2020.03.15

【Official test at Okayama: Day 2】 Cars put mileage in to get ready for season opener. WAKO'S 4CR GR Supra and SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS mark top lap times.

Official test: Okayama International Circuit 3/15 (Sun)

Day 2 of SUPER GT's official test took place at Okayama International Circuit on Sunday, March 18 with practice sessions set in both morning and afternoon. Many teams were facing a challenge in finding a right setting on previous day with the track surface being wet most of the time, but Day 2 of testing was under dry condition almost entire time even with occasional light rain as it dried up quickly.

 

 

 

Day 2 kicked off with Session 3 starting at 9AM. Track was still wet at the beginning, but it gradually dried up. All GT500 teams have already been running their cars extensively from the manufacturers' test held in February, and many of them were ready to execute various testing menu at a detail level for selecting tires for the season opener or for collecting data required to set up the car.

 

FCY and Safety car (SC) mock drills were carried out sequentially on the track after 30 minutes from the start. Track surface was completely dry by the time the mock drill was over and that brought some teams back to the pit to change tires from wet to dry. Top lap times were trending around 1 min 26 sec to 27 sec at the beginning of the session, but it soon improved to the 1 min 21 sec mark. Five red flag suspension occurred during this session, and the second red flag was brought out just after 10 o'clock when Kunimoto in No.19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto / Ritomo Miyata) crashed at Moss S corner. The car was badly damaged and unable to run in the afternoon. Hiramine at the wheel of No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Daiki Sasaki / Kazuki Hiramine) went below 1 min 20 sec at the midpoint of the session and clocked 1 min 19.489 sec.

 

 

 

At 10 minutes to go of the extended session, Tsuboi in No.14 WAKO'S 4CR GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima / Sho Tsuboi) marked a top time with 1 min 18.123 sec. With Sekiguchi driving No.36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi / Sacha Fenestraz) finishing at second fastest, TOYOTA GR Supra completed one-two of the session. Baguette in No.17 KEIHIN NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi / Bertrand Baguette) was at third and Matsuda in No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) was at sixth, the fastest among GT-R. Eight cars including No.23 car were in one second span from the top time, like in a qualifying session.

 

Nissan squad's Executive Director Motohiro Matsumura, who is also Representative Director & COO of Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd. (NISMO) that leads development of NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500, shared his comment after the morning session, "We are not doing anything special, just normal preparation. Selecting tires and checking on the balance of suspension and aerodynamics. Suspensions and aerodynamics are pretty good and the development is also progressing well. Lap times can be good or bad depending on the condition or the timing on the track, but it's normal for us. The engine is totally different from previous ones, and we have prepared one which is easier for the driver to drive. Anyways, there are still many things we need to do."

 

 

ZENT GR Supra at top in afternoon. MOTUL AUTECH GT-R trails at second.

There was a change in plan for the afternoon session due to low track surface temperature and the session was suspended after a 15-minute free practice from 13:30. Cars were back on the track for a start practice and lined up on the grid in the order of lap times from previous day. Teams then moved on to execute their respective test menu. The whole field was involved in an FCY mock drill once again during the session, but all teams and drivers followed the procedure without any confusion.

 

 

Driver identification light mounted on each car has been revamped this season, and the new system can display driver name and the position in respective class. The system was also tested during the official test. The new system can display driver name in 3-letter abbreviation whereas the old model could only differentiate the first and second drivers by different colors. This time the system was tested for identifiability of displaying initials (E.g. "YT" or "Y_T" for Yuji Tachikawa). The display changes to the position in the class after a short while. There are multiple color variations it can display, and white was used for GT500 and blue for GT300 this time. Final specification to be used in the series will be decided after gathering feedbacks from this test. The digital display will be placed on the upper part of windshield (left or right varies by car).

 

 

 

Defending champion Oshima of No.14 WAKO'S 4CR GR Supra shared his view before the afternoon session, "It has been pretty smooth since the shakedown with very few issues. We have been able to get many data for settings, and we were on top in the morning, so we are doing very well. But this is only a test, so we are trying many different things and we are not at our best yet. Of course, we are aiming for back-to-back title, but first we should try to win the season opener."

 

By looking at rather mediocre lap times across the field, the teams appeared to be using Session 4 to concentrate on long-runs to simulate the actual race or to find a right set of tires. Among all, Ishiura driving No.38 ZENT GR Supra (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura) set the fastest pace in the final phase of the session with 1 min 18.193 sec. Quintarelli in No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R was second and Sekiguchi brought his No.36 au TOM’S GR Supra to the third position. Yamamoto in No.100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT followed at fourth.

 

Masahiro Saeki, NSX-GT Project Leader, HRD Sakura, Honda R&D Co.,Ltd., who leads the development of Honda NSX-GT, told it was only a beginning, "I don't know what kind of test menu other manufacturers were working on, but it (NSX-GT) got better every time it went out on the track, and I don't think we have got all the potential out from the car yet. It's changed to a front-engine (layout), so we are a challenger. We haven't been able to narrow down to the best setting yet. I wish we had more time, but this can mean that there are more room to improve during the season."

 

 

 

 

Katoh at the wheel of No.2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS (Hiroki Katoh / Masataka Yanagida) marked the top time of Session 3 in the GT300 class with 1 min 25.595 sec with 30 minutes remaining. Behind Katoh was No.34 Modulo KENWOOD NSX GT3 (Ryo Michigami / Jake Parsons) and No.52 SAITAMATOYOPET GB Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida / Kohta Kawaai) fielding GR Supra of JAF GT specification. Yoshida driving GT300-debut GR Supra spoke with a smile, "This is newly built car, but things are going smoothly without a problem. But there are still many things that I want to try. We got a pole but was unable to win it last year, so getting a first win is what we are aiming for this year. We will have a different livery at the season opener."

 

 

With the track surface temperature increasing in Session 4 held in the afternoon, many teams spent their time in selecting tires. Yamauchi in No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) marked the fastest lap time at that time with 1 min 25.773 sec. Saga drove No.31 TOYOTA GR SPORT PRIUS PHV apr GT (Koki Saga / Yuhki Nakayama) to the second position and No.2 car dropped position to third from first in the morning. At overall of the day, the lap time marked in the morning put No.2 car on top and No.61 car sat at second position.

 

 

 

 

 

I had a decent run at the end of the session. Considering the car was still not at the best and the traffic, I'm simply happy with the lap time. This is my second year in GT500. Plus, I'm with a new team, new tire, new car, and everything is new to me this year, so this top time gives me confidence. Test is going smoothly, but my mind is already set to get a debut-win for GR Supra. This is practically the champion team and I'm happy to be part of it, but there are also responsibility and pressure... I need to overcome that and bring in good result.

 

Okayama International Circuit is a good circuit to the mother-chassis cars, so getting lap times in the upper group was expected. Electricity went down while Yanagida was driving in the later part of the session and smoke came out because of that, so it was not like everything went smoothly. We were fast in a lap, but that's different from average time from a race, so this is not something we should go wild about. My teammate this year Yanagida has a lot of experience, so I will try to communicate proactively to share information so that we can aim to finish the race at as a higher position as possible. What I wish is winning the championship. But firstly we need to work on the reliability of the car so that we can survive and turn a slightest chance to a win even in a difficult race.

 

 

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