2017.04.27

[Round 2 preview] Fierce 500-km race on high-speed track! Don't miss the excitement at Round 2 Fuji.

Round 2 Fuji : Preview

Following the unbelievable race at season opening round in Okayama, the second round "FUJI GT 500km RACE" will be hosted at Fuji Speedway on May 3 (Wednesday/Holiday, Qualifying) and 4 (Thursday/Holiday, Race) during the long weekend of May. The race will be competed in a distance of 500 kilometers, which is longer than the usual race distance of 300 kilometers, and more seeds of stormy race may be sown at the high-speed track of Fuji than usual races due to the long race distance. Will LC500 carry on the upturn? How about a strike-back from NSX-GT or GT-R? With the difference in the characteristics of the track from previous round, we may see some other model emerging to the top in the GT300 class.

 

 

 

It was a complete domination by Lexus LC500 spanning from the victory by No.37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa / Nick Cassidy) down to sixth place if you just look at the result of the season opener for GT500 class. LC500 appeared to have advantage over Nissan GT-R and Honda NSX-GT at the opening round of this season, which all cars have shifted to a new model in the GT500 class. However, Okayama was a track, which the Lexus squad had always been strong from the time they competed with SC430 and RC F. Contrastingly, Fuji Speedway where the Round 2 will be hosted is not their most favorite track. In general, Fuji is considered as the "home track" to the Lexus squad since it is a Toyota-affiliated circuit. Drivers always mention their will to win at Fuji and their determination is stronger to finally bring in a win this year and that has intensified the competition within the LC500 squad to be the home-track winner.

Among the competitors, No.6 WAKO'S 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima / Andrea Caldarelli) that let the win slip away at the season opener and No.38 ZENT CERUMO LC500 (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura) favoring Fuji would be the teams to watch closely. On the other hand, No.19 WedsSport ADVAN LC500 and No.36 au TOM'S LC500 will miss their regular drivers, Yuji Kunimoto and Kazuki Nakajima, respectively. GT300 regular Kenta Yamashita will substitute for No.19 car and Team manager Daisuke Ito will himself take the wheel of No.36 car.

 

 

This year's season opener at Okayama became a bitter memory to the NSX-GT and GT-R fleets. However, for the NSX-GT squad, the problem was only in the electronics and they should be able to come back with the issue solved and fully prepared. There is no doubt the Honda squad will be a threat to the LC500 fleet at Fuji. In addition, Fuji is a track where GT-R has been strong and the skills of the mechanics may be tested as well since the 500km race would require two pit-stops during the race. In another words, the teams can take a strategy to bring them to the front of the pack by the time they cross the finish line at the end since they can utilize all of the capabilities the team has as a whole. Moreover, the NSX-GT as well as GT-R fleets should have a greater chance to catch up here since both of the squad virtually have no handicap weight.

Out of the NSX-GT teams, No.16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Hideki Mutoh / Daisuke Nakajima) that showed good runs at the season opener and No.17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi / Takashi Kogure) that looked strong during the offseason tests are the teams that come to mind. In terms of the GT-R fleet, No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda / Jann Mardenborough), that was engaged in the battle for the lead in both events held at Fuji last year and scored a win, and No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli), the winner of last year’s Round 2 who’s pit-work is highly respected, could well be showing strong performances at the race.

 

 

 

15 different models are competing in the GT300 class again this season, and it has now become prominent in recent years which circuit is favorable or unfavorable to which model. At the technical track of Okayama, AMG GT3s that won last and this years and the mother-chassis cars proved to be fast at the circuit. For Fuji's high-speed track, you can tell from last year’s race that the powerful FIA GT3 cars like BMW M6 GT3, Nissan GT-R, and Audi R8 LMS were performing strong and Subaru BRZ with turbo engine as well as hybrid Prius deserve no underestimation.

 

 

Then, how will it be this year at Fuji? No.55 ARTA BMW M6 GT3 (Shinichi Takagi / Sean Walkinshaw) and No.7 Studie BMW M6 (Jorg Muller / Seiji Ara), despite encountering some misfortune, showed impressive speed at the race in Okayama. With the powerful and quick M6 GT3, it will not be surprising to see the teams contending at upper positions at this year's Fuji. Another team that deserves extra attention is No.21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Richard Lyons / Masataka Yanagida). It was engaged in one of the fiercest battle with BMW M6 GT3 wearing No.55 at last year's Round 5 Fuji, and, in addition, the team has established a fabulous driver lineup this year by adding Yanagida, who scored two wins in the GT500 class last year, to team up with Lyons to complete a GT500-champions-combination.

In addition to above, defending race winner No.3 B-MAX NDDP GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino / Mitsunori Takaboshi), No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi), and No.88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Manabu Orido / Kazuki Hiramine) can also be considered as the probable top contenders.
Teams are permitted to add a third driver at Round 2 Fuji since it is a 500km race and there are teams that will bring in a third driver in the GT300 class. No.25 VivaC 86 MC will miss its regular driver Kenta Yamashita since the driver will temporarily take the wheel of No.19 car in the GT500 class, so the team has selected Tsubasa Kondo, a 28-year-old Porsche Carrera Cup champion of last year, to partner with Takamitsu Matsui this time.

 

   

 

 

Round 2 Fuji held during the Golden Week every year is a race which the drivers as well as the teams would get psyched up even more and have stronger feeling for the win than usual for the atmosphere the huge crowd of spectators that come out during the long weekend creates. We can expect to see "heated" battles all around the circuit as if the summer has arrived early on.

 

 

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