MUGEN

2013.6.18

"MUGEN CR-Z GT" - Maintained 2nd position in series ranking with successive 2nd position

Series name: 2013 AUTOBACS SUPER GT SERIES ROUND 3
Event name: SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES MALAYSIA
Course: 5.543km × 54 laps (299.32km)
Qualifying: 2013-06-15 Sat / Cloudy / Attendance 41,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2013-06-16 Sun / Cloudy / Attendance 67,000 (Announcement from the organizer)

#16 MUGEN CR-Z GT (Hideki Muto / Yuhki Nakayama) participated in Round Three of the 2013 AUTOBACS SUPER GT SERIES held on June 15th and 16th at Sepang Circuit (Malaysia).

As the #16 MUGEN CR-Z only joined the GT series in the middle of the 2012 this was the first time that they had been to race at the Sepang International Circuit course. Therefore with no track-specific data available to them the team had to rely on knowledge accumulated at previous domestic events to arrive at a suitable machine set-up.

With a typically tropical climate the biggest concerns for the team at Sepang international circuit would normally be how to counter the high temperatures for both the machine and the drivers. However Team MUGEN had the benefit of completing the 1000 km race of Suzuka last year in similar temperature conditions and were therefore able to adopt the cooling duct and newly developed canards on the front fender used at that event.

With a 38kg weight handicap imposed on #16 MUGEN CR-Z GT for this race, and the installation of a cool suit system for the drivers, the total weight increase compared to the last race was approximately 50kg. Carrying this additional weight meant that machine balance and minimizing the stress on the tires would be paramount.

█   Race: 2nd position (51 laps 1:51:10193 / Best time:2:06764)

Even though the race started at 4pm and cloud covered the sky the temperature at the Sepang circuit course was still over 32°C, with an increasing track surface temperature.

Having qualified in second position the #16 driver, Muto, set off from the start to try to catch and pass the pole-sitting #55 CR-Z GT of the ARTA team. At the end of the first lap Muto narrowly missed out on a chance to lead the race.

While pulling away from the 3rd-placed car the two CR-Zs were engaged in a nose to tail battle with gap between the two at the end of the 4th lap was just 0.5 second, with a further 2 seconds back to 3rd place.

With a weight disadvantage of more than 38kg compared to the #55 ARTA CR-Z GT, Muto unsurprisingly found the #16 MUGEN CR-Z slightly sluggish on acceleration in comparison, and at the same time he had no choice but to concentrate on driving the car as smoothly as possible in order to avoid overburdening the tires, which saw the gap to the leader increase slightly. Although the gap back to 3rd continued to increase.

Unfortunately after the 10th lap the cool suit failed and Muto started to suffer in the increased cockpit temperature. After some discussion, Muto and Team MUGEN decided to make an early than planned pit stop on the 22nd lap.

After a rear tire change and refueling fresh driver Nakayama joined the course. With a slick pit stop and by coming in one lap earlier overtook the #55 ARTA CR-Z GT and with other machines also making their pit stops around lap 29, the #16 MUGEN CR-Z became the top runner. At this point the distance between #55 ARTA CR-Z GT and #16 MUGEN CR-Z was three seconds with the 3rd place car more than 20 seconds back.

Heeding the advice from team-mate Muto, and needing to drive a longer stint than had previously been planned, Nakayama drove paying extreme attention to tire wear. This allowed the #55 ARTA CR-Z GT to close in and on lap 40 when baulked by a GT500 machine the lighter car was able to out-accelerate the #16 MUGEN CR-Z.and eventually use the slip-stream to pass at the end of the lap into the first corner.

Secure in 2nd position Nakayama shifted his priority from potential victory in the race to ensuring that he drove the final 29 laps to bring the car home on the podium, 2 seconds off the lead car.

A second successive 2nd position earned Team MUGEN 15 points, plus 3 driving lap points (finishing on same lap as the race winner), so an event total of 18 points were added into the team, bringing the total team points to 43, 2nd position, just 2 points difference from the top team and 14 in front of the team in 3rd position. Team MUGEN were content to defend their 2nd position at this race. Muto/Nakayama each gained 15 driver ranking points bringing them up to 34 points and 2 points away from the leading drivers, and 12 points from the drivers in 3rd position making them also in 2nd position in the series ranking.

█ Comments from the director Kumakura

Our setting determined based on the data accumulated through previous races worked quite well and we could record better time than we expected for qualifying. At first I did not expect such a result when I compared our machine with others and I believe we did quite a good job. Both our drivers did well without any mistakes. The same model CR-Z took the pole position, and this result was logically acceptable since it is said "every 10kg additional weight slows the car by 0.1 second per a lap."

In the race this weight handicap was expected to impose a burden on the tires and from the beginning we decided to complete the race without front tire change. I asked the drivers to pay particular attention to the tires and in fact they drove very carefully and were able to complete the race as we expected.

One thing we regretted was the cool suit. Due to this trouble, Muto had no choice but to make a pit stop a lot earlier than scheduled. We would like to investigate the cause after we return to Japan and prepare for races in the summer. In spite of facing such a difficulty, Nakayama could keep his pace and finished his race at the same position as the one in qualifying.

Thanks to our pit personnel we were able to be the 1st position temporarily. We also could confirm the stability of the machine. Due to the high temperatures, we could not make use of assist of hybrid system, however, we still won the race under such a condition. But the championship is not over yet and although we will be presented with an even greater weight handicap for the next race we will be determined to gain every point possible. Thank you very much for everyone’s encouragement.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round3)