haven't been able to complete our tests either, so I hope we will be able to complete our tests successfully this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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