Autopolis hosts Round 6 of the 2004 AUTOBACS JGTC this weekend. This is the second time the site in Oita Prefecture plays host to a fully-sanctioned JGTC championship race following the 2003 event.
The track is known for its challenging character for both drivers and cars, and for its vast fluctuation in elevation-over 50m between its highest and lowest points. The first sector has a downhill slope to it, while the latter part of the track has cars traveling back up an inclined slope. These two sections are connected by an additional downward slope and uphill climb. The circuit also has a reputation for low atmospheric pressure due to it being located in an upland area of the island.

During the 2003 race, the teams all struggled with tire wear caused by the peculiar track surface conditions unique to the circuit. In last year's event, the No.39 TOYOTA TEAM SARD Supra driven by Dominik Schwager and Manabu Orido used their team's first-rate race strategy along with the superior performance of their Yokohama ADVAN tires to dominate the race.
This season, the SARD team has been working very well with new drivers Jeremie Dufour and Andre Couto and with their new tire partner, Bridgestone and currently lie third in the drivers' points standings. Meanwhile Schwager and Orido, now driving the Team ADVAN Tsuchiya No.25 Supra, remain 11th in the championship despite a superb performance in Round 2 at Sugo. Consequently they will go into this weekend's race carrying only 20kg of handicap weight while the SARD Supra will be running with 40kg of success ballast.

No.6 ESSO Ultraflo Supra

Current leaders in the driver's championship point standings are Juichi Wakisaka and Akira Iida, piloting the No.6 ESSO TOYOTA Team LeMans Supra. The pair will be pushing hard at Autopolis. Wakisaka commented, "I want to get as many points as possible." In the 2003 race, Wakisaka, following team strategy orders, slowed just several hundred meters before the finish line, allowing two cars past to finish fourth. In the end, this strategy failed. For this year's race, the car will be carrying a heavy weight handicap of some 80kg.
Among the other Supras, two cars worthy of note include the No.36 car driven by Takeshi Tsuchiya and Marco Apicella (TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S), which will be carrying only 20kg for this round; and the No.38 TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO car with drivers Yuji Tachikawa and Seiji Ara, which will be carrying only 30kg. The sole Dunlop-shod Supra is the No.35 KRAFT machine with Naoki Hattori and Shigekazu Wakisaka at the wheel. The car is carrying a relatively light 20kg handicap weight. As Autopolis has vast fluctuations in elevation, weight handicap amounts should mean a lot.

No.1 Xanavi NISMO Z

The main rival to the No.6 Supra is the No.1 Fairlady Z of the NISMO team. Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons, currently sitting second in the championship standings, must be motivated with their heavy 80kg success ballast as it's exactly the same as that on the No.6 Toyota.
In the Nissan camp, HASEMI MOTORSPORT's No.3 Fairlady Z and TEAM IMPUL's identical No.12 car seem to be well-suited for Autopolis. Both cars will be carrying 40kg of ballast, vastly lighter than two NISMO cars (No.1: 80kg; No.22: 90kg!). The two teams have suffered problems on the cars and have had unlucky accidents several times so far this season; though both cars have shown brilliant performances as well. Erik Comas took pole position in the No.3 machine at Round 4 and a podium finish, while Benoit Treluyer and Yuji Ide have consistently competed in the top group in their blue TEAM IMPUL machine.

The Honda NSXs have shown remarkable development progress of late and are also worthy of note. In addition to their mid-ship engine layout, considered advantageous at this track, only the No.32 EPSON NAKAJIMA RACING machine will be carrying any weight handicap (50kg). The other three NSXs will all be running success ballast-free. Moreover, all four NSXs will gain several levels (either one or two) under the JAF's performance enhancement regulations. The fantastic performance of the No.32 car in the last round is still fresh in everybody's minds when, at Twin Ring Motegi, the EPSON NAKAJIMA RACING NSX driven by Andre Lotterer and Tsugio Matsuda took the season's first victory for the car.

One point worth remembering is that data gathered at the 2003 race will not be any use for this year's round as Nissan have changed models from the ubiquitous Skyline GT-R to the all-new Fairlady Z, Toyota have changed the Supra's NA (normally-aspirated) engine from 5 to 4.5 liters, and Honda's NSXs are now equipped with turbocharged engines.

No.16 M-TEC NSX

Current leaders in the GT300 driver's championship are Tetsuya Yamano and Hiroyuki Yagi, who share the No.16 Honda NSX entered by M-TEC Co., Ltd. The pair will be carrying a handicap of 80kg - the maximum allowed in the class. Lead driver Yamano commented, "Autopolis is a track that really suits the NSX." The No.16 car has been performing excellently so far this season.

No.43 ARTA Garaiya

Driver pair Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi in the No.43 Garaiya (AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI) are the main rivals for the GT300 title and currently sit just seven points behind the leaders. The team and car are both in good form, having won two successive races so far this season. Consequently the Garaiya will be carrying a heavy 65kg weight handicap. Nitta said the Garaiya was expected to do well at Autopolis.

Also, be on the lookout for the No.10 Ferrari F360 Modena with drivers Tetsuya Tanaka and Atsushi Yogo, currently lying third in the championship standings. This car gave a superb performance last year with Tanaka and Hideshi Matsuda (now in the No.11 sister machine) at the wheel. In spite of a 30kg weight handicap, the car lead the race until the very last lap when the red Italian GT car ran out of fuel and Tanaka had to give up the race within sight of the flag. As in 2003, the No.10 Ferrari will again be carrying a 30kg weight handicap.
The team's second Ferrari, the No.11 machine driven by veteran Matsuda and partner Ichijo Suga, is also expected to show favorably and will be carrying 30kg of success ballast.

Among other cars to watch are the No.19 Toyota Celica driven by Takayuki Aoki and Nobuteru Taniguchi (RACING PROJECT BANDOH), and the No.80 and 81 Fairlady Z cars entered by Team Daishin with driver pairings of Mitsuhiro Kinoshita/Kazuki Hoshino and Masataka Yanagida/Naofumi Omoto respectively.

The green light for Round 6 will be given on October 30th at Autopolis.

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