2019.11.23

[Dream Race : Race 1 Qualifying] KeePer TOM'S LC500's Cassidy wins pole position! Audi's Duval qualifies 2nd

SUPER GT × DTM Dream Race : Qualifying 1

The official qualifying for Race 1 of the “AUTOBACS 45th Anniversary presents SUPER GT×DTM Dream Race” (55 min. + one lap) was held in the morning of Nov. 23 and the race in the afternoon. The official qualifying for Race 1 was held in the rain under difficult conditions, and in it Nick Cassidy in the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 won pole position. Qualifying in 2nd position was the DTM car No. 28 BMC Airfilter Audi RS 5 DTM driven by Loic Duval, who has previously won the SUPER GT GT500 class Drivers championship.

 

 

 

 

Weather at Fuji Speedway this day was windy from morning with a light rain falling. When the official qualifying started at 9:25 in the morning, the air temperature was 13℃ and the track surface temperature 12℃ and all the cars started on wet-use tires with their windshield wipers going as they entered the track.

The No. 16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Hideki Mutoh) that had crashed in yesterday’s official practice and suffered considerable machine damage that made its participation in today’s qualifying uncertain was successfully repaired and ready to go, meaning that all 22 cars entered were able to participate in this 20-minute qualifying session.
The 1’41.827 lap that the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500 (Nick Cassidy) recorded on its third lap became the top time. As the session entered its middle stages, the second fastest time was the 1’42.158 recorded by the No. 28 BMC Airfilter Audi RS 5 DTM (Loic Duval) and the third fastest was the No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) with a time of 1’42.230.

 

 

 

At the mid-point in the session, many of the cars made a pit stop. Then they began their second round of time attacks. But none of the cars could beat the times of the top three. With four minutes remaining in the session, the No. 99 Akrapovic Audi RS 5 DTM (Mike Rockenfeller) recorded a time of 1’42.527 to move into the 4th spot. With one minute remaining, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) bettered No. 99’s time with a lap of 1’42.358 to take 4th position. Car No. 1 was able to improve its time to 1’42.215, but that brought no change in the order as the day’s official qualifying came to an end.

Eventually, the pole position for Race 1 went to the No. 37 KeePer TOM'S LC500’s Cassidy. The 2nd position qualifier was the DTM Audi RS R5 car No. 28 BMC Airfilter Audi RS 5 DTM driven by Loic Duval. This meant that a GT500 car and a DTM would face off on the front row of the grid for the afternoon’s Race 1, while on the second row would sit the No. 1 RAYBRIG NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto) and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) , all looking to take the lead. Fastest qualifier among the DTM BMW cars was the No. 00 BMW M4 DTM (Kamui Kobayashi) in 18th position.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

To tell the truth, the LEXUS LC500 cars didn’t change their set-up much. We didn’t make any special changes for the qualifying. We all came back to the pit at the same time and all made our time attacks the same way. So I’m glad I was able to make a good personal performance. Since we have remained among the top three in our times since yesterday, we didn’t need to make any big changes for today’s time attacks. I am confident going into today’s race. The experience of racing in the last DTM round at Hockenheim hasn’t had any particularly big effect. All of us using the Lexus LC500 are sharing our set-up data. So I am looking forward to the race with expectations that we will be able to perform the same as now.

 

 

 

 

 

I believe we have been running well until now. I am satisfied with our performance in the qualifying. However, although there isn’t much difference in the lap times, I think the SUPER GT cars have a bit of an advantage. As I see it, No. 37 and No. 1 and also No. 23 have the experience of racing at Hockenheim. Also, I think we can say that Fuji is their home course, which gives them another advantage in the race.
When we are doing time attacks on a wet track like we did today, it is a bit difficult to get stable tire performance. As an example, I didn’t get any good grip from my tires in my second time attack. Since the tires were heated up by the second time attack, I couldn’t get good grip. In DTM qualifying, the timing of the attacks is everything. When the set-up in good the tires deliver good grip, so the driver is able to run attacks with no mistakes. There are only two laps where we have the chance to do that. That is why it is essential to get it right.

 

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