2020 Japanese Super GT

[Japanese Samurai]

Tsutomu Tojo (Team Tom's engineer) 2nd round post race analysis
https://ameblo.jp/tsutomutojo/entry-12617112597.html

*Toyota squad (BS user) chose tires for 2nd round for the following reasons:
1) Road surface temperature becomes high.
2) Lap time (not final result) of each car in the first round.
3) Tire wear due to success ballast.
*From the above, it became a tire of a balanced character for Toyota squad (BS user).
*Tojo analyzes that NSXs tires have different character in each teams, on the other hand.
(#17 NSX and #12 GTR seem to have chosed tires that emphasize tire grip.)
*For the past two rounds, Supra/BS has focused on Sepang test data.
This was because there were insufficient test data in Japan due to the effects of coronavirus and unseasonable cold weather.
*Tojo says that Team Tom's will have a success ballast and a tough race will continue. But it’s a real race to win the series champion.

[Japanese Samurai]

https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/611360/2

According to 2nd round race report of Bridgestone,
BS was unable to respond to the regulations change (4 tire change mandatory) for 2nd round as it was announced just before.
And #6 86MC has dropped the position due to pick up phenomenon.

[Japanese Samurai]

Sorry for off topic,
Cornes, the import agency for ferarri, will launch a membership-based driving club with a closed circuit.
https://autoprove.net/race-event_campaign/193252/
https://www.magarigawa.com/en/

[Japanese Samurai]

On-board movie of Lotus Evora (#2).
This car is equipped with radar detection system that indicates the direction of overtaking cars on rear view monitor.
Check it out!
https://youtu.be/2xSpYWLb990

[hvr777]

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

On-board movie of Lotus Evora (#2).
This car is equipped with radar detection system that indicates the direction of overtaking cars on rear view monitor.
Check it out!
https://youtu.be/2xSpYWLb990

Yes I saw it! For the first time in Super GT, I saw the car with such detection system on the monitor. I don't know if other cars have similar detection system.

[chernaudi]

Corvette Racing in IMSA have had something similar for years, though I don't know how long they've had their current system or similar times (since at least 2013, though).

[Japanese Samurai]

https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/612126?all
https://supergt.net/news/single/20197

GTA publishes new bulletin that 4 tire change mandatory rule in the race won't be applied to after 3rd round.
Along with this, the fuel flow restrictor diameter will also change to 27.5 mm for both JAF-GT300 and JAF-GT300MC.
This regulations change is due to the fact that safety was ensured as a result of the 2nd round and that fuel-only-pitstop is difficult in Suzuka.

*There is a rumor that the fuel flow restrictor diameter of JAF-GT300/JAF-G300MC may be changed in the future.

[Japanese Samurai]

JAF publishes 2021 tech regulations.
http://jaf-sports.jp/cms_file/cms/cm...7960_00002.pdf

*JAF-GT500 (Class 1), JAF-GT300, JAF-GT300MC are no longer Japanese domestic competition vehicles (So, it will not be the name of "JAF").
*GT500, GT300, GT300MC are regulated as international competition vehicles by Article 2.4 of the FIA International Sporting Code from 2021.

[Japanese Samurai]

I forgot an important change.
From next year, Super GT will be promoted to "FIA International Series."

Sorry, it seems that this year was also a FIA international series.

[Japanese Samurai]

Vehicle technical regulations (GT500, GT300, GT300MC) are set by the Series Organizer (GTA). (not by FIA?)

[Japanese Samurai]

Sorry for multi post,
It doesn't seem to be an international competition vehicle.
It seems that vehicle regulations defined by GTA are applied to SGT as FIA International Series.

[Japanese Samurai]

Hoppy team Tsuchiya 2nd round race report
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/611919

*Puncture happened in the first round, so the team chose tires with a conservative character.
*Yokohama prepared two types of tires in a short period of time (3 weeks).
*They start by developing tires that can complete the race to catch up the rivals.
*Therefore, since it is a hard compound, the team did not advance to Q2.
*Porsche is inferior in straight line speed due to BoP, and it is about 5 km/h slower than Lexus RC F GT3.
*There was a problem. One of the marking tire was found to be insufficient for long runs, so the team had to use the another one in qualifying session.
*So the team set up the car in a direction that would save the tires.
Specifically, they raised the camber of the rear tire, and raised the tire internal pressure.
This is not a set-up that improves lap time.
And the team increased the front spring rate.
As a result, they were able to complete the race distance and collect data that were the goal of the team.
*Takeshi Tsuchiya sorrys for Sato and Matsui that they can't drive in competitive.
However, the answer that Tsuchiya derived from his experience and the answer that Kino (data engineer) derived from theory matched. So Tsuchiya is satisfied with the race content, regardless of the race results.

[Japanese Samurai]

BMW Team Studie (#7) BOB Suzuki 2nd round race report
https://carsmeet.jp/2020/08/12/161359-2/

*There was a problem with the air-con on the qualifying day.
The problem was not the compressor itself, but the pressure sensor.
*From this season, Studie has been accompanied by spare parts support trucks.
The spare parts on this support truck are the property of BMW motorsport.
*However, this spare parts cannot be used because the person in charge of BMW motorsport cannot come to Japan due to coronavirus.
*So they decided to remove the air-con and use a cool suit that uses the latest digital refrigerant system.
*Thanks to the hard work of the mechanics, the cool suit was loaded into the car on the morning of the final day.
*However, when the driver was changed at the pit stop, the pipe of the cool suit was caught in the seat and tubular frame, resulting in a singnificant loss of time.
*They were crying, laughing and crying again in the cooling system in the 2nd round.

[Japanese Samurai]

Autoprove Subaru SGT inside report Rd.2
https://autoprove.net/subaru/sti-technology/193364/

*In the Saturday's practice session, Yamauchi commented that the 100R pavement changed and the grip improved, so he could drive more actively.
*In response to this comment, the team changed the body rigidity with stiffeners in order to increase the rigidity of the machine and the cornering speed.
*However, changes in stiffness without testing are at risk and were not adopted in the final race. For the same reason, new tires were not used in the race.
*During the qualifying, Yamauchi had a rev limit at 100R and the behavior of the machine was disturbed.
*It seems that this is not due to the gear ratio, but because the fuel is light and the vehicle speed has increased.
*In the final race, the top speed of BRZ was 271.51km/h.
In contrast, NSX and Aston Martin exceeded 275km/h.
*BRZ has poor fuel efficiency, so it takes time to refuel even if the fuel flow restrictor is excluded.
*Iguchi was 4 seconds behind Evora when the pit started. However, if there was a fuel flow restrictor, it was a 7 second behind or more.
*The driver says the machine is fast, stable and well balanced.
*Up until now, there was a weakness due to lack of front downforce, but this has been improved.
*This time, the box-type dive plane was attached to the flick box in qualifying/race.
*Actually, they planned to use a box-type dive plane in the race, and to use a normal dive plane with downforce for the qualifying.
*In other words, BRZ has a room to run faster in qualifying.

[Japanese Samurai]

Car Watch reports Masahiro Saiki (Honda Large project leader) interview.
https://car.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1270976.html

Q. Any difference between 1st round and 2nd round?
*In the 1st round, we had a problem in the race pace.
But I don't know this problem has been solved in 2nd round result. We will analysis race data and examine a direction of race set-up.

Q. Did you find a satisfactory vehicle setup?
*#100 and #8's set-up in 1st round is not suitable for long runs, so this time we changed the tire selection as well.
*The situation in which the top speed is inferior to the GR Supra remains unchanged.
*Therefore, it is a problem that was found in this race that it takes time to get out when entering the traffic.
*We are fast in single run, but slow down when we are in the traffic.
*I was surprised that #8 and #17 were able to escape from the rivals early in the race. This time, I found that we could run faster in a single run.

Q. Has your understanding of the vehicle deepened?
*I would like to collect and scrutinize the data obtained in this race.
*It's positive that all five cars finished the race, but there are still many things to improve.

Q. How confident are you about the Suzuka Round?
*Suzuka is not a circuit where top speed is as important as Fuji.
*Therefore, we would like to prepare a machine suitable for its character.
*However, since it is the first year of new machine, the result cannot be known unless you race.

[Japanese Samurai]

jp.motorsport.com reports interview to Team Kunimitsu (#100) duo.
https://jp.motorsport.com/supergt/ne...-fuji/4858634/

*Naoki Yamamoto says that they lost the 2nd round because he failed in Q2 (7th).
*Yamamoto says that the machine itself wasn't bad. they were able to fascinate the speed where necessary. However, they could not get out of the traffic because they had to start the race in a bad place in the middle of position.
*He says that he ended up in 7th place in Q2 because of his inability.
*He also says that this year's GT500 is difficult to increase pace when starting from rear-end.
If you get caught in a slow-paced machine, it's hard to get out of there.
*Makino also admits that racing in the traffic will slow down the pace. Although they are quick in qualifying, they must improve the race pace in the final race.
He think that race pace of #100 is inferior to #17.
*Yamamoto says that in Suzuka, the balance of power may change drastically. Initial set-up and tire selection will hold the key to the race.

[Japanese Samurai]

Isao Noritake (JLOC team owner) explains the reason for poor result of JLOC.
https://www.facebook.com/11464190676...1070694786038/

*Currently, there are many unfair rulings.
*To put it simply, the BoP of the Huracan GT3 is too heavy.
*It has almost the same weight as a market model, and runs on Suzuka in 2 minutes with high grip tires. It is natural that a tire burst will occur.
*Since Huracan GT3 is the lightest vehicle, loading 100kg of ballast in one place will damage the vehicle balance.
*On the other hand, a mother chassis vehicle weighs about 200 kg lighter than Huracan and has 270km/h top speed that is faster than a Huracan.
*In addition, no tire changes are needed. It is impossible.
*JAF-GT300 and JAF-GT300MC must be in different classes than FIA-GT3.
*The reason why the 24 Hours of Le Mans has survived for over 100 years is because it is entrant first policy. How about Japanese organizer?
*Since motor sports are sports, I think it is very important to build fair rules. It is a sport that shows the driver's performance.
*Dear Lambo fans, Huracan GT3 EVO is a very good car and fast!
We will continue to do our best so please stay tuned!
*Finally, the four drivers of our team are very excellent and fast.

[Japanese Samurai]

Tire manufacuturer interview Part.3 Dunlop
https://supergt.net/news/single/20207

Q. What is the importance of Dunlop in entering SUPER GT?
*There are two points: technology development and advertising effects.
*Since tire development is open in Super GT, we are aiming for the effect of refining our technology in this severe tire competition.
*We are creating various materials through the development of tires for SGT, and we are introducing new materials from the 1st round this season.
*Some of the materials and technologies cultivated at SGT are fed back to commercial tires for street use.
*If there is tire competition, we will focus on performance development, so unlike the one-make category, we will develop specifically for it.

Q. About 1995 Greagt Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
*We, the HQ office of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, are located in Kobe, but after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, we were severely damaged and all tire development was suspended.
*As a result, it was very difficult to bridge the engineering gap with the rivals after the earthquake. We have managed to catch up with it.

Q. About GT500 and GT300 tire supply
*Regarding the GT500, there is a disadvantage in that there is only one supply team, but I think there are advantages, as well.
*That is, we can communicate closely with the team and develop a dedicated tire for that team.
*We make tires tailored to the team's vehicles and strive to compete with other rival tire manufacturers.
*On the other hand, in GT300 class, we are able to create a situation where our tire users are always in the fight for the championship.
*GT300 tires are developed exclusively for GT300. However, part of the technology developed for GT500 is also used.
*This works well, and I think that GT300 has produced some results and appealed.

[Japanese Samurai]

SGT official website reports Hiroto Kaneso (Team apr) interview.
https://supergt.net/news/single/20221

In the past, the only racing cars that apr has made have been midship layout cars, but due to the change in regulations, we made the FR Prius GT300 and introduced it to the race last year. Last year we started developing a new 2UR-G, a large V8 engine with a displacement of 5.4 liters. The first year, we didn't have any problems, but the car wasn't fast enough. The main reason for this was that we didn't have a good understanding of FR. Other teams may have taken FR for granted, but the apr team had always been biased towards it.

After I started developing the FR Prius GT300, I spent the first year and a half learning the basics of what FR was all about. Of course, TRD and the tire manufacturers were very supportive, and we did a lot of things with them. Over the course of the off-season, we have become much more competitive. In the past two races we haven't been able to use it to our advantage, but this time we were able to set up the machine in a good way and they were able to provide us with tyres to match, which led to today's qualifying results. I've never been able to understand FR before, but today's pole position has made me like FR a little bit more. But it's been a really long time so far.

However, as for the race, I think we'll have to reach a level where we can only hope to make it to the podium. Our Prius is a JAF-GT300 car, and according to the regulations, the refueling time for JAF-GT300 cars must be very long. However, I understand that one of the things that makes SGT so interesting is that we try to keep the rules in check so that we don't have to compete with the dominated cars.


I race because I believe that what we are trying to do is to create a motorsports culture. In this context, there is also the culture of car making, and I think it is absolutely important to have a flow of feedback from the technology developed in motorsports to the production cars. Our car is currently the only hybrid car in SGT, and its hybrid technology has been developed by the automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. In other words, our machines will be passed on to future hybrid technology.

This is not to say that the FIA GT3 is bad. However, the culture of GT3, where the objective is to race with already built cars, and JAF-GT300, where we race with our own cars through trial and error, are completely different. I was trained by Haruo Tsuchiya (founder of Tsuchiya Engineering) and others who poured their heart and soul into racing with their own cars, so I would like to carry on the culture of building racing cars and nurture it.

[Japanese Samurai]

Race day press conference by GTA (Masaaki Bandoh)
https://car.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1272340.html

About immigration restrictions for foreign drivers
*GTA submited a request form to the Ministry of Justice.
*From August 5, entry restrictions will be relaxed under special circumstances.

About 4 tire change mandatory rules
*The enforcement of that regulations in the 2nd round was a result of considering two aspects of tire development competition and safety.
*The safety was confirmed. From now on, we have to consider the development cost and environment.
*In the 3rd round, tires were freely changed from the perspective of making the race interesting.
*We will correct excessive tire development competition in the future.
*Especially in GT300, if one manufacturer wins too much and it is a tire that can not be bought, there is a debate as to whether it is appropriate.
*We must keep fairness as a rule.
*4 tire change mandatory regulations will no longer be applied.
*However, I personally have objections. We must keep an eye on the situation and regulate it appropriately.

About GT300 grouping qualifying session
*Since there are no support races this season, we are conducting grouping qualifying in order to create a situation in which more vehicles will be shown on the TV.

About LED display system and FCY system
*We are plagued by system malfunctions.
*Regarding FCY, there is a problem that delays occur in various sections of the course.
*In particular, problems have occurred in the west course.
*Regarding LED, I am a little dissatisfied with the displayed colors.

About blueprint from 5th round
*The maximum spectator will be 5000.
*The grid walk, paddock pass, and pit walk are difficult to implement.

*Thanks to the sponsors, we have been able to reduce our debt.
*I want to host 8 races, of which 4 are with spectators, safely.

[Japanese Samurai]

Race day press conference by GTA <Part.2>
https://supergt.net/news/single/20226

About 4 tire change mandatory rules
*It is difficult to limit the development costs of tire manufacturers, so we will consider ways such as reviewing the number of tires brought into the race.

About FCY system
*There is a time lag between the onboard panel installed in each vehicle and the radio from the control, but it is within about a second.

[Baliwa]

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

Isao Noritake (JLOC team owner) explains the reason for poor result of JLOC.
*The reason why the 24 Hours of Le Mans has survived for over 100 years is because it is entrant first policy. How about Japanese organizer?

what he meant for this?

outside of this one I think it pretty strong word if he said need different class for JAF and FIA GT3

[Japanese Samurai]

"Entrant first policy" means that the series will be run without unfair treatment of the participating teams.

[Baliwa]

So I guess JLOC Guys think SGT organizer biased to JAF based team?

also is there some comment from race director or organizer about that last 10 lap incident in GT300?
ARTA-Realize in Degner, Leon-BRZ-Realize, and Gainer-Realize

[Japanese Samurai]

There is an open rumor that Hiroto Kaneso (Team apr) is deeply involved in the revision of the JAF-GT300 tech regulations.

No official comment.
But, unfortunately, GTA tends to prioritize race progress than safety especially in the final stages of the race.
Yesterday's multiple accident was caused by racing of troubled cars.
So Tsutomu Tojo (Team Tom's engineer) says that it is necessary to regulate that cars with trouble must be driven with safety as the highest priority, on his blog.
https://ameblo.jp/tsutomutojo/entry-12619959913.html