2010 SUPER GT Round1
Preview
2010-03-16
This is it! Honda HSV-010 GT making its debut!
The curtain finally rises! 2010 season kicks off at Suzuka!!
New machines, new teams, don't take your eyes away from the GT300 class
SUPER GT series will kick off its new season at the 2010 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 1 "SUZUKA GT 300km" held at Suzuka Circuit (Mie Prefecture) on March 20th and 21st. Biggest talk of the town must be the debut of Honda's brand new machine, HSV-010 GT. How will it perform? Will it shake the crowd with debut-win? The new car is drawing a huge amount of attention from not only GT fans but also media. For GT300 class, in spite of the economic slump, it will see more cars than last year with 23 cars starting the season opener. You can already hear SUPER GT's new season sizzles with more ingredient to offer.
Brand new HSV-010 GT and new-engined GT-R
No.18 Weider HSV-010
A masterpiece that earned numerous victories, Honda NSX-GT, had withdrawn from the series as of the final round of last season. To succeed NSX's glorious footprint, Honda is fielding their first FR (Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive) layout SUPER GT machine, HSV-010 GT, this season. The car has demonstrated its outstanding potential in the corners at pre-season tests and gave shivers to the rivals. First objective for any of the Honda teams must be to complete a debut-win at Honda's home track, Suzuka. With newly enforced drivers line-up, manufacturer's core teams,No.8 ARTA HSV-010 (Ralph Firman/Yuji Ide) and No.18 Weider HSV-010 (Takashi Kogure/Loic Duval), should become a driving force for the maker at the season opener.
No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
While the eyes tend to follow the brand new car, NISSAN GT-R is starting the season with a new engine. Having an over-sized 4.5-liter engine that exceeded regulated displacement last year, GT-R had to carry handicap weight throughout the whole season, but the new engine complies with the 3.4-liter displacement regulation and matches up with its two rivals. Without the handicap weight on the NISSAN cars, it is now a true head-to-head battle for the technology side too. Stumbling at the opening round last season and eventually losing the title owing partly to that, it must had been such a bitter season for No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer). For being a works team, winning the title is an absolute must, so they must be keened and committed to win the upcoming race.
No.1 PERTONAS TOM'S SC430
Contrarily, no prominent changes are seen on the 2009 champion car LEXUS SC430. The 2010 car has gone under a normal evolution from last year, but the team structure as well as drivers line-up stay the same. Nevertheless, maturity level may be a step or even two steps ahead of the rivals. Maturity could become a huge advantage especially in the first half of the season where initial problems frequently occur. Defending champion No.1 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer) and last year's Suzuka (Rd.2) winner, No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa/Richard Lyons), should be the two main teams of the fleet, but No.6 ENEOS SC430 (Ito/ Bjorn Wirdheim) , with Daisuke Ito going into his third year after moving to LEXUS, and the winner of last year's Pokka GT (Rd.6 Suzuka), No.35 MJ KRAFT SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura/Kazuya Oshima), should be kept under the watch-out list also.
The true potential of GT500 machines are still to be hidden under the veil. Yet, it is all about who will cross the finish line first after conquering the intense battle against the rivals thorough the excellent mixture of mid/high-speed and technical corners at the challenging circuit of Suzuka. Can't wait to see the green light at the opening round.
Aston Martin and a foreign team take their shot at SUPER GT!
No.66 triple a Vantage GT2
GT300 class offers a full of news no less than GT500 class this season. At the end of last year, some anticipated that the GT300 would see less number of cars participating due to the depression, but it turned out that some 23 cars (with annual entry of 25 cars) will line up on the grid of season opener, exceeding the number of last season.
Out of the cars on the grid, No.66 triple a Vantage GT2 (Hideshi Matsuda/Hiroki Yoshimoto) with a machine that is making its first appearance to the series, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, is one of the sure eye-catcher. Aston Martin DB9 that competed in GT500 class for a few races last season was a V12 engined machine, but the Vantage is a FIA GT2 specification car with a V8 engine, and it is considered as one of the true rival to Porsche 911 GT3R and Ferrari F430, which can make the battle of super cars more fierce than ever before.
Also, No.365 365 Thunder Asia MT900M (Melvin Choo/Tim Sugden) should deserve attention out of the new comers. They are a Singapore based team with vast experience in Asian GT races. It is also the first time for the SUPER GT series to have a foreign based team to participate for a full season, and, in that sense, the team is one to keep in mind. Thunder Asia participated in last year's round 4 at Sepang as a wildcard, and at one time it came very close behind the leader in the GT300 class. You can't underestimate what they can do.
No.19 Weds Sport IS350
Now looking into the season opener as well as the new season, without a doubt the race should evolve around the defending champion Weds Sport IS350 (Manabu Orido/Tatsuya Kataoka) and other major players like No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime) and No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi). No.2 APPLE K-ONE SHIDEN (Hiroki Katoh/Hiroshi Hamaguchi) looked strong at the official test held on March 5th and 6th. Team's ace driver remained to be Katoh, but he is now partnering with Hamaguchi, a SUPER GT rookie. With outstanding track record of Porsche Cup champion, Hamaguchi could well be the key for the team's success. Fighting fiercely for the title last season until the final lap of the final round, No.11 JIMGAINER DIXCEL DUNLOP F430 (Tetsuya Tanaka/Katsuyuki Hiranaka) is fielding same Ferrari F430 but with FIA-GT2 specification this season. They must be fired up to crown the title they have longed for. Speaking of making a courageous decision, No.62 R&D SPORT LEGACY B4 (Tetsuya Yamano/Kota Sasaki) has changed the drive system of the car from last year's AWD(4WD) to FR. This can be seen as another manifestation of a strong will to win.
Lastly, No.3 HASEMI SPORT TOMICA Z (Kazuki Hoshino/Masataka Yanagida) is coming back to GT300 class since 2003. The team has a rich experience, including 2003 GT300 champion and a victory in GT500 class last season, as well as a strong combination of drivers. Without a doubt, they should be one of the top candidates for winning the season opener and much more, the series title.
With many more news, including new team structure of "Itasha" team and a top SUPER GT driver who has joined the Gallardo fleet, the GT300 class is a sure provider of excitements once again
No.2 APPLE K-ONE SHIDEN
No.3 HASEMI SPORT TOMICA Z