Joint tests organized by GT Entrant Association (GTE) started on October 6th (Mon) at Mobility Resort Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture with a total of 28 SUPER GT race cars, 5 cars from GT500 class and 23 cars from GT300 class. Teams were tirelessly carrying out testing laps after laps during the 2-hour and 2.5-hour sessions in the morning and afternoon, respectively.
・Session hour: 08:30～10:00 GT300 10:00～10:30 GT300 / GT500 10:30～12:00 GT500 13:00～14:30 GT300 14:30～15:30 GT300 / GT500 15:30～16:30 GT500
・Weather/Track surface: Morning: Cloudy/Dry Afternoon: Fine/Dry
・Air/Track surface temperatures: Morning at start （8:30） 25℃/26℃ Morning mid-session （10:30） 28℃/32℃ Afternoon at start （13:00）27℃/32℃ Afternoon mid-session （14:00）27℃/31℃ Afternoon at end （15:00） 24℃/39℃
■GT500 No.14 GR Supra and GT300 No.4 AMG marked fastest time during morning session.
With only 2 races remaining in the 2025-season, GTE organized a 2-day joint test at Mobility Resort Motegi, the stage of the final round, and the first day of testing was carried out on October 6th (Mon). Both days of the joint test followed a same sequence of runs, GT300 class only, mixed run of GT300 and GT500 classes (30 minutes for the morning and 60 minutes for the afternoon), and GT500 exclusive time.
Past GTE-organized tests saw mainly GT300 cars, but 5 cars from GT500 class participated this time, No.12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z, No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra, and No.100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT wearing Bridgestone tires and No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra and No.24 Realize Corporation ADVAN Z with Yokohama tires. In the GT300 class, 21 cars competing the full season participated in the joint test. There were also 2 test race cars making runs on the track.
Rain showered over Mobility Resort Motegi from the day before which left some wet spots on the track and light fog in early morning. The morning session started at 8:30AM under light clouds with air and track surface temperatures at 25 and 26 degrees, respectively.
Some teams held their cars back for a while, probably for the track condition to improve, but many cars entered the track as the session started. While tire test appeared to be the main objective for many teams as they execute their test menu, No.31 apr LC500h GT (Oliver Rasmussen / Miki Koyama / Yuki Nemoto) was working on adjusting the car setup and No.45 PONOS FERRARI 296 (Kei Cozzolino / Takuro Shinohara) was struck with a problem in the transmission, which forced both teams to work inside of the garage for a long time.
As soon as the session opened for the GT500 class, 5 GT500 race cars went onto the track. At 1 hour 36 minutes from the start, No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT came to a halt at the exit of Turn 1. The session got suspended with a red flag for the first time for the joint test. Engine problem forced No.61 car to stop and spend the rest of the day in the garage.
No disruptions were seen from there in the morning session, but GT300 cars had to exit the track after 2 hours from the start of the session. Tatsuya Kataoka drove No.4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG just by himself and concluded the day with the fastest lap time of GT300 class at 1 min 48.442 sec. No.2 HYPER WATER INGING GR86 GT driven by Yuui Tsutsumi followed at second place with a lap time of 1 min 48.546 sec. 1 min 48.582 sec clocked by Yamauchi in No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT before the car stopped was the third fastest lap time.
The top time of morning session in the GT500 class was by Nirei Fukuzumi driving No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra at 1 min 36.693 sec. No.12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z was the second fastest with 1 min 36.894 sec. No.100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT stood at third with 1 min 37.235 sec.
■Enthusiastic fans showed up despite weekday testing. Afternoon top time marked by No.19 GR Supra in GT500 and No.65 AMG for GT300.
Mobility Resort Motegi organized Pit viewing after the morning session which drew a large crowd of fans despite it being a weekday.
It was slightly cloudy when the afternoon session began at 1PM, but a blue sky started to appear soon after. Initial conditions were 27 and 32 degrees in terms of air and track surface temperatures. Excluding No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT that had to continue the work in the pit, 22 cars entered the track and continued their tire testing effortlessly again in the afternoon.
There were a few cars going off track, but the session progressed without any red flag suspensions, and the GT500 class joined again at 2:30PM. From there it was another 1-hour mixed run. The track left only 5 GT500 races cars from 3:30PM, and, while it was gradually getting dark, a checkered flag was waived at 4:30PM. There was not even a single red flag suspension in the afternoon after all.
Naoya Gamou with No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG leading the point standing marked the top time of GT300 class with 1 min 48.028 sec. No.4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG that marked the fastest time in the morning was the second fastest in the afternoon with a lap time of 1 min 48.064 sec. No.2 HYPER WATER INGING GR86 GT followed at third with 1 min 48.118 sec.
In the GT500 class, No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra driven by Sena Sakaguchi was at top with 1 min 37.598 sec. No.12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z clocked 1 min 37.918 sec and took the second spot. No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra followed at third with 1 min 38.396 sec. Out of the GT500 class participants, 4 cars excluding No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra were only participating the first day of testing.
■Drivers’ comments from Day 1.
No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra Nirei Fukuzumi “It was blessing to have an opportunity to test, so we basically spent most of the day testing tires. We consequently got the fastest time, but we should have created a larger gap if you consider the potential the GR Supra has this season. But I believe other teams were also doing tire tests, so the result may had changed depending on the timing. But we stayed in upper positions when Oshima was driving too, and we were able to collect data from Motegi for our new engineers from this season, so I think it was very good test.”
No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra Sena Sakaguchi “We were working on a menu that focused more on evaluation of tires than the setup today, so we fully utilized the time and put on so many sets of tires. Improvement is impressive, and it is exceeding our benchmark. I felt that we are prepared well enough so that we don’t make a wrong choice on tire selection when we need to make a decision on the tires in changing situations. As far as Yokohama Tire is concerned, No.24 car utilized the chance and captured the win at the previous race (Round 6 SUGO), but, for us, it was a half happy and half disappointing race. If we were asked if we made the best decision, there are some regrets, to be honest, so we need to pay back in remaining 2 races. Other cars will be loading off their success weights, but I’m excited (for the situation) and we got to be on the podium at least.”
No.4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG Tatsuya Kataoka “Temperature was totally different from (last year’s) final round, but I heard the temperature will drop tomorrow, so I need to have (Nobuteru) Taniguchi to test thoroughly tomorrow. Our team has been in a good rhythm since Sepang (Round 3) this season, and we also had a pretty good result at SUGO (Round 6) under a bit low temperature. We were at top in the morning and second fastest in the afternoon today, so we are still in a good rhythm. I can see the stream running towards the Round 7 Autopolis for us. I think it will suddenly get cold (again this year), so the challenge would be how we can adjust the tires. Tomorrow’s outcome on which tires we select for the final round could become a key factor.”
No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG Naoya Gamou “We spent the whole day testing tires. But the temperature was much higher than (yearly) final round, so it’s hard to say. I think the track surface will be slightly better in the actual race also. If so, then I can imagine other manufactures getting faster too. Since the success weight will still be there for the Round 7 Autopolis, it may be difficult for us to fight for the win or podium, so we just need to make sure we go home with some points and give all out at the final race.”
No.2 HYPER WATER INGING GR86 GT Yuui Tsutsumi “Basically, we worked mainly on tire testing. Lap times were good, but the track surface temperature was lower than expected, so I am not satisfied. But we were able to find tires from a different perspective than before, so that could become our weapon later. The requirements (BoP) got stricter for us for the Round 7 Autopolis, but we have been able to be in the fight for the win every year at the circuit, plus we crashed out at the Round 6 SUGO, so we need to win and continue on to the final round.”
