Nakajima Racing #64 Modulo Honda HRC Prelude-GT continued to showcase its one-lap prowess by posting the fastest time in Friday’s dedicated test session for the SUPER GT Motegi 250km Grand Final weekend.
The 90-minute test at Mobility Resort Motegi, which served as the weekend’s one and only practice before this weekend’s double-header event, was run with all cars carrying “half-ballast” – one kilogram per championship point scored, instead of the usual 2 kg per point. Those same conditions are in place for the first race of this weekend’s double-header, which starts Saturday at 2:00 PM JST (local time).
During the final 10-minute class-exclusive run, GT500 teams went out for qualifying simulations, and it was the Dunlop-clad #64 Modulo Prelude that went fastest as Riki Okusa posted a 1:37.449 around the recently resurfaced Motegi road course. Okusa and Igor Fraga’s car will carry extra Dunlop branding this weekend to honour the 21-year partnership between the team and the tyre manufacturer, which ends after this weekend once GT500 switches to one-make Bridgestone tyres for 2027 and beyond.
The #14 ENEOS X Prime Toyota GR Supra GT500 (Nirei Fukuzumi, 1:37.485) went second-fastest, followed by the #19 WedsSport Bandoh GR Supra (Sena Sakaguchi, 1:37.528) in third, and the #12 TRS Impul Nissan Z NISMO GT500 (Bertrand Baguette, 1:37.597) in fourth.
TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh and all other GT300 teams on Yokohama tyres are carrying special decals to commemorate the tyre maker’s time in SUPER GT before it withdraws from the series along with Michelin.
Four prime GT500 championship contenders enter Saturday’s race within 20 points of the lead. Between them, the #17 Astemo Prelude (Yuto Nomura, 1:37.762) was the quickest in eighth, ahead of the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra (Toshiki Oyu, 1:37.791) in ninth, the second-place #100 Stanley Prelude (Tadasuke Makino, 1:37.980) in 11th, and the championship-leading #36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Kenta Yamashita, 1:38.036) in 12th.
But all eyes were locked on the #32 ENEOS X Prime GR GT3 Concept as it took to the circuit for an official race meeting for the very first time, after four years of development and private testing.
Team ENEOS ROOKIE’s veteran driver Hiroaki Ishiura and GT300 rookie Tokiya Suzuki completed 30 laps with no major issues. Ishiura’s best time, a 1:49.638) was good for just 28th and last out of a slightly-reduced field; but it was still within three seconds of the best lap, in a session where trouble-free running was the number one priority.
ROOKIE Racing and Toyota/GR staff held a press conference today, in which Ishiura said: “When the session starts, we leave the pits with the steering wheel fully locked in one position. But when you actually perform race operations such as operating the clutch in that state or rushing through driver changes, I realised once again that all sorts of challenges can come up.
“There were also many things that made me glad we were able to race in ‘concept’ form. That said, we were able to get up to racing speed right away once we got on the track, and it allowed us to properly verify everything we’ve worked on so far.”
Regarding ambitions for 2027, Ishiura added: “I don’t know yet what our plans will be for next year and beyond, but my top priority is to provide feedback that will help lead to a better car. I’m sure this experience will be useful to various teams, so that’s what I want to focus on first.
“Also, while I’ve been receiving all sorts of comments on social media, I want to compete with respect for the championship.”
Leading the session in GT300 was the #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport (Hideki Yamauchi, 1:46.817), followed by the two JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2s, the #88 Venteny Huracán (Takashi Kogure, 1:46.874) and No. 87 Open House Huracán (Yuya Motojima, 1:47.055), and the #11 Gainer Tanax Nissan Fairlady Z (Ryuichiro Tomita, 1:47.297).
Of the five cars that are within 25 points of the GT300 championship lead, the fastest was the #7 CarGuy Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO (Ritomo Miyata, 1:47.896) in 11th. Miyata returns to SUPER GT this weekend to support co-driver Kiyoshi Umegaki in his championship bid.
Further down you’ll find the #2 Hyper Water INGING Toyota GR86 (Yuui Tsutsumi, 1:48.040) in 15th, the #777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (Charlie Fagg, 1:48.221) in 18th, the championship-leading #56 Realize/Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R (João Paulo de Oliveira, 1:48.230) in 19th, and the #65 LEON Pyramid Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO (Togo Suganami, 1:48.254) in 21st.
Following similar announcements from Manabu Orido and Morio Nitta in recent weeks, another long-tenured GT300 mainstay has announced his retirement from SUPER GT after this weekend. 64-year-old Masaki “Guts” Jyonai, a veteran of 29 JGTC/SUPER GT seasons, will bow out after he runs Saturday’s race, his last in the #22 R’Qs AMG GT3. Jyonai is a two-time race winner in GT300, his last victory came in 2001 at Miné Circuit (which now operates as a private test track for Mazda).
For those in the U.S. and Canada, RACER+ and RACER Network will have live coverage of this weekend’s 53-lap sprint races starting Friday and Saturday at 11:50 PM ET / 8:50 PM PT, with English commentary provided by Speed City Broadcasting’s Jonathan Green and DSC’s very own RJ O’Connell.
Images © GTA
