The Archenemy is still the heat

No.8 ARTA NSX One factor that cannot be underestimated when racing at Sepang is the searing heat. Temperatures far exceeding 30 degrees are the norm during the day, with blazing sunshine adding to the intensity. Every year sees cases of drivers suffering from heat stroke, and it has determined the outcome of the race on more than one occasion, despite a later race start time in recent running of the event.
Last year, Daisuke Ito in the #8 ARTA NSX fought a titanic battle with Richard Lyons in the Xanavi NISMO Z, finally succumbing because of the searing temperatures in the car. The cool suit he wore simply couldn't put up with the unrelenting heat, and the Xanavi Z won as a result.

Will the NSX make a counter-attack on the Z car this time around?

No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z Sepang is a comparatively flat race track, and is considered a high-speed circuit. Therefore, the cornering ability of the midship-engined NSX may have enough of an advantage to hold off the Z. In last year's running of the event, it was the newly-fitted NA power plants to the Hondas that made for such an exciting head-to-head battle with the Z car.
Despite being winless so far this season, the fight between the #8 ARTA NSX (Daisuke Ito/Ralph Firman) and the #23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Satoshi Motoyama/Tsugio Matsuda), and is set to become more intense as the season wears on.
Also, because of Sakon Yamamoto's departure to Formula One (to the Super Aguri F1 team), the pairing in the #22 MOTUL AUTECH Z car of Michael Krumm and 2004 Driver's champion Richard Lyons (winner here last year) make the NISMO duo a serious threat to the other drivers' title aspirations. Although put together suddenly, they are set to create a real storm in the championship.

No.36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430 New for this season, the Lexus SC430 races at Sepang for the first time; though it is by no means uncharted territory for the car, with an official joint test having taken place at the circuit over the winter.
After losing out on the win at Fuji Speedway, the #1 ZENT CERUMO SC (Yuji Tachikawa/Toranosuke Takagi) and victors in round 1, the #36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC 430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer) will both be fighting hard for overall honors.

Will midship cars and the RX-7 have the advantage in GT300?

No.7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX7 In the GT300 class, a slight decrease in entrants sees 20 cars competing at Sepang. Among the absentees is the Round 1-winning #88 AKTIO Murcie RG-1, the JLOC squad unable to attend on the back of their Le Mans campaign the weekend prior to this event. However, this allows other teams to fight for victory in its place.

No.27 direxiv ADVAN 320R The #7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX-7 (Tetsuya Yamano/Hiroyuki Iiri) is a strong contender at Sepang, the car having won on three out of four attempts at the track. If all does according to the averages, it will no doubt be the RX-7 that tastes victory. Also, with a lot of high-speed corners, Sepang favors midship cars, and the GT300 class has its fair share: the Ferrari, Vemac and MR-S entries could all produce a thrilling result. With one victory already this season, the #27 direxiv ADVAN 320R (Shogo Mitsuyama/Nobuteru Taniguchi) should prove strong, while the #11 JIM CENTER FERRARI DUNLOP (Tetsuya Tanaka/ Takayuki Aoki) and the #101 TEAM RUN'A apr MR-S (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) cannot be discounted.
Further, results from last year are not the only barometer of possible success, the Porsche entries proving strong so far this season.

In both the GT500 and GT300 classes, the Round 4 battle at Sepang is a great opportunity for those who have not yet won to get a good result.