Honda wins at round-3 of Super-GT Autopolis in the GT300 class with the CR-Z GT. Under good weather conditions and dry track, No. 55 ARTA CR-Z GT using the 3.5l J35A engine with just 0.018second lead (!) to the 2nd placed No. SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT using the EJ20 engine. No. 55 ARTA CR-Z GT started the race in P2.
Meanwhile in the GT500 class, Honda delivered a much better result than in the last race. No. 100 Raybrig NSX Concept GT started from P6 and finished in 6th which is a great result, given the disaster of the last race. Two other NSX'es finished relatively well too with the No. 18 Weider NSX finishing in 7th and the No. 10 Epson finishing in 10th. The other two 2 NSX'es retired. Overall winner is the Nissan R35 which swept the podium with a 1-2-3 finish.
It was a hot day with 28deg C weather and a 43deg C road surface temperature.
It was a hot day with 28deg C weather and a 43deg C road surface temperature.
Another piece of good news is that it is reported they will use new engines in the next race at the SUGO circuit.
5 comments:
Matsumono Report from the ground : Post-Autopolis
They did better than the Fuji Speedway before. Their improvement on the engine cooling helped and they had more time on the car settings on the ground, getting better at it. But they did better because of the tire management.
The common problem we're having in SuperGT500 is the "pick up". There are pieces of tire debris on the course from wear and tear, on the outside of driving lines. So when the cars go off line to pass or avoid something they'd 'pick them up'. Tires lose its grips on the ground when they pick up those on them. It could make it loose 2-3 seconds per lap or you'd lose the race if you can't get rid of them.
It is well known that it's the one of prominent problems here in Autopolis though we haven't known exactly why. One way to avoid this is of course you'd stay in the racing lines but it is an unavoidable task during the race. One of GT300 CRZ-GTs went off course when he tried to pass. It probably was because of this "pick up" problem and lost control.
However this time, the pieces stuck on the tires came off rather quickly. It was probably because the road surface temperature was hotter. The surface temp went up to 40C on the day. Fortunately we didn't have to worry about the problem so much.
We used to race here at Autopolis in the end of Sept to Oct so it had been cooler but this time it was in late June when it's rather hot. Maybe it might have been the reason why.
On the other hand, hot day and higher surface temp brought another problems. (no idea what he meant)
The new common chassis is in accordance with DTM. It's inherently high in down force thus higher speeds in corners. Spec tires are used in DTM but there are multiple tire companies are competing in SuperGT. Hence it's natural to bring the corner speed step higher than DTM. The cautious worry has brought up that there aren't enough space for runoff areas when the cornering speeds were considered to be much higher. That's why they had decided to keep the low down force setups from the Fuji Speedway to lower the cornering speeds.
Now, that decision brought another problem. Because of the lower down force setups and tend to get lower in the front caused a understeer problem at the corners. That put more stress on the front tires and worn them out early to some other teams. Fortunately we didn't have that much problem. That was the one of major factors that we did better this time.
We ask for (and appreciate) your unconditional supports from the bottom of our hearts.
Matsumoto Report from the ground : Pre SportsLand Sugo.
There is no info about the cars. Nothing. Nada. I was hoping something as RolletheNsx said at TOV. Nope.
Only thing is the lowdown force set-up from the Fuji Speedway is still required at Sugo. He's saying there are the slow, high speed corners and the main straight, the backstretch high speed straight before the first corner. Cars still have understeer because the front end has less downforce. The same problems as at the Autopolis.
From RooletheNsx, I think he mixed up SuperGt and Super Formula because they both use the same spec engine 2.0l turbo. I'm not sure if the engine mappings are same though.
In SuperGT, engine development are still allowed but only 3 engines per car are allowed a year. So they have to decide when they upgrade their engines. I think they've put the upgraded engines this time. Remember, the top horsepower is capped.
Hope they will do well.
Results at SportsLand Sugo.
They wanted a podium finish and they got a podium finish.
#17 Keihin NSX ConceptGT came in 3rd. They had Dunlops which do better in wet.
(Though they came in 1 lap behind 1st and 2nd ... hey, 3rd is a 3rd.)
Congratulations Honda!!!
They won. They won at the Fuji Speedway. They came in 1st, 3rd and 4th. Congratulations Honda!!! Congratulations Matsumoto-san!!!
Sorry, sorry, I missed a couple of times. Time flies. I don't know how long I can do this.
RolledaNsx was right. His post at TOV on July 7th.
---
NSX-GT min. weight is now 1077kg(was 1090kg)
homologated body part changes allowed
1) front grill(addition of an opening)
2)rear bumper(addition of an opening)
3)rear window(addition of an opening)
4)engine air inlet duct(layout change)
5)cooling duct for exhaust pipe and turbo(grow in size)
6)rear window can be CF(doesn't have to be clear lexan)
Those upgrades was tested at Suzuka(maybe why they was fastest in test)
---
Briefly from Matsumoto Reports from his #87 & 88.
They had appealed to the governing body, GTA (GT Association) for some changes in their cars because of the problems they're having from the regulation FR chassis, specially the heat problems. They were allowed to make some changes to their cars and reduction of the handicap weight by 13kg.
1. Bigger opening in the front grill.
2. Adding a duct(s) to reroute air from the front of the car to the engine room.
3. Bigger opening in the rear bumper to let the hot air out.
4. Changing the material of the rear windows, from an acryl to a carbon composite because the acryl windows were melting from the heat from the engine.
They did these changes to keep engine cool so that they were able to run their engines at its full potential without the worry of overheating, finally. Though they didn't have time to reduce the handicap weight at the Sugo.
At Sugo, it rained so it was about 20 deg C. It wasn't too hot though. They finally felt their cars are on par with their other competitors.
Before the Fuji, they felt confident even though it was raining at Sugo and wasn't too hot but the computer simulation has indicated they should alright even above 30 deg C temperature days. And the top 5 in the point ranking have the handicap weights of 50kg and over, and the restricted intake openings.
Matsumoto - We are so happy we've finally won, of course. We now feel the long lasting Winter is finally over and Spring has arrived.. We hope to continue this good fortune to the Suzuka with another win. We ask you for your continued support from the bottom of our hearts.
Vilepprov-re Kevin Islam https://wakelet.com/wake/opRwIUhPKR7sVvH4eLvnu
huntsymwatchdrum
Post a Comment