Suzuka Circuit is hosting its “Motorsports Fan Appreciation Day”, now a two-day festival, this weekend on 2-3 March.
Six of the fifteen GT500 teams, two from Honda, Lexus, and Nissan respectively, will appear to take part in exhibition runs. Honda will have the reigning GT500 Champions, the #1 Raybrig NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Jenson Button), and the new-look #64 Modulo Epson NSX-GT (Narain Karthikeyan/Tadasuke Makino), which will debut a new black and red livery for 2019.
Lexus will be represented by the #6 Wako’s 4CR LC500 (Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita), and the #39 Denso Kobelco SARD LC500 (Heikki Kovalainen/Yuichi Nakayama), giving Yamashita and Nakayama their first public appearances with their new teams. Nissan will field the #12 Calsonic Impul GT-R (Daiki Sasaki/James Rossiter), and the #24 Realize Group Advan GT-R (Mitsunori Takaboshi/Jann Mardenborough) note the new title sponsor, as the Tokyo-based logistics company extends their current partnership with Kondo Racing to sponsor both their GT500 and GT300 teams.
Four GT300 teams are also expected to take part, including the new Honda NSX GT3 EVOs for Team UPGarage and Modulo Drago Corse, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO, and the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Team JLOC – one of the teams that, as of today, is yet to officially confirm their 2019 driver lineups.
All of the above GT300 teams will also take part in exhibition events for this August’s SMBC BH Auction Suzuka 10 Hours, as will locally-based Blancpain GT Asia Series team ARN Racing and their new Porsche 911 GT3-R.
One of the other showcase events will be the “New Eternal Rivals Challenge”, featuring three of the greatest Super GT drivers from the big three manufacturers, and the cars that helped cement their legacy.
Satoshi Motoyama, the three-time GT500 Champion and four-time Super Formula Champion, will represent Nissan in his 2008 Xanavi NISMO GT-R, the car that he and three-time Le Mans winner Benoît Tréluyer drove to three wins and the championship in the GT-R’s debut year.
Representing Toyota will be Juichi Wakisaka, another three-time GT500 Champion, in the 2002 #6 Esso Ultraflo Toyota Supra (JZA80). Wakisaka and co-driver Akira Iida won a nail-biting championship battle in ‘02 with Toyota Team LeMans, the team Wakisaka now operates as Team Director.
Ryo Michigami, Honda’s first GT500 Champion, will drive the 2000 Castrol Mugen NSX, the car he shared with co-drivers Osamu Nakako and Hidetoshi Mitsusada, winning the title at the final race of the year at Suzuka.
Subaru will bring their WRX STI NBR special to square off against Lexus’ LC 500 from the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and of course, Toyota will bring their Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid, driven by Kazuki Nakajima, from the winning driver trio last June.
Motoyama clarifies his retirement: Not completely done racing just yet!
Speaking of the aforementioned Motoyama, one of the highlights of Nissan’s Global Motorsport Announcement on 9 February was his retirement ceremony, bringing an end to an incredible run of 23 years as a Nissan factory Super GT driver, 22 of those in GT500.
It was a chance for us to reflect on Motoyama’s great career, the three GT500 titles, the four Super Formula titles, and the four Le Mans appearances, just to name a few of his great accomplishments. That said, the driving career of Satoshi Motoyama may be over in GT500 and Super Formula, but he’s nowhere close to completely hanging up the helmet!
For starters, Motoyama is entered in the opening round of the Pirelli Super Taikyu Series on 24 March at the very same Suzuka Circuit, driving for Techno First Racing Team in their new #35 Ginetta G55 GT4. Super Taikyu has been a common destination for drivers to continue racing after stepping away from Super GT and Super Formula in their later years, Juichi Wakisaka did so after he announced his GT500 retirement before the start of the 2016 season, then competing full time in Super Taikyu that same year.
In an interview for auto sport Magazine in their 1,500th issue, Motoyama revealed that along with Super Taikyu, he’s also interested in driving again in Super GT, as a GT300 driver, similar to Ryo Michigami, or challenging a one-off event like the Suzuka 10 Hours, an event Motoyama hasn’t won in 13 previous attempts.
Though it won’t be in GT500 or Super Formula any more, it’s awesome to see that Motoyama will continue to race, even as he nears his 48th birthday in March, he still has plenty to give back to the sport, as a driver, and also moving forward as the Executive Advisor to Nissan and NISMO in GT500.
McLaren 720S makes first Japanese appearance at Motegi test
A recent manufacturer test at Twin Ring Motegi from 25-26 February saw nine GT300 teams take part, including the first appearance of the McLaren 720S GT3 that will be run by McLaren Customer Racing Japan (Team Goh Motorsports).
Sort of. Seiji Ara and Álex Palou, along with staff from McLaren and MCRJ, took to the track with a McLaren-owned 720S GT3 as Team Goh awaits shipment of the car that they had ordered. Spanish rookie Palou set a best time of 1’46.436, while the fastest overall time of the two-day test belonged to the #65 LEON Pyramid AMG (Haruki Kurosawa/Naoya Gamou) on a 1’46.197.
It was also the first test for Kondo Racing’s #56 Realize Group GT-R GT3, where former Renault Sport Academy prospect Sacha Fenestraz took to the track for the first time in a GT car.
D’station Racing shakes down new Aston Martin Vantage at Fuji
At the same time as McLaren’s new toy was going through its paces at Motegi, D’station Racing AMR took to the track for the first time with their new Vantage GT3, with drivers Tomonobu Fujii and João Paulo de Oliveira.
Fujii enjoyed the balance, downforce, and torque from the Vantage’s 4-litre turbo V8, while Oliveira, after 13 years in GT500, marvelled at the difference in weight and braking distance in the GT3.
Both drivers had a chance to test on the Yokohama tyres they’ll use in Super GT – and the Pirelli tyres they’ll use with a similar Vantage GT3 competing in the Super Taikyu series, with owner/driver Satoshi Hoshino, Tsubasa Kondo, and a rotating driver slot that will feature AMR’s “franchise driver” Darren Turner appearing in the first two rounds!
Also appearing at Fuji was the #52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota Mark X MC, the first test with Bridgestone tyres, and new driver Hiroki Yoshida.
X Works announces a partnership with EVA Racing
X Works Racing saw their first on-track action with their new Nissan GT-R GT3 at Motegi this past week, and this Friday, they announced a partnership with Run’A Entertainment and EVA Racing, their #33 GT-R will carry the familiar purple, green, and orange colours of the EVA Unit-01 mech from the animated series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
EVA Racing have backed numerous teams in the GT300 field over the last decade, including apr Racing, Cars Tokai Dream28, and most recently the likes of Rn-sports and Team JLOC. Now the EVA-01 livery will adorn the machine from Hong Kong’s first full-time GT300 team, driven by owner/driver Marchy Lee and Shawn Thong.
As for the change of identity from the more familiar name of Phoenix Racing Asia to X Works? In an interview with auto sport Web, Lee explained: “X Works is the name of my main company, and Phoenix Racing Asia is a part of it. To start our business in Japan, we decided to use the X Works name.”
X Works will also enter the ST-X Class of the Pirelli Super Taikyu Series with an Audi R8 LMS GT3, as they did last year (under the Phoenix Racing Asia name).
Images courtesy of Mobilityland Corporation, Nissan, Toshikazu Moriyama, D’station Racing, X Works Racing, and the GT Association (GTA)
