MUGEN

2012.11.21

"MUGEN CR-Z" SUPER GT

Team MUGEN takes third place overall at JAF Grand Prix!

Event name: JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT Formula NIPPON FUJI SPRINT CUP 2012
First race: 4.563km × 22 laps (100.386km)
Second race: 4.563km × 22 laps (100.386km)
Qualifying: 2012-11-16 fri / Fine / Attendance 8,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race (First race): 2012-11-17 fri / Rainy / Attendance 19,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race (Second race): 2012-11-18 sun / Fine / Attendance 41,300 (Announcement from the organizer)

#16 MUGEN CR-Z GT (Drivers: Hideki Muto / Daisuke Nakajima) took part in JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT Formula NIPPON FUJI SPRINT CUP 2012 on November from 16th to 18th at Fuji International Speedway (Shizuoka Pref.). This was the third running of the JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT Formula NIPPON FUJI SPRINT CUP, which is a standalone non-Championship race with the results not counting towards the GT series.
The format of the JAF Grand Prix is an irregular sprint race in which drivers run 2 x 22 laps races, with no weight penalty handicaps applied; Daisuke Nakajima ran in the first race with Hideki Muto in the drivers seat for the second.

During the Friday official qualifying both Daisuke Nakajima and Hideki Muto took 3rd place. In the first race Daisuke Nakajima took second place in spite of rain and wet conditions. In the second race Hideki Muto took 7th place. The #16 MUGEN CR-Z GT finished the event with 3rd place overall.

█ Comments from director Kumakura

We set up our car for dry conditions for the qualifying sessions on Friday, but with the wet conditions of Saturday we had no option other than to use the limited available to retune the car. Since we experienced troubles at both AUTO POLIS and TWIN RING MOTEGI under rainy conditions, this time we tuned our machine reflecting what we learned at the races and selected the tires considering the road surface conditions. As a result of those lessons learned, we were able to perform our race almost perfectly. We dared to wish for even more at one point, but a mistake at the Panasonic corner meant we were content to settle for 3rd place.

At the second race the first corner was everything. Everything had been perfect, including our machine, up to that point, and it was quite regrettable not to secure a better result. However we could see the high potential of our machine in both wet and dry road surface conditions, and we are confident that we can expect even more for next season.

♦ Photo Gallery (JAF GP)