2019.05.04

[GTA Regular Press Conference: Rd.2 Fuji] GTA Chairman Bandoh speaks about Round 2 Fuji event as well as latest updates on special inter-series event.

Round 2 Fuji Speedway: GTA Regular Press Conference

SUPER GT's operating body GTA Co., Ltd holds a regular press conference at each event. GTA Chairman Masaaki Bandoh answered to representative questions raised by Japan Motorsport-journalist Society (JMS) as well as questions from journalists during the regular press conference held at Fuji Speedway, the venue of Round 2, in the morning of May 4th before the race start.

 

 

Chairman Bandoh:
Imposition of penalty resulting from the collision between top two cars of GT500 class as well as presentation of a red flag are matters of prerogative of the race controlling bodies, therefore, I have nothing to comment on the decisions, neither as GTA nor promoter.
However, I would like to say that everybody managed the situation very well in the severe rain with a little choice constrained by the regulations defined on rain tires like tread pattern, depth of groove, etc. I do think about giving more flexibility so that teams can choose tires based on different rain situations, on one hand, but, on the other hand, there is always cost involved like increase in development budget or additional transportation cost, etc., especially when the technological competition among the tire manufacturers has gotten ever fierce. Therefore, I believe the current rules on rain tires are appropriate.
And, on the two red flags and how the race ended, I think it was just a consequence of a difficult decision that had to be made when you think about, from the position of the series operator, the safety of drivers, the circumstances the spectators were in, and the damage and loss to the facility (caused by the crash), especially when you have a crash that left multiple cars near total loss.

 

 

Chairman Bandoh:
With this being the first race after the era Heisei ended and the Imperial era name changed to Reiwa and the government was also proactive in getting involved to the celebration by setting 10-day holiday, I, too, was also wondering how it was going to be. With this many holidays, I think it made those people, like who had an interest in motorsports a little bit or automobile fans who didn't think it was worth going to a circuit or former fans who had been away from watching races, to take this 10-day holiday as an opportunity to go see SUPER GT, and I think they came today. I heard that cars are still going in to the parking lots now (after 10AM on Race Day).
I believe all the hard work by everybody who have been with SUPER GT for more than 20 years and the effort put by those people who work in motorsports paid off and brought potential fans of Japanese motorsports during the 10-day holiday. Especially, it seems the proactive approach to children over the years is bearing fruit now. In the Reiwa era, we need to further develop the ground and foundation established in the era of Heisei and improve the recognition even higher. We had many children participating in the Kids' walk yesterday again, but as a first step towards our goal, I think this Fuji event, the first race race of Reiwa, is an important race.

 

Chairman Bandoh:
We are still in discussion on the number of cars from DTM, but we are expecting from 12 to 14 cars. It will be the number of cars that can be brought in one chartered jumbo jet. We are also working on finalizing the format of competition in detail. What we have finalized already at this point are: it will be 3-day event (11/22 (Fri), 23 (Sat), 24 (Sun)), there will be two races, one qualifying and one race will be held on both Saturday and Sunday.
SUPER GT and DTM have different sporting regulations, but DRS (Drag Reduction System) used in DTM will not be used in this special inter-series race. GT500 cars are not equipped with DRS and it will be disadvantage to them on Fuji's long straightaway. Tires will be supplied exclusively by Hankook. We are also discussing on vehicle weight, etc. so that it will be fair to both sides.
The concept behind this joint event this year is "Joint" and "Collaboration." Ordinarily, the general practice was to operate the race accordingly to the regulations created by FIA, but this time GTA and ITR are working together to create a regulation, "CLASS 1," and host a race together, and this is revolutionary. Under this integrated regulations, we will work with the participating automakers to develop global market and try to win acceptance of the fans. This will be the opening of a new era, not a battle between DTM and SUPER GT. However, we still need to continue our mutual discussion on what we can do because each side has its own issues and different problems, but, still, the fact that we have been working and building this together and will be operating a race together now is, I think, revolutionary. You can count on us.

 

Chairman Bandoh:
NISMO TV was distributing footages to overseas until last season, but it is not doing it this season, and I know that foreign drivers had a discussion about it at the season opening Okayama event. Our move was not because the drivers started to talk about it, but we were already working towards it. However, race footage is our asset/product and also a business that generates revenue. Therefore, we cannot easily provide it for free, even if it's for improving our recognition at overseas.
Meanwhile, we had a discussion with Haro Sports, the promoter of Malaysia event next season, on the rights around footages, and we were able to reach an agreement for not only Malaysia (Haro Sports will distribute footage to domestic TV of Malaysia) but also for an Internet live distribution through them and Motorsport.com to various countries around the world.

 

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