2009 SUPER GT Round4
Preview
2009-06-16
It's time for "Heated Battle" in literal sense
Don't miss the sure excitements in Sepang
Keep your eyes on the teams keen to fight back
On June 20th and 21st, the exclusive overseas round of the AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series, Round 4 "SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES MALAYSIA" will be held at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The 4th round marks the turning point of the 9-round series, and, thus, is an important race for teams that have not managed to get a result out in the races up to this point. In addition, the annual flyaway is held in relentless heat which sets a stage for a survival race. What kind of dramatic outcome can we anticipate this year?
The key is how to protect against extreme heat. New armory for GT-R!?
No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
With Malaysia being an equatorial country, the fight against the heat is more important factor than against the rivals to succeed in Sepang. In recent races, drivers wear a cooling vest, often referred as Cool suits, underneath their racing suits. The suits shuts out external heat by circulating cold water in piping that is attached to the vest. Perhaps the Malaysian heat is being too hot, the vest often fails to operate properly in Sepang. If the failure happens, the drivers would quickly be exposed to danger with heat exhaustion which will distract them from driving at their fullest ability.
To avoid any unnecessary burden on their drivers, the developer of GT-R, NISMO, has been exploring a solution to install air-conditioner in GT-R. Installing air-conditioner would mean increase in overall weight and decrease in horsepower, thus considered unsuitable for racing cars. Against the odds, GT-R camp has developed air-conditioner for racing cars and will inaugurate practical use in Sepang. Will this new armory be effective? Nobody knows but it may well be a tremendous support for the winner of the round 3, No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer), to accomplish two-straight wins.
NSX's top the list! With ARTA NSX looking strong.
No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430
Looking into the teams, No.24 HIS ADVAN KONODO GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira/Seiji Ara) can't be ignored when it comes to Sepang as they had accomplished back-to-back wins in '07 and '08. They are looking strong this season with a win at the season opener and fourth-place finish at the Round 3 Fuji, so no hesitation should exist to put them on the very top besides other candidates except for one concern, a handicap weight of 62kg that they have to carry throughout the race. As a consequence, No.24 GT-R may have to settle for a podium finish. Same story falls on other teams with heavy handicap weight, No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer) and No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa/Richard Lyon).
No.8 ARTA NSX
Putting rivals aside, NSX's may be able to pull out some goodies. In generally speaking, NSX's sort of struggled in the early stage of the season, so they must be keen to change the flow to come to their way at Sepang. Leading force among the fleet would be No.8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman/Takuya Izawa), which has been showing good results in the early races despite their companion. With the fact that their ace driver Firman favors the circuit, the team should be looking at the highest place on the podium. For other SC430's, with fairly light handicap weight and a winning record at Sepang, No.39 DUNLOP SARD SC430 (Andre Couto/Kohei Hirate) shouldn't be missed. Speaking of light handicap weight, No.100 RAYBRIG NSX (Yuji Ide/Shinya Hosokawa) and No.6 ENEOS SC430 (Daisuke Ito/Bjorn Wirdheim) should be in good position for top finishes.
No eyes shut for two Ferraris. Or will it be RX-7 again?
No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7
When it comes to Sepang, it's gotta be RE-AMEMIYA RACING for GT300 class. Out of seven races at the Malaysian circuit, including the All-stars, the team has an outstanding record of four wins and a third-place finish of last year. So, No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime) should have a clear path to the victory especially with a support from a local sponsor, but, in reality, 74kg of handicap weight may be a little too much for them to surpass rivals. But on the brighter side, the team is not only fast but they are persistent this season, so no underestimation should be taken for the RX-7. The current series point leader No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) will also need to carry heavy handicap weight, which may force the team to be conservative and settle with some points. Contrastingly, two Ferraris may come out to the spotlight. They are No.11 JIMGAINER ADVAN F430 (Tetsuya Tanaka/Katsuyuki Hiranaka) and No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari (Takayuki Aoki/Tomonobu Fujii). The Italian cars have proven their speeds in the last three races. While the top runners are struggling with the weight, it may be a promising chance to take for the Ferraris.
No.74 COROLLA Axio apr GT (Takuto Iguchi/Yuji Kunimoto) appears to be a dark horse at Sepang. Michelin tires on the car has been strong at Sepang, and, in '07, their preceding machine, MR-S (Kazuya Oshima/Hiroaki Ishiura), had dominated the race, started from the pole and went on to finish at front. Depending on how the race turn out to be, they may become a hero at the end of the day.
Last but not least, SUPER GT will invite a special entry at Sepang; No.69 Thunder Asia MT900R (Melvin Choo/Martin Short) is making its first appearance to the series from Singapore fielding Mosler MT900R. It may be difficult for them to be in the top group, but, with the support from local crowd, there is no doubt the team will show some passionate run.
No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari
No.74 COROLLA Axio apr GT