On the map, the distance of 1,000 km would stretch from Tokyo to Aomori. This long distance is exactly what the drivers will stage their fierce battles over in Round 5 of the AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, the “International Pokka Sapporo 1000km” race. This mid-summer meeting at the Suzuka Circuit has been the scene of numerous intense slowdowns over the years. Everyone is anxious to see what dramas will unfold this year. The action begins with the official qualifying on August 17, followed by the race on the 18th. There are sure to be breathtaking battles right down to the finish!
In this 6-hour race, strategies often crumble in the heat of competition?
At SUPER GT speeds, a 1,000 km race lasts about six hours. So, the racing goes on through the hottest hours of the day. The summer heat puts heavy stress on the drivers and the machines that often leads to trouble. The weather is also a source of worries. Last summer, Japan experienced more than the usual number of evening showers and what the Japanese media lately calls “guerrilla thunderstorms.” In fact, in a number of Pokka 1000km races in the past, sudden rain has completely overturned the outcome of a race. Of course, that may be exactly what happens in this year’s race, as well.
According to the regulation for this year’s 1000km, each team is required to make four driver changes during the course of the race, which means in theory that there will be five driver stints. So, if a team starts the race with its ace driver and keeps changing between the usual two drivers, the ace will be driving again for the last stint of the race. The teams will have to decide what order to use their drivers in, and if rain should start to fall or the safety car comes out during the course of the race, they will have to decide whether to change drivers or not. Comparing the different strategies the teams bring to bear in these situations is another point of interest in the 1000km race
Another special aspect of the Pokka 1000km race is that there are more season points awarded than in the other rounds of the series. The winner gets 25 points, which is five points more than usual. And, there are additional points for each position down to 10th. In other words, this Pokka Sapporo 1000km race may very well have a crucial influence on the outcome of the season title race. Naturally, the teams are aware of this fact, and the ones carrying fewer handicap weights in their machines-in other words the teams with fewer points-will be looking at this race as a chance to get back into the title race. For teams that have not been able to perform up to their potential as of yet this season, like the No.1 REITO MOLA GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama, Yuhi Sekiguchi), the No.18 Weider Modulo HSV-010 (Naoki Yamamoto, Frederic Mackowiecki) and the No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa, Kohei Hirate), this is a race they must try to win. Many eyes will be watching to see how these teams do.
The GT-R machines performed strongly in the official Suzuka test session, but …
An official test session is held in July prior to Round 5 at Suzuka. The top two performers in terms of lap times over the two days of tests this time were the Nissan GT-R teams REITO MOLA GT-R and the No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Masataka Yanagida, Ronnie Quintarelli). For these two teams that currently lie slightly behind the pace in the title race, this will be a race they will surely go all out to win.
The next best performance in the tests behind the two GT-R leaders was by the ZENT CERUMO SC430. Although the SC430 camp couldn’t prevent the GT-Rs from claiming the top two positions, they managed to place four machines in the top ten. What’s more, the SC430 has proved itself to be especially strong at Suzuka. In the 12 Suzuka races since 2006, the SC430 has five wins, the most of any car. Among these Toyota contenders are the ZENT CERUMO SC430, which has yet to score a win this season, and the No.39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 team (Juichi Wakisaka, Hiroaki Ishiura), which is certainly going for some big points toward the championship title as well.
Despite the fact that Suzuka is their home track, the HSV-010 GT (Honda camp) has not had good luck at Suzuka in recent years (just two wins in the last 12 races). But that ratio rises to two out of seven when limited to the 1000km race, which is the same as its rival makes (with the remaining win by the Fairlady Z). This statistic sets all three cars on even ground. Furthermore, at the official test session on Aug. 6 and 7, it was the Weider Modulo that recorded the fastest time on the second day. It was an outstanding time that defies the car’s reputation for poor performance on high-speed tracks. This result may have an effect on the outcome this time at Suzuka. The Weider Modulo HSV-010 will surely come looking for a win, and among the other possible contenders we should probably include the No.8 ARTA HSV-010 (Ralph Firman, Kosuke Matsuura) with its momentum from the last round’s win, and the point-leading No.100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa, Takashi Kogure).
Will the FIA GT3 cars make a comeback in the GT300?
In the 2013 championship title race for the GT300 class there appear to be three machines that have taken the lead to some extent. At the top of the point standings coming into this race is the No.16 MUGEN CR-Z GT (Hideki Mutoh, Yuki Nakayama), which has no wins yet but rides on the strength of three 2nd-place finishes. No.16 is followed by the No.55 ARTA CR-Z GT (Shinichi Takagi, Takashi Kobayashi, Tomoki Nojiri), winner of consecutive victories at Sepang and the previous round at SUGO, and the No.11 GAINER DIXCEL SLS (Katsuyuki Hiranaka, Bjorn Weirdam), winner of the opening round. However, with regard to Round 5 at Suzuka, the CZ-R machines will probably be fighting at somewhat of a disadvantage with their weight handicaps and performance restriction. The point will most likely come down to how much advantage they can gain from their inherently better fuel economy.
On the other hand, the GAINER DIXCEL SLS will be looking to get as many points as possible, and hopefully the win, at this Pokka Sapporo 1000km. In the same way, FIA GT3 cars like the No.52 OKINAWA-IMP SLS (Hironori Takeuchi, Takeshi Tsuchiya, Naoya Gamou), the No.4 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW (Nobuteru Taniguchi, Tatsuya Kataoka, Jorg Muller), the Lamborghini cars like the No.87 LA SEINE LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Hideki Yamauchi, Hiroki Yoshimoto), will all want to win bonus points here at the 1000km race in order to close the gap on the CZ-R teams. Another machine to watch is the other hybrid, the No.31 Panasonic apr PRIUS GT (Morio Nitta, Koki Saga, Yuichi Nakayama), which won Round 2 but has suffered a streak of bad luck since. They should also be hoping for a win here at Suzuka.
Another car that will surely be looking for the best result possible at Suzuka is the No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Tetsuya Yamano, Kota Sasaki, Takuto Iguchi). Despite winning three pole positions in four rounds this season, the BRZ has not been able to translate any of them into a win. However, in its Legacy B4 era the team scored consecutive wins at the Suzuka 1000km race and they should be able to use that data and the confidence of their strength here at Suzuka to be contenders for the win. Other machines to keep an eye on at Suzuka are the Porsche, with its strong record in endurance racing and the GT-R machines that showed their speed in the tests at Fuji.
One more unique aspect of the Pokka Sapporo 1000km race is the presence of a third driver on many of the teams. Joining the GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW team for this race is the Europe-based BMW works driver Jorg Muller. And joining the No.2 EVA RT TEST-01APPLE MP4-12C team (Kazuho Takahashi, Hiroki Katoh) is last year’s GT500 winner, Carlo Van Dam. Another GT500-experienced driver, Takuto Iguchi, joins the SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT team. Drivers like these are sure to make a big contribution to the teams in the race. Also, the No.3 S Road NDDP GT-R (Kazuki Hoshino, Daiki Sasaki) will be joined by Lucas Ordonez, who has been selected from among the participants of the GT Academy racing driver training program organized by the maker of the driving simulation game Grand Tourismo and Nissan, and has proven himself with fine results in competition. It will be interesting to see how he performs in a real SUPER GT race. Entered for the Panasonic apr PRIUS GT team for this race is Yuichi Nakayama, who has already clinched this season’s All Japan Formula 3 championship title. A nostalgic name among these third drivers is Akihiko Nakaya, who joins the No.62 LEON SLS team (Haruki Kurosawa, Tsubasa Kurosawa).
All of these points of interest will doubtlessly make this year’s Round 5 Pokka Sapporo 1000km an event full of exciting race action and big implications in the championship title race. We hope you will come to see the action at the Suzuki Circuit on August 17 and 18 to see Japan’s big summer race or view it on J SPORTS.
Source : SUPER GT