SUPER GT’s fourth official test of the year started at Suzuka Circuit on July 8 in the midst of weather concern due to Super Typhoon Nepartak. With Suzuka being the stage of Round 6 Suzuka 1000km, some teams in GT300 class were testing with a third. Close to 100 drivers from 42 teams (15 cars in GT500 and 27 cars in GT300) came together this time. However, with a prediction that the weather may get worse in the afternoon of Day 2 (7/9), a decision was made in the previous night to shorten the session in Day 2 afternoon by 40 minutes and, in turn, extending the morning session of Day 1 by 40 minutes.

Session 1: 09:30-12:10
- Weather: Cloudy, Track: Dry,
- Temperature: Air 27℃-28℃ / Track surface 30℃-32℃ (27℃ / 30℃ at start)
Session 2: 14:00-16:10 (Exclusive session: GT300 15:50-16:00, GT500 16:00-16:10)
- Weather: Cloudy, Track: Dry,
- Temperature: Air 26℃-28℃ Track surface 30℃-32℃ (28℃ / 33℃ at start)

GT-R tops morning and NSX CONCEPT-GT takes afternoon but 3 models are even

With thick cloud covering the sky and blocking the sunlight during the morning session, air and track temperatures were 27 degrees and 30 degrees, respectively, at the start of session. Condition remained somewhat stable from there despite the temperature increased a bit. It was a similar situation in the afternoon also. Light rain came down for a while during the session, but it remained to be dry as the rain was not enough to wet the track surface. There was actual a few voices wishing for testing in a little hotter condition because every year it usually gets hot during the Suzuka 1000km. However, on the other hand, there were more than a little among the team staff that said they were lucky to run in distance in dry considering there was a prediction for complete wet condition.

In terms of lap times, the best times were rather even among Honda NSX CONCEPT-GT, NISSAN GT-R, and LEXUS RC F, and the three manufacturers shared the top part of timing monitor. Among the pack, the GT-R camp was consistently fast and their performance was prominent as No.24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R (Daiki Sasaki / Masataka Yanagida) placing second overall of Day 1, No.46 S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama / Katsumasa Chiyo) taking the first place of the morning, and No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli), which will be loading 80kg of handicap weight at the next round at SUGO (rumored that it may be loading the maximum regulated weight of 100kg during this test), placing ninth position behind only 0.809 seconds from the overall leader. NSX CONCEPT-GT fleet, which have been going through a chain of disappointing races in the early part of this season, was also showing a good sign of increased competitiveness with No.15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT (Hideki Mutoh / Oliver Turvey) marking the top time of the day at the very end of the afternoon session during the exclusive session time, and No.100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT was also placing third in the morning session.

Of course, the RC F fleet’s time difference against the rivals was very small that it is merely necessary to mention the second place of the morning session by No.38 ZENT CERUMO RC F (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura) and the third place of the afternoon and fourth overall by No.6 WAKO’S 4CR RC F (Kazuya Oshima / Andrea Caldarelli). Day 1 of Suzuka test was a suggestive day that the three rounds in mid-summer, Round 4 SUGO (7/23-24), Round 5 Fuji (8/6-7), and Round 6 Suzuka 1000km (8/27-28), will be much hotter than the temperature.

Lotus once again clocks top time in GT300 after SUGO test

In the GT300 class, No.2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS (Kazuho Takahashi / Hiroki Katoh / Tadasuke Makino) finished Day 1 at overall top. No.31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT (Koki Saga / Yuichi Nakayama) placed second at 0.390 second behind. Third place was taken by No.25 VivaC 86 MC (Takeshi Tsuchiya / Takamitsu Matsui / Kenta Yamashita) and No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) placed fifth overall, so it was the mother-chassis cars and JAF-300 cars once again showing good runs at Suzuka. Although No.25 car wrapped up the afternoon session with only eight laps, what it seemed to be due to a problem, the car appeared to be capable of improving some more.

Since this current testing is held mainly to prepare for the Round 6 Suzuka 1000km, it was not rare to see a team having a third driver taking the wheel in GT300 class. Among them, Tadasuke Makino, who finished second in the ranking of FIA-F4 last year and moved up to Japanese Formula 3 Championship this season, showed impressive run at Suzuka as a driver of No.2 SYNTIUM Apple LOTUS. He even marked the session best time of No.2 car in the afternoon with 1 min 59.120 sec. The team seemed satisfied as they were convinced that the load on ace driver Katoh can be reduced at the long-distance Suzuka 1000km.

View on the test by Michelin that supports GT500 ranking leader No.1 car

Cancellation of AUTOPOLIS round in May created a long gap between Round 2 Fuji in May and Round 4 SUGO held in the second half of July, but testing was already scheduled for a few times during this time of the season. Those rounds of testing can be divided majorly into GTA’s official test, like the one currently held, and the tire test organized by the tire manufacturers, but what are the differences between those tests? We asked Hiroaki Odashima, Motorsports Manager, Michelin.
“Initially, GTA’s official test was held six times a year. But it was reduced, so the tire manufacturers started to hold tests in place for that. That’s why, as a tire manufacturer, there is no particular difference” said Odashima. However, although almost all teams participate in the official test, there is only a limited number of cars per automaker participate in a tire test, thus, it seems that some people get suspicious that something must be going on. Odashima responded as he explained, “Test menu is basically the same for both tests, and it is mainly to check tires for the race, but we do, in some occasions, test a totally new technology (incorporated tires). But that does not only happen in the tire manufacturer test, it also happens in an official test too.”

Then how are the lap times during a test assessed? “Lap times (during a test) are only used as a benchmark for qualifying. In another words, if the teams wearing Michelin and the rivals were running at a similar time, then we focus more on long-run (of the race) rather than to make it go faster in the qualifying. But if we were two seconds slower than the rivals, then we need to focus on improving the lap time.” Teams can load whatever handicap weight they want to mount on the car during a test, so how do they compare the lap times? Odashima answered with a smile, “We can only guess rather than analyze because we don’t know exactly about the cars wearing other tires.”

 GT500 class Day 1 top time

Hideki Mutoh (No.15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT)

Car felt good already from the beginning this time. In the morning, it was difficult to get a lap time out because there was a red flag when I was doing an attack lap, or I was doing a best time in one sector (an area defined by dividing the circuit into three areas) but got stuck behind a slower car in another sector. After all, I got a clear lap during the exclusive session at the end and that gave me a chance to mark the top time. I believe this result came because the team continued to put effort in doing many tests from the offseason and the car improved a little by little as we went through testing. Oliver (Turvey) and I have done testing and driven in the race together many times up to this point, so our communication is perfect. However, although we became teammates from this season because our driving styles are the same, we found out it (driving style) is slightly different. That’s why, we first should finish up the car to be fast and then the drivers should adapt to that. From today’s situation, I think if Oliver can adapt a little, then we can have a competitive race. I’m hoping to race at a position where we can aim for the podium at the next round at SUGO.

GT300 class Day 1 top time

We have been able to update our car to a complete 2016 specification from the previous test at SUGO. We had good parts and bad parts at SUGO, but this time there are many good parts, so the car is coming up pretty well. But the lap time just came out because the tires that were on the car at that time just happened to be one of the better ones, and matched well to the condition, out of all the tires we brought in, and it was the same story at SUGO (test) too, and I know it will be difficult when it gets a little bit hotter at the real situation (of each race). We were able to select what we think to be good tires, but it’s not good that we couldn’t do a long-run on that (due to so many testing menu). It seems tomorrow (7/9) will be wet condition, and the top priority of today was to have Makino pass the rookie test. I have been watching (Makino as a team manager) in F3, but he is impressive. I was thinking that this year’s Suzuka 1000km might be a tough one because I might need to cover more stints (number of laps to drive) this year, but he seems to be a sufficient force. That might be the most valuable findings we got today.