MUGEN

2013.4.9

"MUGEN CR-Z GT" - in spite of adverse weather conditions steady points gained.

Series name: 2013 AUTOBACS SUPER GT SERIES ROUND 1
Event name: OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE
Course: 43.703km × 82 laps (303.646km)
Qualifying: 2013-04-06 Sat / Rainy / Attendance 8,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2013-04-07 Sun / Fine / Attendance 16,000 (Announcement from the organizer)

#16 MUGEN CR-Z GT participated in Round One of the 2013 AUTOBACS SUPER GT SERIES, which took place with the OKAYAMA GT 300km race, held on April 6th and 7th at OKAYAMA International Circuit. Following their debut season in 2012 where Team MUGEN joined the championship from round 4; 2013 will see the #16 MUGEN CR-Z GT, driven by Hideki Muto and Yuhki Nakayama , take on the full championship season for the first time. The 2013 chassis has been newly developed based on ZF2, and Muto continues to drive the #16 car utilizing the data and experience accumulated in the last season. Team-mate and co-driver Nakayama brings his experience gained in GT500 and Formula Nippon to the #16 MUGEN CR-Z GT.

█   7th at the final lap (76 laps 1:59:39522 / Best time:1:30670)

The race started in reasonably fine, but unsettled weather with a strong wind and a temperature of just 14°C with Muto at the wheel for the first stint.

This season drivers’ are required to run 2 formation laps decreasing the racing distance down to 81 laps but, once racing got underway, within 6 laps Muto had improved from his starting position of 20th position up to 16th. However, during the 7th lap two cars in front of Muto spun, and in taking avoiding action he dropped back to 19th position.

Once back up to racing speed Muto then caught and passed several cars and had recovered to 12th position by lap 33, and even showed as high as 5th during the round of pit stops. After the pit service Nakayama took over the wheel and was able to join the race in 11th from where he quickly made his way up to 8th by lap 45.

Running alone on the track with a large gap both in front and behind him the priority of Nakayama became to bring the car home and make sure of earning some points. With one car in front of him retiring from the race before the end, Nakayama and #16 MUGEN CR-Z GT were able to finish in 7th position.

#16 MUGEN CR-Z GT gained 4 team points (7th) and 3 lap points (One lap behind), giving the team a total of 7 ranking points after this first round. Muto and Nakayama each gained 4 driver ranking points (7th).

█ Comments from the director Kumakura

We maneuvered to find the best setting for wet conditions on the Saturday practice run and we were reasonably confident going into the session. We chose Nakayama as the driver for Q1 in order to try to win through to Q2, however, due to unexpectedly bad conditions and a late red flag we were not able to proceed to Q2. In the end our starting grid position was 20th and we reset our goals to achieve some points from the race.

In the event, stable, mature driving ensured we avoided any major troubles and we managed to gain points as we set out to do. We believe this result is a tribute to Muto’s driving in which he avoided an accident in a quiet calm truly professional manner. Our next target will be to match the very best tires choice for the prevailing road conditions and also at the same time to suit the characteristics of our machine. At this race the temperature dropped too much for us to optimize the performance. With the help of the larger diameter restrictor I had expected our machine to be more competitive with cars categorized in FIA-GT3, but they are still very fast in comparison, particularly at the highest speeds.

So, with the next race at FUJI INTERNATIONAL SPEED WAY, where the straight there is longer than the one in OKAYAMA, we expect the race to be quite hard for us. But new aerodynamic parts are under development, and once the parts are installed on our machine I believe we can for sure win the race. Please cheer for our team.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round1)