Day 2 of the joint test organized by GT Entrant Association (GTE) took place at Mobility Resort Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture on October 7th (Tue). There was only 1 car participating from the GT500 class whereas the GT300 class saw 22 cars (23 cars total) running in both morning and afternoon. All teams were working vigorously to complete their test menu under a cloud sky.
・Session hour: 08:30〜09:00 GT300 09:00〜11:00 GT300／GT500 11:00〜12:00 GT500 13:00〜13:30 GT300 13:30〜15:30 GT300／GT500 15:30〜16:30 GT500
・Weather/Track surface: Morning: Cloudy/Dry Afternoon: Cloudy/Dry
・Air/Track surface temperatures: Morning at start （8:30） 20℃/23℃ Morning mid-session （10:00） 20℃/22℃ Morning at end （11:00）22℃/25℃ Afternoon at start （13:00） 24℃/30℃ Afternoon mid-session （14:00） 25℃/32℃ Afternoon at end （15:00） 23℃/27℃
■Total of 23 cars from both classes ran extensively again in Day 2. No.65 AMG marked the top time among GT300 regulars.
Joint test organized by GTE had started from October 6th (Mon) on the stage of the final round of this season, Mobility Resort Motegi. Out of 6 cars from the GT500 class that participated in Day 1, 5 cars had left the circuit since their testing programs were completed, leaving No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto / Sena Sakaguchi / Kazuto Kotaka) to be the only participant from the class for the day. On the other hand, the GT300 class had the same 23 cars from previous day in attendance.
Day 2 was supposed to have the same session schedule as the first day, but a sudden change was made in the plan which, although the total time of all sessions remained the same, revised the duration of exclusive sessions of both GT300 and GT500 classes to make the mixed run session longer.
Morning session of Day 2 started at 8:30AM. Cloudy weather lowered air and track surface temperatures from the previous day to 20 and 23 degrees, respectively. While the test car wearing No.610 staying back at its pit, all other 22 cars were repeating pit-in and pit-out and stacking up the number of laps from right after the start of the session. No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi / Shunji Okumoto) that was struck with an engine problem in the morning of Day 1 was also steadily running on the track for numerous numbers of laps.
After 30 minutes into the session, No.19 GR Supra of GT500 class also entered the track at 9AM. Mixed run lasted for 2 hours and the running time for the GT300 class ended at 11AM. No.19 car was busy going out and coming back in many times as the team executed their menu and eventually marked a best lap time of 1 min 37.719 sec.
Out of the regular entrants of GT300 class, No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou / Togo Suganami), the fastest of Day 1, stood at the top position* with 1 min 47.393 sec. No.45 PONOS FERRARI 296 (Kei Cozzolino / Takuro Shinohara) that suffered a transmission problem in Day 1 followed with 1 min 47.460 sec. *Overall fastest lap time of GT300 cars was marked by No.640 test car.
■Round 6 winner No.60 car fastest in GT300 in afternoon. No.18 AMG and No.45 296 followed at second and third.
Pit viewing was also conducted during the interval just like the day before and a huge crowd of SUPER GT fans gathered to see the race cars up-close. The sky over Mobility Resort Motegi started to clear up meantime, and Session 4 started at 1PM under the conditions of air temperature at 24 degrees and track surface reaching 30 degrees.
Just like other sessions, the fourth session started with exclusive runs of GT300 class. No.777 D’station Vantage GT3 (Tomonobu Fujii) had already completed their planned menu in the morning, thus, canceled their run in the afternoon. Though one car less than the morning, a total of 22 cars were going around for multiple laps.
3:30PM was the end time for the GT300 class, but No.666 seven x seven PORSCHE GT3R (Kiyoto Fujinami / Harry King) came to a stop right after the closure, requiring the officials to present the only red flag of the day. After the session resumed, No.19 GR Supra was gaining more number of laps as it repeated pit-in and pit-out multiple times until the entire session came to an end at 4:30PM.
No.19 car representing GT500 class solely left a lap time of 1 min 37.241 sec during the afternoon session. In the GT300 class, the Round 6 SUGO winner No.60 Syntium LMcorsa LC500 GT (Hiroki Yoshimoto / Shunsuke Kohno / Reimei Ito) marked the top time with 1 min 47.578 sec with Hiroki Yoshimoto at the wheel. No18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi / Yuto Nomura) was the second fastest with 1 min 47.713 sec marked by Yuto Nomura, and No.45 296 was at third with a lap time recorded by Cozzolino, 1 min 47.872 sec.
■Drivers’ comments from Day 2
No.60 Syntium LMcorsa LC500 GT Hiroki Yoshimoto “We basically had a menu mainly focusing on tire testing for these 2 days. But the tires that were on the car when we got the lap time this afternoon do not suit the conditions of the final round. Anyways, I got to drive for 2 days and also did long-runs, so the test itself was good. There are still 2 races left, but, since we are out of the championship contention, our focus would be to collect data thoroughly for next season.”
No.45 PONOS FERRARI 296 Kei Cozzolino “2 days were mainly for tire testing, and, since Dunlop brought some special tires in addition to regular tires, we were able to work on selecting tires for the Round 8 Motegi and also try some setup options that we never had a chance to try before. We have not been on the podium yet this year, so, firstly, we will need to fight the remaining 2 races strongly so we can exceed last year’s result. Success weight will be lighter too. Dunlop and all other suppliers are working very hard for us, so we need to orchestrate well.”
No.18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 Yuto Nomura “It was the first time for the team to run Mercedes AMG GT3 on Motegi track, so we worked on tire selections and setup from yesterday. We are at 9th position in the point standing, 21.5 points behind from the top, and if we drop points at next race, we will not be able to stay in the title contention, so we first need to try to get a good result at Round 7 (Autopolis) and then wrap up by winning the final race since there will not be any success weight at the Round 8 Motegi.”
No.0 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 Yuya Motojima “It was almost only tire testing this time. We did new tires and used tires, long-runs as well as short-runs, ran a lot in the afternoon, so I’m tired (laughter). We have won at this Motegi in past 2 years. Since Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 is sensitive to intake-air temperature and air temperature, the car performs better in cold seasons. So, we need to be aggressive at Autopolis and Motegi. We have not been on the podium yet this year, so I hope we can find a way to the podium before this season ends.”
