Preview – Super GT Round 6 : 39th International Pokka GT Summer Special
The battle for the championship hots up in the GT500 Class with only 3 rounds left for the Autobacs Super GT 2010 Series. After the thrilling race at the Sugo Circuit, the series will head to Suzuka for the 2nd time this year on the 21st – 22nd of August for the 6th round of the championship.
Suzuka also hosted the opening round for the 2010 championship, and the rain at the start of the race created a very tricky condition for the drivers. The condition masked the true relative performance between the cars, as casualties struck the leading runners amid the chaotic race.
Honda had high hopes with the debut of its 2010 challenger, the HSV-010. Despite its impressive pole, the Weider HSV-010 was among the casualties of the weather. The slippery condition was too much for the driver to handle and at one point was struggling in 12th position after an off track excursion.
The nightmare however doesn’t end there, as the Weider HSV-010 and the Arta HSV-010 crashed hard into a wall at Turn 1 after a three cars fight for the apex failed miserably. In the end, the HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R benefited from leaders’ mishaps and took the chequered flag in 1st place.
ENEOS SC430′s Daisuke Ito and Bjorn Wirdheim heads into the 6th round of the championship as the championship leader in the driver’s championship standings, only one point ahead of the Weider HSV-010′s of Takashi Kogure and Loic Duval. 3rd in the standings is the sole remaining championship challenger for Nissan, the CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli, tied on points with 4th place PETRONAS TOM’S SC430 of Juichi Wakisaka and Andre Lotterer.
The Weider HSV-010 en route to record HSV-010′s maiden win at Okayama.
The ARTA HSV-010 of Ralph Firman and Yuji Ide had a disastrous campaign so far, finishing in the points only once in the previous 5 rounds. As shown in the opening round, the fast and flowing Suzuka Circuit suited the HSV-010. With only 10 kg of weight penalty, 90 kg lighter than the leading duo in the drivers’ championship standings, the ARTA HSV-010 should be in with a chance to fight for victory alongside the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R.
2010 was a nightmare for the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R of Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer, currently sitting in 10th place in the driver’s championship standings. With only 29 points in the bag, they now trail the championship leader by 28 points with only 3 rounds remaining.
The MOTUL AUTECH GT-R has shown that it has the speed, and unlucky not to win at Sugo after suffering from electrical system failure. The car was also running strongly at Fuji, after qualifying in 4th place. Unfortunately, the car suffered a drive train problem just prior to the start, forcing them to start from the pit lane 2 laps after the race started. And half way into the race, they were forced to retire from the race because of an engine problem. Barring any reliability problem, the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R should be a strong contender for the win at Suzuka this weekend.
Photo : Masaaki Kitagawa
