The second race of the 2004 AUTOBACS JGTC season will take place at Sportsland SUGO in Miyagi Prefecture on May 22-23. The 3.704km circuit is a demanding track with an amazing fluctuation in elevation of nearly 70m between the highest and lowest points on the course and a 12-degree (max) incline up the long main straight that stretches from the last corner to the first corner. GT-A official testing sessions were held at the circuit on April 18-19

The Nissan Fairlady Z (350Z), following a superb performance in the opening round at TI Aida last month where the No.22 car sat on the pole and the No.1 car claimed the victory, was in a state of despair at the GT-A official test session. The Nissan teams discovered a problem with the machine after the TI race and have worked hard to resolve it, but sufficient parts required for all cars are not yet ready. As a result, the two NISMO Zs were only able to run on alternate days at Sugo, and TEAM IMPUL and HASEMI MOTORSPORT were unable to test at all. The best laps set by the NISMO cars during the sessions were a 1'18.774" for the No.22 car (fifth overall of the 15 cars testing) and 1'19.998 " for the No.1 car (13th), which will be carrying a 60kg handicap for the race.

The Toyota Supras, seemingly the strongest rival for the Fairlady Z in the opening round, were quick and the fastest cars during the Sugo testing sessions. Toyota Supras filled all four time slots finishing in front of the No.22 Nissan; the No.38 car entered by TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO on top. CERUMO's Tachikawa clocked a lap at 1'17.534", about 1 sec ahead of the second fastest car, the No.6 Supra of ESSO TOYOTA Team LeMans driven by Wakisaka (1'18.433"), who finished 2nd in Round 1 and will be carrying a 30kg handicap weight for the race.
An good combination for excellent performance at Sugo has been Supras on Michelin tires, but Tom's Supras are running on Bridgestones this year. Nevertheless, Tsuchiya set the third fastest lap behind the wheel of the No.36 Supra of Toyota Team Tom's. Fourth overall in the testing sessions was the No.39 Supra of Toyota Team SARD, which dominated Round 1 until a penalty late in the race ended the victory celebration before it had a chance to begin. The SARD machine will be loaded with an additional 30kg.

Development seems to progressing rather slowly for the Honda teams, especially in making advancements with the newly adopted turbocharged engine. The fastest NSX in the testing sessions, the No.8 car entered by AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI, was still nearly 1.7 sec off the quickest time. Even so, the teams made excellent use of their time, focusing on a variety of aerodynamic devices along with engine development during the sessions. Most assuredly they are confident that they'll soon be back in the heat of the competition with other top runners.

A new car will make its debut in the JGTC at Sugo, the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. Team JLOC has entered the Italian car with drivers Koji Yamanishi and Wada-Q. The machine was built by Audi Sport and Reiter Engineering, which also constructed the Murcielago R-GT that competes in the FIA GT Championship. But the R-GT1 is tailor-made for the JGTC. While the R-GT gave and impressive show of performance at the FIA GT race last month, the JGTC is an entirely different world. Making things even more difficult will be the fact that the team will be making its first test runs on the spot, during race week at Sugo. Regardless, the high potential of the car was proven in the European race, and will be worthy of watching closely in JGTC competition.

The No.10 Ferrari F360 entered by Team GAINER won its first victory in Round 1 at TI Aida following a season of ups and downs in its debut year in 2003. But it was Japanese cars that claimed the fastest lap times during the GT-A official testing sessions for Round 2. The No.19 Celica of Racing Project Bandoh (4th in Round 1) was the quickest, driver Aoki finishing with a best lap of 1'24.297". Next was the No.31 Toyota MR-S (A'PEX with apr), Tanaka clocking a lap time of 1'24.505". The 2004 version of the MR-S ran well in the sessions, revealing a vast improvement in car development.

The No.16 Honda NSX was third quickest car in the class. The pole sitter of Round 1 at TI put in a respectably lap at 1'24.662 " with Yamano behind the wheel. But the car will be loaded with a 30kg weight for the race. The winners of Round 1 and fourth in the testing sessions (1'24.874") were Tanaka and Yogo in the No.10 Ferrari. They will also be carrying a 30kg handicap for the race. The No.43 Garaiya was fifth fastest overall with a best lap of 1'24.984". Having finished second in the TI round, the Garaiya will have a 20kg handicap weight onboard for the race.
The best laps timed by the top teams were unbelievably close, suggesting an exciting contest for fans come race day.

The green light for Round 2 will be given on May 23 at Sportsland SUGO.