Official Qualifying for Round 5 of SUPER GT took place today at Twin Ring Motegi, Honda's high-tech racetrack and motorsports complex north of Tokyo.

Continuing Honda's strong showing since switching to the 3.5-liter N.A engine, all four NSXs ran well - as expected, in both sessions today. As well as filling the front row, 3rd on the grid went to the #100 RAYBRIG machine; while last year's winning car, the #32 EPSON NSX ended up slightly further back in eighth.

QUALIFYING SESSION 1

In the day's first session, it was similarly a brace of three NSX's that filled the top of the timesheets - though the #100 machine occupied 2nd ahead of the #18 TAKATA Dome entry. The lead trio were followed closely by the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi Z, former German F3 champion Toshihiro Kaneishi muscling the orange, black and silver machine around Motegi's 4.8-kilometer track in 1:46.201 - less than a tenth off the quickest time.

Fifth place went to Juichi Wakisaka in the #6 Esso Ultraflo SUPRA, ahead of Michael Krumm in the #22 Motul Pitwork Z.
Also guaranteed spots in the afternoon's now revised-format Super Lap session were the #38 ZENT Cerumo SUPRA in seventh, the #32 EPSON NSX, the #34 Bandai SUPRA, and the iconic #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z.

GT300 threw up a few surprises - nothing new for the class with no fewer than 26 competitors. Top time went to the freshman MOLA team, their #46 Dream Cube's ADVAN Z outperforming their nearest rivals by over nine-tenths of a second! Already well established in the world of Japanese motorsport, Kazuki Hoshino (son of racing legend Kazuyoshi) was in a class by himself, such was the gap back to those giving chase. He would go one better in the afternoon...

Under the Sporting Regulations of SUPER GT, competitors who have failed to score points in a given number of successive events are granted 'Rank Up' - something like the opposite of success ballast. This is designed to create greater parity among entrants, and is the reason the #2 Privee Zurich Apple RD320R has been so impressive all weekend. Rank Up allows competitors to run larger air restrictors - and thus gain greater horsepower - and speed.

Also putting in an impressively strong showing in the morning - and a berth in the afternoon's SL (Super Lap) was the #87 JLOC (Japan Lamborghini Owner's Club) Murcie RG-1. The black supercar was tenth, less than 1.8 seconds in arrears of the morning's quickest time.

QUALIFYING SESSION 2

The Super lap qualifying format has been changed slightly from this round of the series: cars now run alone on track rather than in pairs, and the session consists of only the top ten from the morning. Gone is the added pair of entrants from the afternoon's 15-minute Pre-SL session. One other change is that each competitor now has a 'theme song' playing over the P.A. while completing the Super Lap - this in an attempt to build a greater connection between fans and their driving heroes.

As usual, GT300 machinery went out first - running in ascending order, from 10th to the quickest time scored in the morning.
For most of the session, it was the #19 Weds Sports Celica that dominated proceedings - until the #46 Z car took to the track. Again Hoshino junior showed the way - but this time the gap back to second place was over one second! Directly behind was the #7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX-7, followed by the #2 Privee Zurich RD 320 R (Vemac). Next up was the #43 ARTA Garaiya in fifth - a considerable achievement considering the car is carrying 65 kilograms of 'weight handi' (success ballast).
The latter half of the SL qualifiers saw the #77 Cusco Subaru ADVAN Impreza beat the #30 Reckless MR-S; the pair edging out the #27 direxiv Motorsport 320R (another Vemac), the #10 Mach-Go Ferrari Dunlop (F360) and the #87 JLOC Murcie RG-1.

SL attacks are run in ascending order from positions earned in the morning's session. Therefore, Benoit Treluyer in the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z was first among the GT500 drivers to take to the track as the class' session got underway at approximately 4:00pm.

With a gradually cooling track, times were expected to tumble as the session wore on. Treluyer set a 1:46.074 on his attack lap, laying down the gauntlet for the remaining nine drivers. However it wasn't until the fourth car went out, the #38 ZENT Cerumo SUPRA, that a new top time emerged. Driver Yuji Tachikawa was the first competitor to break into the 1 minute 45-second bracket (1:45.972), though he certainly wouldn't be the last. The #18 TAKATA Dome NSX - the eighth SL competitor out - decisively beat that mark with Ryo Michigami's blistering 1:45.560. The time was over four-tenths quicker than anything all day and the green machine seemed destined for Pole. It nearly happened - except that the final runner, Daisuke Ito in the #8 ARTA NSX, managed to take a further 0.061 seconds off the Michigami's time - for a pole position of 1:45.499.
Strong - and super consistent all weekend - the #100 Raybrig NSX ended the session third, Sebastien Philippe's 1:45.847 the only other car to break the 1 minute 46-second barrier.

(from left) R.Firman/D.Ito, K.Hoshino/T.Aoki

Driver comments:
Daisuke Ito - #8 ARTA NSX - GT500 Pole Position
"I'm extremely happy to have scored pole position here - it's the first time for me in SUPER GT as it was Ralph who scored our last pole, in Sepang. I did the attack in the recent Suzuka 1,000kms - and getting pole there was very satisfying, but it's not part of this championship. Therefore today is really very special. We had wondered how close we'd be considering we're running with 40kgs of ballast. This morning the car ran particularly well, and it gave us added confidence for the SL session this afternoon. We thought pole was a possibility, but the gap is so small here, one never knows where one's going to end up. Knowing this - or, under this pressure, I went out and really attacked hard. Obviously this result is very satisfying considering that pressure. We had a little understeer in the morning session, but made the right adjustments and the car ran perfectly this afternoon.
Obviously we don't know what the weather conditions will be like tomorrow - but you can be sure we'll be giving it our best whatever is thrown at us.
Starting from pole, there's little chance of accidents and we'll be taking advantage of that situation, focusing on tire management and staying in front to the flag."

Ryo Michigami - #18 TAKATA Dome NSX - GT500 2nd
"The #8 car put in a really good lap this afternoon - Daisuke was completely focused and didn't put a foot wrong. Their car was strong yesterday too, and before SL we made some adjustments to try and close the gap to them. We were successful, and although we're 2nd, there's only a sliver between us.
As for the battle for the top tomorrow, I know we can do it! The win is ours for the taking, we've just got to battle them and take it"

Sebastien Philippe - #100 Raybrig NSX - GT500 3rd
"The afternoon is obviously the important session here. The gap is so small between the cars that one little mistake could be the difference between a top time - and tenth. We know we have a car capable of running at the top - we just need a clean lap. It's the same for everybody of course.
As for track conditions, they haven't changed much since yesterday. The car was very good in this morning's session; and while there's always something you can do to improve things, we feel it's already very good. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."