SUPER GT 2024 Season Review (First Half)
As the production of NSX TYPE S, the base model for the SUPER GT GT500 class till the year before, had come to an end, Honda Racing launched its new competition model namely CIVIC TYPE R-GT that was based on CIVIC TYPE R from this season. Therefore, CIVIC's maiden victory inspires its title chase.
CIVIC TYPE R is a 5-door hatchback sport model whereas NSX is a pure 2-seater sport car. It means that the body configurations are totally different, and therefore, the development had to be done from scratch with the aerodynamic characteristics of SUPER GT in mind. That was why the highest priority at the pre-season test phase was put on making sure of the fundamental performance of the new car, and the strategy was established so as to pursue the the upper limit performance while competing in the series.
The opening round at Okayama International Circuit: #8 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nobuharu Matsushita) had marked the qualifying time highly likely eligible for the pole position, however, its time was eliminated due to the over-running penalty, and was relegated to the rearmost starting grid. On the other hand, #100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) managed to get 3rd grid which was the highest among the CIVIC TYPE R-GT entrants, and in the race, the #100 car maintained the position from the start, and not only achieved the first podium finish but also proved the prospective potential of CIVIC TYPE R-GT in its debut race.
In the 2nd round at Fuji Speedway which was run as a 3-hour race, CIVIC TYPE R-GT again demonstrated its tremendous capability to come. #17 Astemo REAL RACING (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Kakunoshin Ohta) marked the top qualifying time achieving the first pole position for the new model in its second race. The #17 car dropped positions in the race and was swamped in the battle for 3rd with the #8 car that ended up retiring a few laps before the checkered flag due to a transmission failure. #17 car went on to finish in 3rd making a back-to-back podium finish by CIVIC TYPE R-GT.
The 3rd round (at Suzuka Circuit) was another 3-hour race as same as the previous one. The #17 car that achieved a podium finish at Fuji run fast right from the Q1 session but made a spin in Q2. Instead, #16 ARTA MUGEN CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Hiroki Otsu/Ren Sato) came in 2nd and #8 in 4th making up for the mishap.
The #16 car launching from the 2nd grid incurred excessive tire wear as the race went on and desperately dropped down. However, it managed to break away from the pursuers and finished 3rd, thus making the three straight podium finishes of CIVIC TYPE R-GT.
The 4th round winding up the first half of the season was held again at Fuji Speedway where the bright summer sunshine right after the rainy season made the condition as severe as it got. The #8 car captured the pole position being followed immediately by #100 and #64 Modulo CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Takuya Izawa/Riki Okusa). The CIVIC TYPE R-GT squadron making the best use of its straight speed has done a clean sweep of the 1-2-3 starting grid.
In the race, #8 began running away right from the start and duly achieved the pole-to-win. #100 followed suit making up the maiden victory of the makes as well as the first ever 1-2 finish for the Honda CIVIC camp.
After the 4th round of the series, the #100 car accumulating the total points up to 37 climbed up to 2nd overall in the point ranking. The #8 car, now in 2nd among the CIVIC TYPE R-GT entrants, sit in 6th overall. The latter half of the season begins at Suzuka Circuit on August 31 (Sat) - September 1 (Sun).
It is the very first season for the new model, CIVIC TYPE R-GT. I'm relieved that we could finally win in the 4th round. I think we were ready to win when the season opened, and did pretty good job in the qualifying runs for the first three rounds, but in the race, we struggled with technical troubles, lack of pace and so forth. We further looked into the tire choice and carried out detailed works for the setup, and as a result, we could finally win in the 4th round, actually a 1-2 finish much to my gratitude. In the face of the latter half of the season, we plan to raise the fundamental performance of the CIVIC TYPE R-GT so that we can diminish rivals' points as much as possible, and aim at the first series title in four years since 2020. We thank our fans for their continuous support in advance.
It is the very first season for the new model, CIVIC TYPE R-GT. I'm relieved that we could finally win in the 4th round. I think we were ready to win when the season opened, and did pretty good job in the qualifying runs for the first three rounds, but in the race, we struggled with technical troubles, lack of pace and so forth. We further looked into the tire choice and carried out detailed works for the setup, and as a result, we could finally win in the 4th round, actually a 1-2 finish much to my gratitude. In the face of the latter half of the season, we plan to raise the fundamental performance of the CIVIC TYPE R-GT so that we can diminish rivals' points as much as possible, and aim at the first series title in four years since 2020. We thank our fans for their continuous support in advance.