I'm really finding it hard to believe that we're already way past the half point of the 2009 racing season, to me it seems like just a bit ago we were working on our preview stories for the season. Anyways, the Super GT series was in action last weekend during its annual summertime trip to Suzuka Circuit for the Pokka GT Summer Special.
Here's a quick look at what went down.
The Suzuka summer race is the longest one on the SGT schedule, stretching 700km through the humid Japanese summer weather. Besides the championship battle in the GT500 class, this race was also notable as the debut of the new Subaru Legacy GT300 car. Unfortunately it wasn't a good debut for the Subaru as it developed front diff trouble and was unable to make the race. Hopefully the issue will be straightened out for the next race.
Starting on the pole in GT500 was the Kraft SC430 of Hiroaki Ishiura and Kazuya Oshima. It turned out to be a flawless day for this team, as they were able to complete the pole-to-checkers run with a 10-second lead over the second place car. This was the first GT500 win for both drivers, and the second victory for the Kraft team itself.
Finishing second in GT500 was the Hasemi Tomica Ebbro GT-R of Ronnie Quintarelli and Hironobu Yasuda. Meanwhile, the Motul Autech GT-R remains on top of the GT500 season standings with three events remaining on the calendar.
Taking the victory in GT300 was the S Road Mola Z of Kazuki Hoshino and Masataka Yanagida, who managed up to earn the win after starting in the 14th position on the grid.
The race was followed up by a large hanabi display, a summertime tradition in Japan.
The next Super GT event will be at Fuji Speedway in mid September.
-Mike Garrett
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Nice coverage , love the livery on the kraft sc430 . Mike why do they use sc430's when luxus is primerily for the americas and europe , i now theyre exactly the same but surely soarers would be better suited in japan . Or are they trying to promote lexus in japan now ?
My dream
I would love to see these technological marvels race against ALMS cars. I think they (SuperGT) would run circles around them.
@userhj5174: they are considered the fastest GT cars in the world, due to a lack of a aerodynamic regulation (as compared to ALMS GT1 or FIA GT1). Though top speed is likely lower than many other GT formulae (given the 500hp restriction & high downforce), their carry far higher lateral loads and thus corner MUCH faster. Not sure what Super GT weight regulations are, aside from the weight penalties dispensed to top finishers & front row qualifiers alike (apparently, none of the fast teams want pole position given the immediate weight penalty,but i'm not sure how all that plays out)