The 2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT season will begin in less than one month. The other day, this year’s first SUPER GT Official Tests were held at the Okayama International Circuit, where the opening round of the season will be held (April 12th, 13th), and at the tests we interviewed seven drivers who are the focus of particular attention in the GT500 class. Here we introduce their comments, as they look forward to the opening round. The third driver we interviewed was Daiki Sasaki, who returns from competing in the GT300 class to take a position this season as first driver for the No. 3 Niterra MOTUL Z team in the GT500 class, where he has previously succeeded in winning three races.
Daiki Sasaki No. 3 Nittera MOTUL Z
–Not only are you returning to the GT500 class but also to one of the ranking’s top teams, car No. 3, haven’t you. Of course, I am very glad to return to the GT500 class, which is the top category. I have always been participating as part of the Nissan program since I was 17 or 18 years old, and I have driven in cars of the KONDO RACING and TEAM IMPUL, but I had never driven with a NISMO team. Because of that, I am happy that I will now be able to work with everyone on the NISMO staff. All the teams want to win, but especially in the case of the No. 3 team, since for several years they have come close but have not gotten a championship, that is naturally where the strong focus is. As for myself, I also have a very strong feeling that we have to win the championship this year, and to move up toward that final step is the feeling shared by the whole team. –This season you will be driving for a new team with a new partner, will you please tell us how you feel now and what your expectations are? As for myself, the fact that I have been driving a GT300 car all of last year, I have some worries, but when I ran in the preseason tests in Sepang before coming to Okayama, I was able to get right into the GT500 Z and immediately get the top time, so I have no doubts concerning the speed I am capable of in it. But then there is the question of how I will do in a race. There are problems for a GT500 machine in long runs and when lapping the GT300 cars, but for me I just want to approach it with confidence that I am strong when it comes to racing. To be honest, I also feel confident in my ability to be fast in a qualifying run, and since (Atsushi) Miyake is also fast, I think that car No. 3 has great potential, so I will just concentrate on being fast in the final race. Miyake and myself have been competing together since we were children and it was like I was teaching him kart racing at a young age, and although I don’t look at him as my student but as someone I have literally always been (in competition) together with, I feel that when it comes to us working together as a team, there is no problem. Since I know Miyake’s weaknesses, there are times when I give him advice, and there are other times when I learn from him, so I feel it is really the case that we are able to work hard together. In order to win the SUPER GT championship title, it is always important to not make any mistakes throughout the season, and that we strive to finish as high up in the order as possible in each race. But, as for these Okayama tests, partly because of the weather things didn’t go as well as they could have. And for that reason, it is hard to predict how we will do in the opening round at Okayama. But of course, we will be aiming for the win, and I also want to see us approach the race with awareness of winning the season championship.
In the next interview, we will talk with Syun Koide of the No.17 Astemo CIVIC TYPE R-GT team. We hope you will look forward to it.
