2009 SUPER GT Round6

There is something special that only Round 6 can provide

No.12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R
The sixth round in Suzuka has been named "Pokka GT SUMMER SPECIAL" for this year, providing a different shade to its familiar façade. The primary change is seen in the qualifying. The event will adopt a knock-out system, a qualifying format that was also applied to last year's seventh round in Motegi. However, this year's qualifying in Suzuka is little different and should provide faster and more thrilling session. The qualifying requires two drivers (three when there is the third driver) from a team to take part (for those teams that proceed to the final session only), which means that the teams must put out their entire capability from Day 1. It may be a difficult qualifying for the teams, but it sure provides excitements to the spectators.
The race will be competed in a distance of 700 km. It's been shortened this year from its traditional 1000 km. But with the shorter distance the racing pace on the entire field may speed up, resulting in not just high speed but super speed endurance race. Although the distance has been reduced, the race is still scheduled to finish after dusk. The one and only night run in SUPER GT series continues to provide fantastic scenes with dazzling headlights and burning brake discs. But for the drivers, the chances for accidents increase as the darkness narrows their sight ahead. The famous fireworks that brighten the sky after the finish will add brilliancy to the finale, which only Round 6 Pokka GT SUMMER SPECIAL can offer.

Will it be all-time Suzuka favorite GT-R? Or will NSX strike back?

No.100 RAYBRIG NSX
How will it be for GT500 class in such a difficult race? The first team to watch for would be No.12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Sebastien Philippe). The Nissan team has won the race last year and also in 2006. They have lighter handicap weight compared to their rivals. So the team must be determined that if they were to win a race this season, it must be in Suzuka and nowhere else. Their biggest rival would be No.100 RAYBRIG NSX (Yuji Ide/Shinya Hosokawa). Considering that the Honda team fought hard against the No.12 team till the last stage of the race last year, they must be eager for revenge. To name a team out of SC430 fleet, it would be No.6 ENEOS SC430 (Daisuke Ito/Bjorn Wirdheim). The Lexus team has a good potential to win the 700 km race, giving the fact that they lead most of the race at last round in Sugo.

No.6 ENEOS SC430
Contrastingly, the point ranking leader, No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Michael Krumm), and No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer) may settle with a tactics to surely finish the race in points and collect as much points as possible. Nonetheless, those teams in the top portion of point ranking should be kept in mind as you watch the race. Benoit Treluyer of No.1 car will not be driving in the event. Instead, Michael Krumm, who competed in the series up until last year and who is currently involved in the development of GT-R for the FIA GT Championship in Europe, will sit behind the wheel in place for the Frenchman in Suzuka. It sure is a pleasure to see his driving again in Japan.
No.17 Katsutomo Kaneishi
Another driver that deserves attention is Katsutomo Kaneishi, third driver of No.17 KEIHIN NSX (Toshihiro Kaneishi/Koudai Tsukakoshi). Kaneishi, who has an extensive career including top formula racings, DTM, etc, and presently leads No.17 REAL RACING as the president and also focuses on developing younger generation in motorsports, has decided to end his long-standing footprints as a top driver after this race. His last run deserves warmest applause from not only his fans but from everybody.

Look out for cleaver ARTA Garaiya and Brand new Legacy

No.43 ARTA Garaiya
It is totally difficult to make any prediction for GT300. Last year, MOLA Z pulled off a victory in spite of 75 kg of handicap weight it had carried and proved that it is possible to win the race by having the right set-up and strategy.
So who can possibly have the right set-up and strategy? First of all, the defending winner No.46 S Road MOLA Z (Kazuki Hoshino/Masataka Yanagida) tops the list followed by the point ranking leader No.19 WedsSport IS350 (Manabu Orido/Tatsuya Kataoka), No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime), who caught everyone by surprise at Round 2 Suzuka with a strategy to keep their tires unchanged, and a veteran duo of No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi). Ranked fourth in the point ranking, ARTA Garaiya must get a win or a podium finish at least here to be able to claim the champion that slipped away from their hands last year, or else their road ahead in the rest of the season will just get worse. So the race for GT300 may evolve around ARTA Garaiya as they may be marked by other teams mentioned above.

No.19 WedsSport IS350
Despite being the sixth round of the season, SUPER GT will welcome a new team at Suzuka. What may be more newsworthy is that the fact the team is fielding a Legacy B4. It must be exciting news for Subaru fans since there was not any machine from the maker this season after one and only Subaru team in SUPER GT had withdrawn from the series after last year. Moreover, the team that is bringing Legacy to the series is the team that created a sensation by introducing Vemac to the series, R&D SPORT. In addition, a three consecutive GT300 champion, Tetsuya Yamano, will sit behind the wheel! Shogo Mitsuyama joins the side of Yamano to complete the mighty driver's line-up. It may be too much to expect something big from them considering that it will be their first race with the machine, but with this package anything can happen. If the weather gets unstable, for instance, we may see the AWD machine overtaking one after another....

No.62 R&D SPORT LEGACY B4

Round 6 Pokka GT SUMMER SPECIAL in Suzuka offers countless excitements for the fans. We wish everyone to enjoy the dramatic, mid-summer SUPER GT event at the circuit.

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