Super GT Preview: Rounds 3 & 8 at Motegi
Super GT returns to the calendar one last time for the season finale double-header at Motegi, with titles in both classes in heavy contention.
Track overview
Mobility Resort Motegi is a circuit spanning 4.8 km (2.9 mi), owned and operated by Honda, that provides a plethora of overtaking opportunities, especially at turns 2, 3, 4 and 10.
Despite being a Honda-owned circuit, it has seen the Toyota Supra of the No.36 Team TOM’S crew cross the finish line first for the past three years. However, a Honda has always finished on the podium alongside them in those three years.
The circuit has also been resurfaced since the last time Super GT visited, making tyre management all the more important.
GT500
Round 7 at Autopolis blew the championship fight wide open; the win from Team Kunimitsu in the hands of Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino put them just three points behind the Drivers’ Championship leaders, the No.36 Team TOM’S car.
The Success Weight (SW) for Round 3, the replacement race for the cancelled weekend in Malaysia, will be half of the standard SW, with the ballasts equaling the points scored so far. The season finale, Round 8, will have no SW whatsoever.
With this being a double header, 40 points are on the table for the Drivers’ Championship and 46 for the Teams’ Championship, meaning, mathematically, there are 12 contestants in both championships.
However, this will realistically be a tight fight between Team Kunimitsu and Team TOM’S, with fringe chances for Real Racing and KeePer Cerumo if Round 3 goes their way.
Both Real Racing and Cerumo have proven themselves to be formidable so far this season, but mechanical failures have affected their positions in the standings.
Team Kunimitsu and the Honda Prelude have been rapid over the past few races, but the car struggled in the opening few rounds with lower SW levels, similar to these final two rounds. Despite this, the team have a history of strong finishes at Motegi, finishing second last year and winning here in 2022.
There would be no better proof of concept for the Prelude than winning the title in its debut season, but the competition they are facing is as tough as it gets.
Team TOM’S have historically been an unbeatable force in races with no SW rules, having won the last six such races, and have performed well in races where they had relatively lower SW, like in the two Fuji rounds this season where they finished first and fourth.
History in the making?
Cerumo and Real Racing are both running rookie drivers, Rikuto Kobayashi for Cerumo and Yuto Nomura for Real Racing.
If either of them wins the title, they would be joining Jenson Button (2018) and Toranosuke Takagi (2005) as the only rookies to do so in the top class.
Winning the title would mean something completely different to veteran driver Sho Tsuboi, who is chasing his fifth Super GT title. Currently, he’s tied with Ronnie Quinterelli for the most Super GT championships, with four, and a fifth would make the Saitama native the most successful driver in the series.
GT300
The points gap up top in GT300 is not as tight as in the top class. The Kondo Racing duo of J.P. de Oliveira and Iori Kimura lead the Drivers’ Championship by 17 points ahead of Zak O’Sullivan in second.
It’s a three-way tie for third, 20 points behind the leaders, between the reigning champion duo of the LEON Racing Mercedes, Kiyoshi Umegaki and the two Hyper Water Inging drivers.
The Kondo Racing crew lost out on the title last year after an intense fight for third didn’t go their way, but this time out they have a solid points advantage.
Balance of Performance (BoP) for this round hasn’t seen many changes compared to Autopolis, and the major title contenders see no changes at all.
GR GT3 debut
Despite title fights brewing in both classes, all eyes will be on ROOKIE Racing in GT300. Morizo’s personally owned team will be the first to debut Toyota’s new GT3 challenger, the GR GT3.
The car is not the fully homologated GT3 we expect to see next year, and has been granted special permission by the GT Association to participate in these two races.
Weather forecast
Since the Japanese winter is just beginning, temperatures will be quite cold compared to previous rounds. Sub-20°C temperatures are expected on both days, with Sunday’s going below 15°C.
No rain is expected, but a dense fog advisory has been issued for Friday, and it isn’t uncommon to see intense fog interrupting sessions at this time of year.
The lower temperatures will make tyre warm-up trickier, and in GT300, the Bridgestones have proven themselves to be the ideal tyres to have in these conditions.
Weekend Schedule
Round 3 (Saturday)
Qualifying: 09:00 JST (00:00 BST)
Race: 14:00 JST (05:00 BST)
Round 8 (Sunday)
Qualifying: 09:45 JST (00:45 BST)
Race: 14:00 JST (05:00 BST)
Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
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