MUGEN

2014.9.3

Despite various troubles, won 8th prize! We scored points for sure!

Series name: 2014 AUTOBACS SUPER GT SERIES ROUND 6
Event: 43rd International SUZUKA 1,000km
Course: 5.807km × 173laps (1004.611km)
Qualifying: 2014-08-30 Sat / Fine / Attendance 25,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2014-08-31 Sun / Fine / Attendance 36,000 (Announcement from the organizer)

#0 MUGEN CR-Z GT (Yuhki Nakayama / Tomoki Nojiri / Ryo Michigami) entered SUPER GT SEIRES Round 6, which was held on August 30th and 31st at Suzuka Circuit (Mie Prefecture). The round 6 featured its race distance of 1,000 km, which was the longest of the series, and was held at Suzuka Circuit on a late-summer day. To prepare for the long-distance race in this hot season, TEAM MUGEN registered Ryo Michigami, who served as an executive advisor this season, as the third driver.

In consideration of the long-distance race, we equipped #0 MUGEN CR-Z GT with an exhaust pipe cover to prevent thermal damage to the inside of the engine room. This allowed the improvement of cooling efficiency by supplying cool air through an opening in the front end of the rear fender and emitting gas via an aluminum flexible pipe extending from the cover through the rear end of the car.

We continued to use new aero parts such as the summer grill and the swan neck rear wing, which we had adopted in the race in Sportsland Sugo. The weight handicap is 38 kg, which is the same weight as in the previous race. Under conditions of entry for the JAF-GT 300 class, we adopted air intake restrictors with diameter of 28.66 mm × 2, a refueling device flow orifice (φ27.5 mm), and hybrid mass of 60.1 kg.

August 30th, (Sat)

■  Qualifying session: 2nd position (Q1: 3rd position / 00:02:00:424, Q2: 2nd position / 00:01:59.639)

The qualifying was held in the afternoon. The starting grid is determined using the two-step knockout-based qualifying format, with which all drivers run Q1, and then only the top 13 drivers in Q1 will be able to run Q2.

The team took the strategy of putting Nojiri in Q1, and Nakayama in Q2. However, the clouds began to get thicker before starting the qualifying, and the fine rain started to fall on part of the course. Nojiri ran Q1 with dry tires. He made the first time attack to record 00:01:38.875, took two laps before making the second time attack to be in the lead by recording 00:01:38.278. Since #55 car drove faster eventually, #0 MUGEN CR-Z GT won 2nd position in Q1.

The team took the strategy of putting Nakayama in Q1, and Nojiri in Q2. Nakayama made a time attack on the lap 3, and he was in 2nd position recording 00:02:00.424. Since a driver ran off course, the session was interrupted with a red flag. Though the session was restarted with five minutes left, Nakayama stayed in the pit garage until the session ended without making the second time attack. As a result, #0 MUGEN CR-Z GT was in 3rd position in Q1, and made it to Q2.

Q2 started at 02:47 in the afternoon, and it was seven minutes behind schedule. Nojiri stayed in the pit garage when the track was opened for the session. He entered the track as a final batch of drivers, and made a time attack. On the lap 3, he recorded 00:01:59.639, and was in 2nd position at this point with 0.524 seconds off the leading car's time. Then, the session was interrupted with a red flag due to an accident occurred on the track. At 03:03 in the afternoon, the session was restarted with four minutes left. However, since we thought that reducing the time more would be impossible, we made Nojiri stay in the pit garage until the session ended. Our starting grid was number 2.

August 31st, (Sun)

■  Final race: 8th position (158 laps / 05:39:04.719, Best record: 00:02:02.831)

When the race started, the temperature was 32°C and it was sunny, but they said it could rain later. Nakayama drove first and he was behind pole position, #55, but he gradually fell behind. However, he recorded 00:02:02.831 on the lap 6, which was the fastest lap time at that point.

After the lap 20, Nakayama's #0 MUGEN CR-Z GT slowed down, and the cars behind started trying to overtake him. This was because of tire wear which developed unexpectedly soon. On the lap 28, he was overtaken and in 3rd position, and dropped to the 4th on the lap 29. However, Nakayama made a pit stop for a driver change, tire changes, and refueling.

Because of the early pit stop, #0 MUGEN CR-Z GT dropped to the 12th, but Nojiri moved up each lap, and he was in 4th position on the lap 44 with 3.687 seconds off the leading car's time. However, he was judged to have had a minor collision with a car in the GT500 class at the Degner curve, and a drive-through penalty was imposed. He received the penalty when he finished lap 52, and he dropped to the 6th with 1 minute off the leading car's time.

Nojiri finished 63 laps and made a pit stop for a driver change, tire changes, and refueling. However, during the refueling work, a jack was wrongly lowered while tire changes had not been completed yet. This caused the car jacked up again when Nakayama turned the engine on to enter the track. We were judged to have violated the pit rules, and though Nakayama once entered the track, a drive-through penalty was imposed.

As a result, we dropped from the 7th to the 10th. Nakayama tried to catch up, and when he managed to move up to the 7th, we had a driver change to Nojiri. Though the pit stop made us to be in 13th position, Nojiri quickly moved up to the apparent position of 5th on the lap 126, and we made a driver change to Nakayama on lap 130.

When Nakayama came back on the track, he was in 7th position. He tried hard to get a championship point as much as possible. It seemed he kept his position (6th), but engine stall occurred in a part of the track when there were 15 laps to go, so he had to manage to drive the car. The lap time was also slowed substantially, and he was overtaken by cars behind. Eventually, he finished 8th in the 1,000 km race. Michigami, the third driver, did not have a chance to run the final race.

After all, TEAM MUGEN scored four team ranking points in total, three points as a team point (8th position) and one point as a lap point (one lap behind the first place driver). With a cumulative total of 34 points, we got to number 11 in the series. Nakayama/Nojiri pair scored four driver ranking points (for race distance of 700 km or over). With a cumulative total of 23 points, they got to number 11 in the series.

■ Comments from the team director, Junichi Kumakura

We could not win because we could not do the right settings for the final race during the race week. Even during the free practice on the day of the final race, we could not completely decide suitable settings for the tires before the race started, and we gradually fell behind. It also seems that Nojiri was not ready for his first long-distance race, Suzuka 1,000 km, and this resulted in the minor collision with the other car. The team also made a mistake violating the regulations since we were eager to reduce the time taken for the pit works, and this caused us to move down by going through two unnecessary penalties. The engine stall started to occur in a corner of the track when there were 15 laps to go. Since the car reached a top speed in the back straight section, we thought we would be able to finish the race without making a pit stop by slowing down in the corner. We continued the race and managed to score the points. We will examine causes of the troubles and take corrective measures.

We are looking forward to the next event in Thailand since we have not run the circuit before. We appreciate your continued support.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round6)