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News
2016.12.14
Honda Announces Partial Team Plans for Next Season. Mugen Returns! Competing with the Mutoh/Daisuke driver pair and Yokohama tires

Honda Announces Partial Team Plans for Next Season. Mugen Returns! Competing with the Mutoh/Daisuke driver pair and Yokohama tiresの画像

On December 14th, Honda ran tests at Twin Ring Motegi with the new NSX-GT machine it will compete next season with. In conjunction with the tests, Honda announced plans for two teams that will compete with the new machine next year. Although it is unusual to announce team plans before the new year, it seemed to be a sign of Honda’s determination to regain the title.

 

This day at Motegi, unfortunately was dampened by misty rain and wet conditions, and the press conference to announce next seasons plans was held before the start of testing at 8:30 in the morning.
The withdrawal of the No. 15 Drago Modulo Honda Racing team had already been announced, and as Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s Masashi Yamamoto Honda Motorsports Senior Manager had said at the last round of the season when the new car for next season was introduced, “Honda will once again compete with five cars in the GT500 class, and the new team will be announced before the end of the year.” This was the day that the awaited announcement of that new team was to be made.

 

 

The new team is TEAM MUGEN, which will be making a comeback after last competing in the GT300 class in the 2014 season. The team plans to use its former No. 16. The drivers will be the ace driver of the Drago Modulo Honda Racing team, Hideki Mutoh, and Daisuke Nakajima, who comes to the team from NAKAJIMA RACING, which means a comeback for the same pair that drove the GT300 class Honda CR-Z in its debut season of 2012. As tire supplier, Yokohama will be supplying a Honda team for the first time in some years. Serving as team manager will be Nagataka Tezuka and the engineer will be Motohisa Takahashi, who has served as data engineer for the same team’s Super Formula team.

 

 

At the same time, the No. 64 NAKAJIMA RACING that Daisuke Nakajima will be leaving announced its new team make-up. Replacing Nakajima will be Kosuke Matsuura, coming from AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI to team with Bertrand Baguette as the team’s new driver pair. The new team will continue using Dunlop tires. The manager will be Satoru Nakajima and the chief engineer will be Kimitoshi Sugisaki, who has served as engineer for a number of GT500 and GT300 machines until now.

 

At the start of this day’s press conference, Honda’s Senior Manager Yamamoto commented about the the pairing of TEAM MUGEN with Yokohama tire-supply, explaining that: “In order to expand on our strategy, we want very much to win.” This was a clear statement of the determination to win the championship, and regarding the use of Dunlop tires by NAKAJIMA RACING, he commented that he hoped they would continue tire development and win a race.

 

 

 

 

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