2008 SUPER GT Round6

Keep your eyes locked on GT-R and ARTA NSX!

Considering that there are 9 races in the 2008 SUPER GT series, the upcoming 6th round in Suzuka would be the last race of so called "mid-season." Teams contending for the title would all race differently depending on the situation that each team is in.


No.23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R
Among those, there is something about GT-R teams, especially NISMO. GT-R made its sensational debut at the opening round in Suzuka, and No.23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) marked two straight wins at round 1 and 2. But the GT-Rs lost their momentum in the subsequent races, and the Special adjustment of performance that was applied to all GT-Rs did no help. Although No.24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R (J.P. de Oliveira/Seiji Ara) scored a win on their favoring circuit, Sepang, GT-Rs experienced some disastrous races at the round 3 in Fuji and round 5 in SUGO, both tracks being unfavorable to the car.

So this round in Suzuka should be the race that Nissans are keen to win, especially when their Special adjustment of performance will be reduced to 60kg from what they were obliged until last round in SUGO, 80kg. With the race sharing many elements with endurance races, two cars of tactically clever NISMO, No.23 and No.22 MOUTL AUTECH GT-R (Michael Krumm/Masataka Yanagida), have a great chance for the race.


No.1 ARTA NSX
Speaking of frustrating races, the No.1 car for the '08 season ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman/Takuya Izawa) should also be putting everything for Suzuka. As their performance in the last year's Pokka 1000km proves, Suzuka is one of their most favorite tracks. Rookie driver Izawa should also be eager to grasp a win at his home-track where he has most miles in, accumulated from his racing school days, especially when he has let some races slip away due to the mistakes his inexperience caused despite his strikingly fast speed. Contrastingly, the winner at SUGO, No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Ryo Michigami/Takashi Kogure), will probably not be too eager to win the race. Instead, they may settle to gain as many points as possible since they have to carry 110kg of handicap weight.


No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430
Among SC430s, defending winner of Pokka 1000km, No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer), would again be the top pick. They are very consistent in accumulating points up to this point, but they are yet to win a race this season. Their focus should be to be on the top of the podium, take the lead in the point ranking, and create enough advantage to ease the battle on their side in the crucial final stage of the '08 season. As Wakisaka has put it, "TOM'S will always push to the limit this year no matter how much of weight we had to put on!" the race would be significant as it may decide their outcome of the whole season. To name one more potential candidate out of SC430 teams, it would be No.39 DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 (Toranosuke Takagi/Andre Couto). With SARD's experiences in endurance races and Suzuka 1000km, they have a good chance to finish in top positions.

The outcome of the race is not the only excitement that Pokka 1000km offers. Since the race allows teams to have a third driver on board, we need to look closely on who is driving for which team. For this year, Carlo Van Dam (No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430) out of All Japan F3 Championship comes on the top of the check list followed by Koudai Tsukakoshi (No.17 REAL NSX), Kosuke Matsuura (No.100 RAYBRIG NSX), and Koki Saga (No.39 DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430). Driving for his first SUPER GT race, Koudai Tsukakoshi competes in Euro F3 this season and has two 2nd-place finishes. Kosuke Matsuura had competed in the Indy Racing League for multiple seasons up to last year. Koki Saga is taking the wheel of GT500 machine for the first time. Driving as a third driver in the Pokka 1000km means more than just driving in a race for many drivers as Izawa has proven. Izawa was given the chance to sit behind the wheel of No.1 ARTA NSX this season, but it all started when he proved his potential in his role as a third driver in last year's race. Pokka 1000km is the only race that allows fans to enjoy the race in such a way.

Crucial point for Shiden. This might be it for IS350.

No.2 Privée KENZO Asset Shiden
The team to watch in GT300 class would be No.2 Privée KENZO Asset Shiden (Kazuho Takahashi/Hiroki Katoh). Shiden is the winner of last year's Pokka 1000km, but it was their third driver Hiroki Yoshimoto's performance that pushed the team to the top. The proven Formula Nippon driver is a big help again for the team who must win to stay in for the long-awaited title after dropping multiple races that they had in their hands.

No.19 WedsSports IS350 (Manabu Orido/Tsubasa Abe), who started the last race in SUGO from the pole and lead half way through, should be coming in to Suzuka well focused to grab a win. They are, too, adding third driver in their line-up for the 1000km race and invited Yuhi Sekiguchi who drove for the team last year. Sekiguchi competes in the formula races overseas this season to hone his skills. The young hope would be another eye-catcher for the race. To name other hot favorites in the GT300 class, it would be No.62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 350R (Shinsuke Shibahara/Haruki Kurosawa/Shogo Mitsuyama) with three Vemac-meisters sitting behind the wheel and No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN Z (Takayuki Aoki/Tomonobu Fujii), who put up some amazing show at SUGO, coming all the way back from the last place to the 2nd place. The race might be a difficult one for the SUGO winner, No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi/Kyosuke Mineo), as they need to carry 85kg of handicap weight. Nevertheless, they will probably come out to pick up as many points as possible.

No.19 WedsSport IS350

No.62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 350R

Making a debut, BMW Z4 deserves a look

Expected by many, a new GT300 machine is making its debut at Suzuka. No.808 Hatsune Miku Studie GLAD BMW Z4 (Yasushi Kikuchi/Shozo Takehara) is fielding a brand new BMW Z4M Coupe based machine. The team consists of a famous BMW shop, Studie, a foreign car components supplier, GLAD JAPAN, and an experienced racing team who has competed in Group A, JGTC, F3, etc, Asada Racing. Z4M was originally created for racing use by BMW, and the car underwent a significant modification to comply with SUPER GT regulations. The original engine is replaced by a 5-liter V8 engine, S62/B50, the same engine mounted on M5 (E39). There is some other element that this car draws attention. The car will have a beautiful young girl character, "Hatsune Miku," painted on its body. "Hatsune Miku" is the name of vocal software that operates on personal computers and it won an enormous popularity among Internet and music industry soon after its launch in last summer. This will be a true SUPER GT debut of "Electronic Diva/Virtual Idol." It would be interesting to see how this collaboration will develop.

Kohei Hirate of No.95 Lightning McQueen apr MR-S was injured in a crash during Formula Nippon race on August 10th and needs a month to recover. He will not be competing in the round 6 and will be replaced by Kazuya Oshima, the GT300 champion of the last season, to share the wheel with Keisuke Kunimoto and Yuya Sakamoto for the race. This would be unexpected chance to see Oshima who competes in Euro F3 this season.