The opening day of action for the long-awaited Sepang round of SUPER GT was a scorcher - and the ambient temperature was up there too!

The day got underway with the first Free Practice session, a 90-minute run for cars from both classes. With brilliant sunshine and searing heat, the only thing hotter was the on-track action as all 44 competing cars made their first official appearance of the weekend.

At the end of the session, the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z was at the top of the timesheets; a position that drivers Yuji Ide and Benoit Treluyer are used to - they were on pole here last year.
In a welcome show of strength, it was the #8 ARTA NSX from Honda Racing that occupied second spot, no fluke as the car went top in the afternoon session. The winner here in 2002, Briton Ralph Firman is now in the dayglo Orange car, and had some very positive comments on the machine's performance - as well as its chances in the race come Sunday afternoon.

Further down the order, the Round 2-winning machine of Toranosuke Takagi and Yuji Tachikawa was a solid third, with the similar #6 ESSO Ultraflo SUPRA one-tenth back in fourth. This year's opening round winners Dominik Schwager and Manabu 'Max' Orido took fifth, just ahead of the Xanavi Nismo Z.

GT300 saw the #62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC350R cross the line well ahead of its nearest rivals, the 0.763-second gap clearly showing the strength of the blue and white machine. The afternoon session was to prove another romp as it cruised to the top spot in its class yet again.
The 2nd-placed #43 ARTA Garaiya was one-tenth ahead of the two-time Sepang winning #7 AMEMIYA ASPARA DRINK RX-7; itself eclipsing the well-placed #77 CUSCO SUBARU ADVAN IMPREZA. Another strong performer in the morning session was the #2 Privee Zurich Apple RD320R, just ahead of the sixth-placed #30 RECKLESS MR-S.

The afternoon session was even hotter than the morning. With an ambient temperature around the circuit measured at 41 degrees Celsius, and the track itself shown to be over 56 degrees, it was a cooker!

In GT500, the earlier performance of the #8 ARTA NSX from Honda Racing was bettered by one position - from 2nd to 1st! Driver Ralph Firman's comment below is indicative of the new-found confidence in the team, not to mention the pace they've recently found thanks to the involvement of their performance partner, the highly-rated Dome.
The #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z was less than a tenth in arrears to take second spot ahead of the #38 ZENT CERUMO SUPRA and the #18 TAKATA DOME NSX - which had jumped to fourth from 7th in the morning session, further proof of Dome's positive influence on the NSX. Fifth went to the #3 G'ZOX HASEMI Z, with a pair of SUPRAs, the #6 ESSO car ahead of the #36 DYNACITY TOM'S machine next up, followed by the biggest gainer in the session, the #100 RAYBRIG NSX of Jeremie Dufour and Sebastien Philippe in eighth.

In GT300, there were switches between 2nd and 3rd, the bright yellow Mazda gaining as the ARTA Garaiya fell to third. The WedsSport Celica jumped from an earlier session position of 10th to fourth, less than two hundredths in front of the #2 Privee Zurich Apple RD320R Vemac - the blue and white car showing some serious pace this weekend with fifth place in both sessions.
The class championship-defending #0 EBBRO M-TEC NSX made a big improvement from its morning position of 13th to place sixth - with exactly the same time as the Vemac ahead.

Saturday's two Official Qualifying sessions will no doubt be hard-fought affairs. Expect to see some intense pushing as competitors try first to get into the afternoons SL, or Super Lap session (see separate story for a full explanation on the SL system); and second, to grab the best possible berth on the grid for Sunday's race.


Driver Comments:
Ralph Firman - #8 ARTA NSX
"We had a really good test at Suzuka recently. There have been many improvements on the car and we're running what is overall a much better package. The engine feels a lot better and the handling has also improved. I haven't looked at the straightline speed in comparison to the others, but I think it's quite good. We're looking good for tomorrow, the Honda runs well here. The team has done a fantastic job on the car, and there's still more to come. I believe if everything goes according to plan, we have a chance at the win on Sunday."