2021.03.28

【Official test at Fuji: Day 2】 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R clocks fastest time! Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R tops GT300 again.

Official test at Fuji: Day 2

SUPER GT's official test continued with Day 2 (last day) on March 28 at Fuji Speedway. With only 2 weeks until the season opener at Okayama International Circuit and about a month until Round 2 held here at Fuji, the day was the only chance left for testing. Light rain falling from previous night wet the track most of the first half, but after midpoint the surface turned dry as the rain stopped falling from the cloudy sky. In such changing conditions, the teams restlessly ran their cars to complete their test menu as much as possible.

 

 

 

　Track was wet at the beginning, but it soon started to show some dry spots and from there the track was almost completely dry. Cars started with rain tires and then changed to slick tires made for dry track surface. Track surface temperature increased as the time passed and it reached 24℃ by the end of the session.

　After suffering huge damage on the car, No.3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R (Kohei Hirate / Katsumasa Chiyo) was able to finish the repairing job and ran on the track from the start of the session. Safety car (SC) drill was also carried out from 10AM.

 

 

　No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli), No.37 KeePer TOM'S GR Supra (Ryo Hirakawa / Sena Sakaguchi), No.36 au TOM'S GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi / Sho Tsuboi), and No.1 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Hideki Mutoh) remained at the top part of the timing monitor as they constantly improved their lap times. No.16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT (Ukyo Sasahara / Toshiki Oyu) as well as No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine / Nobuharu Matsushita) also emerged to the top positions by the time the session reached the middle phase. At one point, the top 3 was dominated by NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 with No.12, No.23, and No.3 cars.
　When Matsuda in No.23 car reduced to 1'29.033, that seemed to be unbeatable, but Oyu at the wheel of No.16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT put his lap time in the 28 second mark with 1'28.834 at the very end of the session to take away the top position from the SUPER GT veteran.
　GT500 rookie Oyu, though, stressed that his car as well as himself are still in the process of development, "The car didn't feel that good. But, still, I think it is getting better if you compare with yesterday. I'm still learning especially around tire development, and Sasahara (Ukyo) and I are trying our best."

 

 

 

　Honda NSX-GT squad continued to be strong during Session 4 in the afternoon. Yamamoto in No.1 STANLEY NSX-GT led the field to run in the 1 minute 29 second mark first, but Hiroaki Ishiura driving TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 of No.38 ZENT GR Supra quickly followed and put his lap time in the 29 second mark as well. Then came Quintarelli in No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R marking 1'28.397 when the session was getting close to the 30 minutes mark. No.16 Oyu, No.64 Otsu, and No.17 Baguette in NSX-GT also drove in the 1 minute 28 second mark in the closing minutes of the session but couldn't catch No.23 car. Overall best time of Day 2 fell to No.23 car at that moment.
　Takahiko Yamamoto, the development leader of the tires made for SUPER GT at Bridgestone who was supporting the dramatic GT500 class championship contention from underneath last year, shared his view on the current situation, "We focused on the one-shot speed in our development from the later half of 2019. And in 2020 we concentrated on how to keep that speed in the race. Not only the championship but also the domination over the top positions in the point standing proved that our development effort bore fruit. This season's tires are a normal evolution of that and we were rather conservative in development. I believe we achieved our goal at our scale. But rivals are also tough. Michelin appeared to be having a hard time in Okayama, but they were showing their real strength at the manufacturer test in Suzuka. Dunlop had been fast in terms of one-shot speed since last year, but they seemed to be struggling in the race. But I think they are recently getting faster in the race lap too." Yamamoto closed with his determination for upcoming season in his comment, "After all, I don't want to give up the title to anybody. And I think we won't."

 

 

 

 

　Takayuki Shiraishi, who leads development of tires for SUPER GT as Group Leader of Motorsports Tire Development Dept. at Yokohama Tire which develops and manufactures ADVAN tires that were worn by defending GT300 champion No.56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R, explained their development method, "We started to do "horizontal roll out" of technology from last year. In the method, we apply the tire technology we invented for a car model to another car model, and we use the structure and rubber (compounds) that produced a good result in different tires developed for different car model. For example, if we take elements that brought a good result with mid-engine rear-drive cars like Audi or Lamborghini and use that for a same rear-drive (but front engine) car like No.4 car (GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG), it would also work out well and bring a good result." Shiraishi also shared the challenge the tire maker is working on, "GT-R is highly competitive, and we are trying many different things to see if the technology used on GT-R GT3 can be utilized for GR Supra GT, which has increased in numbers this year."

 

 

　Best time of Day 2 was marked by De Oliveira in No.56 Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami / Joao Paulo de Oliveira). However, De Oliveira's best time only came at very last minute and the top position was occupied until then by Taira with No.96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta / Hibiki Taira). "Weather was not stable today and Morio (Nitta) couldn't drive as planned, so I got to do a long run test in the afternoon. During my time, I was given a chance to do attack lap with one set of new tires. That's how I got this result, and I'm just honestly happy. But I want to drive a lot more and improve my performance." Highly motivated rookie is a sure eye-catcher this season.

 

 

 

 

 

Tsugio (Matsuda) drove in the morning, and we carried out tire testing while the condition changed from wet to dry. I drove in the afternoon and after doing a short run once, I spent most of the time doing long-run testing. We were able to find a tire with good lifetime for the Round 2 held here at Fuji. We also tried new things and that was OK too. Michelin tire is for sure improving if you compare with last year. As far as the car goes, it's basically the same as last year, but we worked on the setup and also the engine had some modification. Although a little, it definitely got better. But, you know, drivers would say "Need more power" regardless of how much the power has increased. We had sufficient feedback from the test for the season opener Okayama and, especially, for the Round 2 Fuji.

 

The car felt good again today. Especially when we did a long run simulating the race. Getting the top time on both days, I think our takeaway got bigger. It gave me confidence on the car setup and the lifetime of tires. I can't share detail, but we know how to prepare for the Round 2 Fuji (with Success weight). But there are more GR Supra GT this year and they will be huge threat. Yes, I did get the top time today, but I don't trust rivals' lap time from today is real. I bet they were never full throttle (laugh). They (GR Supra) were about 1.5 second faster in race lap simulation at Okayama test. But this test gave us confidence on our car, so I will push 100% at the season opener!

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