The two practice sessions for Round 4 of the 2005 AUTOBACS SUPER GT were a showcase for Honda Racing as the mid-engined supercars dominated both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Under gloomy conditions that lasted all day, the morning session was wet, misty rain continuing to fall throughout the entire 90-minutes. Right from the start, the #8 ARTA NSX, so strong at the last round in Sepang, stamped its authority on the rest of the field with a best time of 1:25.628. It remained unbeaten until the dying moments of the morning; such was the prowess of the bright orange Honda in the miserable conditions.

The car's electrifying success in Malaysia, where the #8 machine was the only NSX GT running a normally-aspirated engine (after the Hondas had spent nearly 18 months in the wilderness using turbo units) was the catalyst for switching the three other cars before this, the next race.

Honda seem to have done their homework - and how! The turnaround in fortunes for the manufacturer means they'll be fighting not only for points here on Sunday, but also podiums - and quite likely the win!

It's something that one wouldn't have considered seriously only a couple of months ago.

The development in the series is a huge attraction for fans; and the prospect of new faces filling the winner's circle after this weekend's 300-kilometer event is creating an added level of excitement - as Round 4 marks the end of the first half of the 2005 season.

In both sessions, the only serious challenger to the Hondas was the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z at the hands of drivers Yuji Ide and Benoit Treluyer. The car finished the first session in top spot, snatching the position away from the ARTA NSX with only moments to go. In the afternoon, the car was third - in the middle of a four-strong Honda sandwich.

As conditions dried out for the day's second session, the times tumbled. With the track steadily drying out, the cars took huge chunks of time from the previous best, eventually getting down to the 1:16 bracket - some 9 seconds quicker than the morning's best.

Meanwhile in GT300, the competition was its usual intense battle. The reigning champions M-TEC ran top at the end of the morning, only to be eclipsed in the afternoon by the continually-impressive direxiv Motorsport-run Vemac 320R. The white and blue machine didn't run in the morning, so the success in the second session was particularly sweet for the freshman squad.

Behind them the battle raged on as usual. Continuing its recent string of impressive showings, the #30 RECKLESS MRS was third in the afternoon, having climbed from a best of 10th in the earlier session.

The two Jim Gainer Ferrari F360s fared rather better in the morning, coming 2nd and 4th - only to fall to 4th and 11th.

With conditions expected to be dry for tomorrow's two Official Qualifying sessions, the grid could look rather different than what we've seen today - besides the NSXs at the head of the GT500 field. It may in fact, be a stronger consolidation for the Hondas as they come to grips with their new, and highly effective, normally-aspirated engines - the units providing far better drivability than the turbos ever did.