Attwood, Piper, Redman and Moss. Might sound like a fantasy Le Mans line up but this weekend they will all be corners negotiated in the opening round of the Super GT series.
The Okayama international circuit will see a very healthy grid of 39 cars across two classes with the familiar Lexus, Honda and Nissan scrap for overall honours and a very impressive grid of 24 GT300 cars will more than add to the show.
In terms of numbers Lexus with six cars just edge Honda with five and Nissan with four in the GT500 class and it does seem the early pace is with Lexus too. They headed the times in both days of the final pre season test at Fuji and the reigning champions Yuji Tachikawa and Kohei Hirate in their Zent Lexus RC F were fastest of all over that weekend.
Nissan however will feel that their car has proven pace at Okayama as when the full grid tested there three weeks ago the Calsonic Nissan GT-R of Hironobu Yasuda and Joao Paulo de Oliveira ended the test fastest.
It is probably Honda that go into the opening round most worried as their pace has been lacking a little in testing, but with drivers such as former Red Bull man Vitantonio Liuzzi and World Endurance LMP2 Champion Bertrand Baguette piloting they will fancy their chances of closing the gap.
In GT300 all three of the top class marques are also represented.
Nissan have a strong presence with six entrants choosing their GT-R model.
Both Toyota and Honda continue with their successful forays into hybrid technology with their Prius and CR-Z models respectively. Rounding off the Japanese marques is a single entry of a Subaru BRZ (Impreza).
As well as the more local machinery the championship is graced with no less than seven European makes. McLaren, Aston Martin and Audi are all represented by single entries, add to that a smattering of BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes and a couple of Lamborghinis and it all makes for a very exciting proposition come race day.
Ones to watch in the class will certainly be both Jorg Muller pedalling a Z4 GT3 and former GT500 champion Richard Lyons who will be sharing the sole Audi R8 LMS.
So the first race looks set to be one to watch and with the championship spanning eight rounds and visiting Thailand for the first time this year it certainly appears that this is a championship in good health.
James Goodwin
