The Autobacs SUPER GT Series’ two-day official test at Okayama International Circuit concluded on Sunday. Longer runs and race simulations were the focus of today’s two test sessions, as well as valuable mileage run with the new carbon neutral fuel (CNF) that will go into use this season.
Conditions were cooler than they were Saturday, but still mostly sunny with intermittent clouds. All of Sunday’s tests were run from start to finish without any red flags or significant incidents, which allowed for uninterrupted programmes for all the GT500 teams!
Session 3 of the Okayama test began at 9 A.M. local time, an hour earlier for the morning session. Half an hour into the session, the #19 WedsSport Advan Toyota GR Supra of Sena Sakaguchi recorded the best time at 1’18.074. That’s a good result from TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh, who were a big surprise in 2022 as they took four pole positions last season.
The same guarded demeanour from yesterday’s front runners carried over into today, as Sakaguchi commented: “I can’t be too happy about the top time, as I only took the top position once in the four sessions. Rather, we were able to confirm that there was still work to be done, and that is more important.”
“I wasn’t concerned about the time at all, but the feeling (of the car) was not bad. Last year, we often showed speed in qualifying but fell behind in the race, so we have been working on countermeasures for this during the off-season. We found good material in the manufacturer’s test, but this time in Okayama, it was not so good. So, I would like to take countermeasures in the month leading up to the season opener, and put up a good fight from the start of the season.”
In the second hour of Session 3, Ritomo Miyata set the second-fastest time aboard the #36 au TOM’s GR Supra, at 1’18.174. A Toyota 1-2 was a welcome change after the manufacturer’s cars propped up the bottom of the running order yesterday in both sessions.
Best of the Nissans was the #24 Realize Corporation Advan Z of Daiki Sasaki, which set a 1’18.191 to go third-fastest. With the WedsSport Supra leading and Kondo Racing’s Realize Z in third, this was a good session for Yokohama Rubber’s two GT500 clients.
Honda’s run of dominance over pre-season testing finally came to an end, somewhat, as the #16 ARTA Mugen NSX-GT of Hiroki Otsu – the same car that was quickest in both sessions yesterday – was “only” fourth-fastest on a 1’18.224, still within two-tenths of the top time in Session 3. The sister #8 ARTA Mugen NSX-GT of Toshiki Oyu completed the top five.
Nirei Fukuzumi’s lap of 1’17.827 would stand as the best lap across both days of testing at Okayama.
Session 4 began with a simulated race start. At 1:45 PM, the entire field lined up on the formation grid. There were parade laps, and then a double-file rolling start at 2 P.M. The top times from yesterday’s sessions determined the grid order for this simulation, so the #16 ARTA NSX-GT won the pole. From there, it became a true race simulation with teams exclusively focused on long-run pace.
Ultimately, the #3 Niterra Motul Z of Mitsunori Takaboshi recorded the best time of Session 4, a 1’19.079, followed by the #100 Stanley NSX-GT of Tadasuke Makino in second, and the #38 ZENT Cerumo GR Supra of Hiroaki Ishiura in third.
Two drivers, Kazuya Oshima (#14 Eneos X Prime GR Supra) and Takuya Izawa (#64 Modulo NSX-GT) had to fly solo for this weekend’s test due to big crashes from their respective co-drivers, Kenta Yamashita and Kakunoshin Ohta, in prior manufacturer tests. Both Yamashita and Ohta were able to attend the test with their teams but were not yet cleared to drive. Across both days, Oshima logged 256 laps, and Izawa logged 231 laps.
Likewise in GT300, race simulations were the focus of Sunday’s tests. The implementation of the new carbon-neutral fuel in GT500 has gone through with no problems besides the usual complaints of its strong exhaust scent. But this weekend, a few GT300 teams were using it for the very first time.
In Session 3, one of the local teams to Okayama, the #96 K-tunes Lexus RC F GT3, recorded the top time courtesy of Morio Nitta who set a 1’25.677 about 40 minutes into the first session. The K-tunes RC F had been near the top of the leaderboard throughout yesterday, which was a welcome sight for the team owned by the Okayama Toyopet group.
The three-time GT300 Drivers’ Champion, now 56 years young, said: “I was able to set the top time in both sessions today, but that doesn’t mean I was happy with the top time. There were a few areas that I wasn’t satisfied with. But the fact that I wasn’t satisfied in a few areas, means that there is still room for growth. We decided to think positively about that. In any case, it is true that these two days were a very meaningful test.”
Nitta’s co-driver, Shinichi Takagi, also recorded the top time in Session 4, setting a 1’26.585.
SHADE Racing enter their second GT300 season with a slightly redesigned Toyota GR86 adapted to the revised GTA-GT300 regulations and a refreshed livery. After a first season filled with growing pains, owner/driver Katsuyuki Hiranaka put the #20 Toyota second on the board in Session 3, with a time of 1’25.725. Dunlop customer teams finished 1-2 on the second day of the test.
The #88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO of Takashi Kogure, the combination that led yesterday’s tests, went third-fastest today with a 1’25.775.
There were no significant incidents, but the #5 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86 (Yusuke Tomibayashi/Takamitsu Matsui), which brought out the only red flag of this official test meeting yesterday, had troubles in Session 4 and was limited to just 12 laps.
One new car that wasn’t having any troubles was apr’s new #31 Lexus LC500h GT. Yesterday, Kazuto Kotaka recorded the sixth-fastest time out of 27 cars, and today, he was 15th-fastest. What’s more, the new LC500h didn’t suffer any worrying issues – understandable, as it adopts the same powertrain and hybrid system from the fan-favourite Prius GT.
The two days were also the time for prospective GT300 class rookies to pass their GTA Rookie Test, 12 clean laps (including in-lap and out-lap) above a representative benchmark time. Even the world-travelled Bruno Spengler of BMW Team Studie x CRS wasn’t exempt. Spengler did his Rookie Test today and, pending official confirmation from the GTA in the coming days, will be certified to race this season.
The other rookies who completed their tests this weekend included Seiya Jin (Team LeMans), Yuki Nemoto (apr #31), Syun Koide (Team UPGarage), Ryo Ogawa (apr #30), Igor Fraga and Yuga Furutani (Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage), Yugo Iwasawa and Reimei Ito (Yogibo Racing), and Liang Jiatong (Pacific Racing Team).
That concludes the first official pre-season test for the 2023 Autobacs SUPER GT Series. The teams and drivers will reconvene at Fuji Speedway in two weeks time for the final official test on 25-26 March.
Images © GTA
