Super GT is to be the first championship in Asia to run on a 100% biofuel. With the decision to use the fully sustainable fuel, the GT Association has achieved a significant milestone in leading the motorsport industry towards a more sustainable future. I ETS Racing Fuels, a brand of HCS Group, has been selected by the GT Association (GTA) to supply its 100% sustainable Renewablaze GTA R100 for all race cars as of the 2023 season onwards.

ETS Renewablaze GTA R100 is a racing fuel containing proprietary renewable components that significantly reduce CO2 emissions while meeting the high-performance race fuel criteria. The fuel complies with the required JIS K2202:2012-Premium(E) specification and can be a drop-in solution.

 

On this new fuel, Masaaki Bandoh, Chairman of the GT Association, says, ‘The motorsport industry is strongly committed to a low carbon future and is putting all its efforts into implementing sustainable fuels. For the Super GT series, we have decided to introduce 100% renewable fuel as one of the key approaches to environmental sustainability. In such an environment, I am very proud of the good start of the activity in close cooperation with ETS Racing Fuels.’

Dr Bruno Philippon, Senior Vice President of Business Unit Mobility, continued, ‘As a strong partner to the motorsport industry and a pioneer of fuel development, we are committed to supporting the racing sector on its journey to going greener. We are excited to partner with GTA to demonstrate our proprietary technologies contributing to more sustainable mobility.’

 

Several different sustainable biomass sources of 100% plant-based raw materials make up the ETS Racing Fuels Renewablaze GTA R100. Cellulosic material that is converted into hydrocarbons and oxygenates derives the feedstock. It contributes significantly to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing CO2 emissions through the CO2 absorption of the growing plant and by avoiding the release of CO2 held within conventional fossil feedstocks.

Hiroki Kawamoto, ETS Racing Fuels Manager for Japan, proudly notes, ‘I am very honoured to introduce our cutting-edge fuel technology through the Super GT Championship to the Japanese market. We aim to continuously support the further growth of the entire Japanese racing industry and lead the way in sustainability across Asia in the cooperation with GTA.’

 

Yann Labia, ETS Racing Fuels Global Manager, added, ‘Renewablaze GTA R100 offers a true low-carbon-footprint solution with uncompromising high performance. We are extremely proud to support GTA in its ground-breaking decision to supply the Super GT Championship with our fully sustainable Renewablaze racing fuel.’

ETS fuels work in close cooperation with engine manufacturers and race teams to meet the challenges of worldwide racing and regulations. The sustainable Renewablaze portfolio should significantly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the motorsport industry.

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“Preparing a new car for the DTM is a big challenge. In few other series is aerodynamics so important. Even the slightest detail can make the difference between success and failure. And this attention to detail shown by our engineers is apparent at first glance – from the elongated bonnet with its steeply sloping front and aerodynamically optimised wing mirrors, to the contoured roofline that is a characteristic feature of the BMW M4.”

The first scale model made its first appearance in the wind tunnel at the BMW Group’s Aero Lab on 22nd April – 13 days before the opening race of the 2013 season at Hockenheim. In the summer of 2013, while continuing with aerodynamic testing, the experts in Munich turned their attention to designing new suspension parts. The new components made their first on-track outing in December 2013 – but still within the BMW M3 DTM at that point. The final parts for the chassis of the BMW M4 DTM were in production by the turn of the year, allowing the BMW teams to assemble the first models of the new car in January and February. Three hundred days after the first test in the wind tunnel, the BMW M4 DTM took to the track for its track debut at Monteblanco on 11th February 2014.

Aerodynamics plays a vital role in the DTM in 2014 and it is here where most changes can be seen. “In addition to the suspension, our main priority was to improve the aero,” says Stefan Aicher, Head of Vehicle Design at Audi Sport. The RS 5 now has the honeycomb grill from the production car at the front and new air ducts feeding the engine and brakes.

Developing the M4 the BMW Motorsport engineers devoted a lot of time to issues such as aerodynamic drag and through car air flow.

A new feature on the BMW is a plate along the side channel, which lends the racing car an even more striking outline (above). Audi in comparison has a series of winglets in this area (below).

The slightly contoured roofline (below) decreases the frontal area of the car and in turn further reduces aerodynamic drag. The flatter rear window optimises the way the airflow approaches the rear wing.

The wing mirrors, have been a major area of development for all three manufacturers, with very different approaches being taken.

BMW has opted for a relatively conventional wing mirror shape but has mounted it on a winglet, which has two elements at the outer edge and an endplate, rather like a mini F1 front wing (above). But Audi has taken a different approach (below) with a triple element wing support

Finally Mercedes, which has revealed very few details of its 2014 car has the most simple looking solution (below).

The inner rear wheel arches are, in contrast to last year, closed and the rear part is now flat.

Aicher: “The DTM rules are strict, which is why minute detail work is required within the tight limitations.”

Over 50 of the 5,000 plus parts that make up the DTM cars are standard components, which are used on all three designs.One of these parts is the chassis with an integrated fuel tank, steel roll cage and additional crash elements.

DTM shares its basic design with the 2014 GT500 mother chassis, though there are some differences, compare the GT500 version (in Honda mid engined trim – below) with the DTM Spec tub (above)

Parts like the gearbox, clutch, dampers and rear wing are identical in all DTM cars. This also keeps a lid on development costs.

One area where there is significant difference is the engine, all three cars use four litre V8 engines producing around 480bhp.

The BMW P66 for example is made up of 800 different components, consisting of 3,900 individual parts. When designing the DTM drivetrain, BMW Motorsport took full advantage of the technological know-how within the BMW Group. The high-tech foundry connected to BMW Plant Landshut creates the large cast parts, such as the cylinder head and crankcase – just as it does in the production of the six-cylinder in-line engine for the BMW M4 Coupé. The cast parts are coated and given the necessary heat treatment within the appropriate departments in Munich. HWA and Mercedes-Benz HPP prepare the engines for Mercedes whilst NBE is believed to still produce the DTM engines for Audi Sport

The era of the big four litre V8’s is coming to an end however, in 2015 or 2016 a new two litre four cylinder engine formula will be introduced, bringing the German cars closer to the Japanese cars racing in GT500.

The engine’s power is transferred via a sequential six-speed racing gearbox, which is operated pneumatically using shift paddles mounted on the steering wheel. The gearbox is one of the standard components, it has 11 final drive ratios, which allow the engineers and drivers to react to the respective circuit and engine characteristics when setting the car up.

As standard components, the engine subframe at the front and gearbox at the rear restrict the engineers’ freedom to design the suspension geometry. The suspension pick-up points must be mounted to these standard elements so are largely identical. In addition, tube dimensions and the material, steel, for the wishbones are fixed and numerous dimensions are defined by the regulations – those of the wheels for example.

The future of DTM
There are ongoing discussions behind the scenes about a new North American DTM series using cars from both GT500 and the German series, whilst the Japanese brands have not ruled it out they have also shown little enthusiasm. Meanwhile the Germans have admitted that for DTM USA to happen there would have to be at least one American brand involved, and seemingly none have shown interest. However there does seem to be a chance that the GT500 and DTM designs will be seen racing in the USA in years to come as part of the prototype class in the United Sportscar Series a tantalising prospect.
Much of the background and further details of the unification talks can be read in Racecar Engineering magazine below.

READ IT NOW DTM AND GT500 THE FUTURE REVEALED

IMAGES – DTM 2014
[See image gallery at www.racecar-engineering.com]
Audi RS5 DTM 2014
[See image gallery at www.racecar-engineering.com]
BMW M4 DTM

Mercedes 2014 DTM

GT500 2014
[See image gallery at www.racecar-engineering.com]
Nissan GT-R
[See image gallery at www.racecar-engineering.com]
Honda NSX

Lexus LF-CC (RCF) 

Much of the background and further details of the unification talks can be read in Racecar Engineering magazine below.

READ IT NOW DTM AND GT500 THE FUTURE REVEALED

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In 2012 GTA Super GT’s governing body struck a deal with ITR the organisers of DTM to share technical regulations. The previous generation of GT500 cars had been escalating in technical complexity and cost and many in the sport felt that the time had come to cut costs.

Around the same time the DTM adopted a new rulebook for the 2012 season which had three key aims: the safety of the vehicles, reduction of the costs by up to 40 percent and a spectacular exterior design. But reportedly the cost reduction had not been achieved and ITR had to find new markets for the cars, so negotiations began with both GTA and NASCAR (for a North American version of DTM)

The new DTM cars all share a common chassis with individual engines and body packages. Underneath the bodywork of the new cars, which is completely made of carbon, a new type chassis featured a hybrid construction. The combination of a carbon fibre monocoque and steel cage set new standards in terms of safety for a race touring car. In addition more than 50 other components would be spec parts.

The engine sub-frame at the front and the transmission at the rear were identical for all DTM cars and limit the freedom of the engineers with respect to the suspension, which has to be mounted to these shared components. In addition, steel as the material for the A-arms and the tube dimensions are specified. For the hub carrier, the regulations define the material and the production process to be used. A milled aluminium part with a minimum weight is prescribed. Furthermore, a strict provision in the regulations defined the wheel hubs and the rims for all entrants.

The possibilities in the area of aerodynamics were restricted as well. Air flow through the body and complex additional wings at the rear were outlawed.

Deal done!

A deal was long discussed behind closed doors, initially the Germans lead by Hans Werner Aufrecht had wanted the Japanese to fully embrace the new DTM regulations even using the same German built chassis. This was a major sticking point on the deal as was the fact that some teams had found that it was impossible for the DTM cars to be built and run for the costs claimed by ITR.

Eventually the Japanese agreed in principle to utilise the DTM concept they wanted the chassis to be made domestically, but ITR insisted that the GT500 chassis should be identical to those used in DTM and be built in Germany and was reportedly angry at the suggestion of a Japanese chassis. The German delegation even left a meeting and negotiations appeared to have collapsed.

Eventually in 2012 a deal was struck and Honda, Nissan and Toyota started to develop the new machines, to a Japanese version of the DTM rulebook. The GT500 cars would use a number of components from the DTM design including the chassis (although built in Japan by Toray) front splitter, floor, rear diffuser and rear wing.

This agreement opened the doors to teams from either series being able to run in the other if agreement over a balance of performance regarding the engine regulations can be reached.
Currently the DTM cars run bespoke 4.0 V8 engines whilst the Super GT cars utilise all new 2.0 litre turbo units leaving the engine formula of DTM uncertain. Hans Werner Aufrecht told Racecar that he envisages changes in time for the 2017 season, but Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich suggested that changes could come sooner and added “the DTM chassis from the beginning was designed to make it easy to accept hybrid systems so this will now be the case for GT500. It is up to the manufacturer to decide if they want to do it.”
The NRE hybridpower trains will also be used in the new Dallara SF14 Super Formula car.

One critical change for GT500 is the adoption of the DTM tyre sizes, though it will remain a multi tyre make class with Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop and Michelin all currently supplying the Japanese series, and Hankook supplying a spec tyre in DTM. This will likely mean that the Japanese cars will be notably faster than the similar German cars.

In part 2: The new breed revealed themselves

Lexus LF-CC / Honda NSX / Nissan GT-R

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Shortly after the start, the rain grew heavier and after the opening lap behind the safety car the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 driven by Kazuki Nakajima became the first to return to the pit to change to rain tires. At the end of the second lap, all the cars in the GT500 class with the exception of the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 (Ralph Firman) and the already re-fitted No. 36 returned to the pit. With the lead order now changed and the SC finally off the track, the race began in earnest from the end of the third lap. At this point the order of the top six machines was the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 in the lead followed by the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430, No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 (Kazuya Oshima), No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama), No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa) and the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura). But, being the only machine still on slick tires, the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 couldn’t hold the pace, and by the 4th lap it had dropped to the back of the pack. On the next lap No. 8 collided with a GT300 class car, sustaining serious damage to the front end that forced it out of the race.
Now it was the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 that held the lead, followed by the No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 and No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 (Yuhki Nakayama). By the seventh lap the rain began to lift and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R caught and passed the No. 32 EPSON HSV-010 to move into 3rd position.
Moving up in the rear, the No. 24 D’station ADVAN GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda) and No. 32 EPSON HSV-010, as well as the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli), No. 35 KeePer Kraft SC430 (Andrea Caldarelli) and No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Seiji Ara) had all changed to slick tires but were as yet unable to catch the lead group.
Seeing the improved track condition, the leading No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430returned to the pit on the 15th lap. At the same time the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R running in 3rd position also returned to change tires and moved ahead of the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 with a faster pit stop.
The No. 6 ENEOS SUSTINA SC430 that had been running in the lead in the meantime returned to the pit on the 17th lap to change to slick tires, but just after getting back on the track it overran the first turn. It hit a GT300 and was given a drive-through penalty that dropped it out of competition for the lead.
This put the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira) in the lead until it returned to the pit on lap 21, leaving the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 in the lead until it also made a pit stop on the 26th lap.
Amid the rapidly changing conditions, all the teams had to change their race strategies. This was evident when the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 that had taken over the lead on lap 27 stretched its initial stint on to the 45th lap before returning to the pit and changing drivers from Ishiura to Juichi Wakisaka. At the same time, the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 in 2nd position made a pit stop and changed drivers from Nakajima to Richard Lyons, leaving the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda) to take the lead again, with the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Naoki Yamamoto) moving into 2nd position.
By the middle stages of the race, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R had built up a lead of over 20 seconds, but then a GT300 machine suffered a big crash at the end of the straight on the 62nd lap. This brought out the Safety Car , and when the entrance to the pit area was finally opened again on lap 65, the two leading machines, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R and the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010, both rushed into the pits at the same time.
This move put Wakisaka in the lead in the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 fighting a three-way battle with the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R and the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Koudai Tsukakoshi). Wakisaka skillfully prevailed and was able to turn the wheel over to teammate Ishiura again with the lead intact on lap 82.

The CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R’s final gamble
Looking to run a long stint from lap 65, No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Oliveira) managed well in maintaining a roughly 10-second gap with the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa) in 2nd and was able to pass the 90th lap in the lead, but then it began to rain again! Oliveira struggled to hold the lead until the 103rd lap before rushing back to the pit and changing to intermediate tires. Unlike him, No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010, No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R chose to stay out on the track running as they were.
That turned out to be the right choice, as the rain stopped quicker than expected. Racing on the tricky tack conditions, the fleeing No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 was caught on the 106th lap and passed by the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SC430 in an exciting reverse of fortunes that gave No. 39’s team their long-awaited first victory in eight years, since the Sepang round of 2004.

Finishing 2nd for the second race in a row was the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010. In 3rd came the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, while the No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R that had been so close to victory was passed finally by the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 to end the race in 5th place.

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As the race began, the pole-sitting No. 911 ENDLESS TAISAN 911 (Naoki Yokomizo) stormed into the lead. As expected, it was followed by another Porsche, the No. 33 HAKOOK PORSHE (Masami Kageyama), with one of the debuting AudiR8 LMS Ultra machines, the No. 11 GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS (Tetsuya Tanaka), locked in close behind. Behind these three followed the new FIA GT3 type No. 88 MANEPA LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Manabu Orido) and No. 87 JLOC LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Hideki Yamauchi), but the surprise of all, the two Lamborghini machines collided with each other, sending No. 88 off the course to return to the race at the very tail of the pack, while No. 87 was given a drive-through penalty that took it out of competition for the win. Seeing how Koji Yamanishi would drive car No. 87 at a pace faster than the leaders in the second half of the race, this was very disappointing accident for the team. (Yamanishi would eventually crash in the latter stages and not finish the race.)
Running in the lead, Yokomizo in the No. 911 was pressured from behind several times by Tanaka in car No. 11, who had passed Kageyama in car No. 33 to take 2nd position. Still, Yokomizo (No. 911) was able to retain the lead until he made his routine pit stop on lap 41. In the second half of the race, the No. 911 ENDLESS TAISAN 911 (Kyosuke Mineo) would lead the chasing No. 11 GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS (Katsuyuki Hiranaka) by more than ten seconds at one point.
Dramatic upset in the closing laps! Trouble and drama fill the second half
Despite the No. 911 Porsche’s formidable lead at one point, the No.11 Audi in 2nd position began to close the gap rapidly with about 30 laps remaining in the race. Mineo’s pace in car No. 911 was fluctuating between 1’32 and 1’33, while Hiranaka in car No. 11 was running at a pace in the 1’31 range lap after lap and closing the gap quickly. After the 68th lap, Hiranaka was locked on to Mineo’s tail.
When the No.11 GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS finally took the lead away from the No. 911 Porsche on lap 81, the ENDLESS TAISAN 911 machine, which had been suffering from poor balance, was unable to recoup.
The No. 11 GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS (Hiranaka) ran an impressive race to take the victory. With this, the Audi R8 LMS Ultra was able to win its debut SUPER GT race. For Tanaka, Hiranaka and the team, this was their first win since round eight at Autopolis in 2009. Finishing 2nd was the No. 911 ENDLESS TAISAN 911. Having lost a race they seemed sure to win in the closing stages, neither driver was able to hide his disappointment after the race.
Finishing 3rd after a race full of ups and downs was the No. 0 GSR HATSUNEMIKU BMW (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka). Last year’s championship team started the race in 7th position after a difficult qualifying. Once the race started No. 0 was able to hold its position with steady running. Finishing the first stint, Kataoka returned for the routine pit stop in 6th position. After that, the team’s ace driver, Taniguchi, charged hard through the front group, while also benefiting from the accidents that took the No. 3 S Road NDDP GT-R (driven by Katsumasa Chiyo at the time of the collision and Yuhi Sekiguchi in the second half) and the No. 87 JLOC LAMBORGHINI GT3 (Yamanishi) out of competition for the lead. In the closing stages of the race Taniguchi managed to get past the No. 33 HANKOOK PORSCHE (Tomonobu Fujii) and claim the final spot on the podium.
As for the No. 31 apr HASEPRO PRIUS GT (Morio Nitta > Koki Saga) that had qualified fastest among the Japanese GT300 machines in 6th place, machine trouble forced it to make a number of pit stops. Another new machine making its debut, the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Tetsuya Yamano > Kota Sasaki) had to retire from the race due to drive train trouble.

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SC430, GT-R and HSV-010 battle it out in the first half
The wind was chilly but the skies were only partly cloudy with no fear of rain at Okayama Circuit for Sunday’s race. As the start of the season’s opening race neared, the air temperature was 10 degrees C. and the track was dry with a surface temperature of 15 degrees C. The race began from a rolling start at 2:00 and after the first lap the stage was set for 82 laps of tough competition.

Starting from pole position, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Kohei Hirate) dashed successfully into the lead. Behind it the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 (Loic Duval) collided with the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Takuya Izawa) but still managed to emerge in 2nd position. The No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama) followed in 3rd and the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R rose to 4th position, with the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 dropping to 5th.
Driving from pole position for the first time in a GT500 race, Hirate in the leading No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 managed to open up a 2-second margin of lead over the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430. On the fourth lap, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R mounted a fierce charge to close the gap on the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430, recording the fastest lap of the race (1’24.450) in the process.
From around the sixth lap the leaders began to come up behind the GT300 class back markers, and having dispensed with the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R began to close the gap slowly on Hirate in the lead. However, making skillful use of the back markers, Hirate managed to maintain a 4.8 second lead over Motoyama at around the 15th lap.
The gap between the two leaders began to narrow again from the 17th lap. As the margin closed visibly with each lap between these two machines fighting for the lead, behind them the No. 1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli) was passed by the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 as it got caught behind a GT300 back marker entering the Attwood Curve on lap 23. Now in 4th position Izawa began narrowing the gap on Duval in third place. Eventually Izawa managed to pass Duval to the inside on the Mike Knight Corner on lap 28 and recover to 3rd position, but by this time the gap with the two lead machines had grown to a formidable nine seconds.

Breath-taking battle between the veteran Tachikawa and young Yamamoto

As they pulled away from the rest of the field, the margin between the leading No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 and the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R hovered within a few a few fractions of 1.5 seconds. This tightly contested battle for the lead finally saw a decisive move on the 33rd lap. Coming out of the Attwood Curve, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R began to pull up alongside the leading No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 and then managed to take the inside on the following hairpin and pass No. 38 into the lead.
As the air temperature and the track temperature continued to rise, the teams began to make their routine pit stops after the 30th lap. Among the front group, the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 and the No. 8 ARTA HSV-010 were the first to return to the pit at the end of the 34th lap, where they changed drivers to Kazuki Nakajima and Takashi Kobayashi respectively. Having hung on close to the fleeing No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, Hirate in the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 made his pit stop on lap 36 and turned over the wheel to Tachikawa.
Seeing this, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R and the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 made their pit stops on the next lap. With fast pit work, the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 managed to return to the race in front of the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 and move effectively into 2nd position. However, having been unable to pick up the pace on its first lap out of the pit as in the early stages of the race, the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Michael Krumm) was passed by the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Naoki Yamamoto) on the hairpin of lap 38. Next No. 23 was also passed by the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Tachikawa) on the home straight of the following lap.
When the No. 24 D’station ADVAN GT-R (Bjorn Wirdheim) finally made its delayed pit stop on lap 44, the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 (Yamamoto) found itself in the lead. But, just 0.7 seconds behind Yamamoto at this time came the charging No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430. The veteran Tachikawa (No. 38) put on the pressure by pulling alongside the fleeing Yamamoto (No. 100) from time to time, but by mid-stint the pace of the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 was faster and by lap 56, Yamamoto had built up a lead of up to four seconds.
That lead didn’t last, however. Due to factors like the timing of encounters with back markers, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 rapidly closed the gap again. Finally Tachikawa was able to make a move coming out of the hairpin of lap 69 and then take Yamamoto’s inside on the ensuing Revolver Corner to slip into the lead.
With few laps remaining, it looked as if the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 was on its way to victory, but Yamamoto wasn’t going to give up. Closing in on the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 as its tire wear worsened in the closing laps, Yamamoto overtook Tachikawa on the second of the double hairpins of lap 81 to regain the lead.
Yamamoto went on that way to enter the final lap in the lead, but Tachikawa wasn’t going to give up the chance for a win either. Entering the final hairpin to the inside of the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010, Tachikawa succeeded in turning the tables again at the last moment!
In this dramatic finish that saw the lead change hands twice in the final laps, it was the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 that emerged victorious in the opening round of the 2012 series. After a strong performance, the No. 100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 settled for a somewhat disappointing 2nd place. In 3rd came the No. 17 KEIHIN HSV-010 (Koudai Tsukakoshi), having passed the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 (Nakajima) on the last corner of the 81st lap. When the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 overran the Revolver Corner on the last lap, it was passed once again and had to settle for 5th place. Finishing 4th was the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R.

 

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