2023 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round4

FUJI GT 450km RACE

Dates: August 5-6, 2023
Location: Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Prefecture)
Attendance: Prelims: 20,200 Finals: 30,200
Qualifying: 1st
Finals: 12th
Points Earned: 1Pts
Series Rank: 19th (3 points in total)

In the scorching heat of the first weekend of August, following the end of the rainy season, the fourth round of SUPER GT 2023 took place at Fuji Speedway in Japan. Due to the COVID situation in the past few years, races in June and July were all canceled. As a result, there was a two-month gap between the third round in Suzuka at the end of May and this fourth round. The race format for this round was a 450-kilometer race, the same as the second and third rounds.
For the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Fuji, the Balance of Performance (BoP) included a 36mm air restrictor, larger than the mandated 34.5mm in other circuit BoPs. This 1.5mm difference significantly boosts the AMG’s straight-line performance, making races at Fuji historically favorable for showcasing competitive performance compared to other circuits. The BoP weight was set at 50 kg, the same as during the 2nd round at Fuji, thus maintaining a total vehicle weight of 1335kg, the maximum under FIA GT3 regulations. Based on the score, its success weight was set at a relatively light 6kg compared to rivals. As such, it is expected to serve as an advantage on Fuji Speedway’s renowned 1.5-kilometer home straight.
In the second round at Fuji, the #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG secured a single grid position in qualifying and was expected to score well by running in the front pack in the final. However, in the middle of the race, the car hit a curb, damaging the oil pan and resulting in a regrettable retirement. To redeem themselves, the team aims for a strong finish and a substantial point gain in this event.

August, 5th(Sat) [Official Practice, Official Qualifying]
Weather: Sunny
Course: Dry
Air/Track Surface Temperature:
Q1 Start: 33℃/45℃
Q2 Start: 32℃/43℃

At 9:00 AM, the temperature was 31 degrees, with a road surface temperature of 38 degrees. Despite occasional winds providing some relief, the strong morning sun hinted at a scorching day. Under these conditions, the official practice session began.
Car #4 waited in the pit for about 5 minutes before Kataoka took to the track. “We only have this one type of tire, which we have been using for past races. So this is all we’ll be counting on,” said team principal Takanori Aki. They brought only a single type of tire and started to set up the car exactly as it had been in the past.
On the 6th lap, with a time of 1:38.852, Kataoka took the 7th position. After a pit stop for minor adjustments, he returned to the track, and on the 9th lap, he refreshed his personal best to 1:38.488, climbing to the 5th position. In the early laps, teams typically need to check their settings and tires. Kataoka, however, judging that there was “almost no need for changes,” decided to hand over the steering wheel to Taniguchi after just 10 laps.
Taniguchi climbed to the 2nd position with a time of 1:37.879 on the 2nd lap. After refueling for a long-run test, he maintained a stable and strong pace in the 1:38–1:39 range for about 15 laps. At 10:15 AM, the session was interrupted by a red flag due to #61 (SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT). After the interruption, starting at 10:25, Taniguchi took the wheel during the 10-minute GT300 class-exclusive track time. During this time, #4 conducted a qualifying simulation at 1:37.452, topping all other teams. In subsequent laps, he continued to excel, improving the time to 1:37.067 and finishing the session with a significant lead of 0.520 seconds over 2nd place #10 (PONOS GAINER GT-R), securing the best lap time.
Starting at 10:55 AM, buses full of fans of Miku and other teams joined the circuit safari during the Full Course Yellow (FCY) test session. Kataoka continued his strong performance with a lap time in the 1:37 range. It was evident to everyone that #4, the GOODSMILE RACING Hatsune Miku AMG, was the fastest in its class that day.

At 3:20 PM, the official qualifying Q1 took place, and teams were divided into two groups based on rankings. Good Smile Racing and Team UKYO participated in the Q1B group, starting at 3:38 PM. Kataoka was the driver for Q1. Heading into the track as it opened, after a warm-up of two laps, he promptly initiated an attack on the third lap. In this attack, Kataoka achieved a time of 1:37.657, which became the target time for the Q1B group. He then proceeded with consecutive attacks, setting the overall best times in sectors 1 and 2, and entering sector 3, closing in on #360 (RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R) ahead and taking advantage of its slipstream from the final corner to the control line. Kataoka reflected, “Well, (laughs), I think I was faster alone. Perhaps I returned the favor for the part where I got caught in sector 3.” He improved his personal best to 1:36.896, securing the top time in the Q1B group with a 0.289-second lead over #61 in second place.
Moving on to the Q2 qualifying event, Taniguchi aimed to secure pole position. After warming up the tires, he began his attack on the fourth lap and set a time of 1:36.617, immediately taking the lead. Continuing his attack in the following lap, he further improved the top time to 1:36.375. While some cars had competitive times in sectors 1 and 2, no one could come close to Taniguchi’s strong performance in sector 3. As a result, he successfully secured pole position, marking his seventh career pole position since the 2017 round 2 at Fuji and the team’s first pole position in six seasons since the 2017 season finale.

August, 6th (Sun) [Final]
Weather: Rain
Course: Wet
Air/Track Surface Temperature:
Prior to Start (1:45 PM): 26℃, 31℃
Mid-Race (2:45 PM): 28℃/35℃
End of Race (5:30 PM) 25℃/26℃

8:50 AM, on the morning of the final day, following the achievement of pole position in the qualifying round, Taniguchi made an appearance at the customary GT Official Stage “TOP3 Driver Talk Show,” entertaining the gathered SUPER GT fans with witty comments. Then, at 9:15 AM, both Director Ukyo Katayama and Kataoka joined in on the talk show at the Yokohama booth in front of a large audience, stirring up excitement in the venue.
First introduced in the previous season, the 450km race mandates two refueling stops, making pit strategy more crucial than ever. Considerations to be made include tire choices, parts management and replacement timing, the amount of fuel added each time, and so on. Moreover, on this day, with temperatures in the upper 20s and sudden rain observed, the added elements of weather and rainfall created additional challenges for each team to think about before the start.
During the 20-minute warm-up session starting at 12:15 PM, although there was no rain, the track was wet. Kataoka tried out the wet tires for the first stint. As the track gradually dried up, he also tested the performance of dry tires towards the end of the session, finishing in 16th place.
At 12:53 PM, when the pit exit opened, all cars headed towards the grid. However, #4, the car in pole position, remained in the pit until the end for dramatic effect. After all cars, except for the GT300 and GT500 pole positions, arrived at the grid, #4 entered the track, weaving through the rival cars waiting on the grid to reach the pole position. At this point, there was no rain and the track was dry, so all cars had slick tires installed.
As the starting procedures were taking place, raindrops started to fall, and the mostly dried-up track went back to being wet. Although the rain stopped shortly afterward, the track did not seem likely to dry any time soon, and the weather remained unstable. Therefore, the teams assessed the conditions until the last possible moment, just five minutes before lining up on the grid. In the end, the teams opted for wet tires for the start.

Due to the uncertain conditions, the planned parade lap, led by the Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s motorbike unit and four police cars, was canceled. At 1:45 PM, the safety car (SC) led the start of the final race.
After all cars confirmed the track conditions, the SC guidance ended at the start of the third lap, and the race restarted. #4 was leading the race, but it was followed by #61 and #11 (GAINER TANAX GT-R), which had quickly warmed up with Dunlop wet tires, clearly closing in at a faster pace. Kataoka conceded the lead momentarily, dropping to third place. However, he was able to maintain a calm judgment of the situation, as he stated later, “In the end, everyone has their own pace in those conditions, so I just had to stick to my own pace.” On the fifth lap, when entering the TGR corner, Kataoka overtook #61 to regain second place. In the following laps, he rapidly closed in on #11, and utilizing the exceptionally stable braking of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, he made a decisive move on the inside of the TGR corner, successfully reclaiming the lead.
From this point, #4 aimed to further the gap between it and the other cars. However, the track dried quickly, and the lap times of cars that switched to slick tires earlier began to improve. After completing the 9th lap, #4 entered the pit, refueled and switched to slick tires, fulfilling the first mandatory pit stop, and then returned to the track in 13th place.
Eventually, as all rival cars opted for a switch to slick tires at this time, #4 reclaimed the lead just two laps later. From here, #4 consistently set laps in the 1:40 range, further increasing the pace to the 1:39 range from the 19th lap onwards. It demonstrated precise driving, maintaining a gap of around 3-5 seconds with #88 (JLOC Lamborghini GT3, now featuring the “EVO 2″ version of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3), which had climbed to second place, until the 32nd lap.
On the 33rd lap, #244 (HACHI-ICHI GR Supra GT) came to a stop and caught fire after experiencing issues from turn 2, leading to the entrance of the safety car for firefighting and incident handling. This reset the 3-second gap that had been held.

Upon the restart on the 39th lap, Kataoka dominated the pace once again, overwhelming #88, which was following behind him. From the 40th lap, he consecutively improved his personal best for three laps, with times of 1:39.049, followed by 1:38.876, and 1:38.835. By the 50th lap, as the 88th car headed to the routine pit stop, the gap had widened to 6.446 seconds. However, with the GT-Rs pair of #11 and #10 behind, which had shorter refueling times and the potential to narrow the gap in the pit, Kataoka remained cautious and continued pushing.
On the 54th lap, #4 headed to the pit for the second time, with Taniguchi taking over. After the second mandatory refueling with a pit time of 58.4 seconds, #4 left the pit again. Despite Taniguchi overshooting at the TGR corner on the out-lap, he firmly kept the #10 GT-R, which had pitted earlier with warmed-up tires, behind and gradually widened the gap by 1.7 seconds, then 2.3 seconds.
On the 57th lap, all the cars still on the track entered the pits, allowing #4 to reclaim first place. Afterward, Taniguchi consistently delivered lap times ranging from the upper 1:38 to the lower 1:39, widening the gap with those behind.
However, on the 62nd lap, #25 (HOPPY Schatz GR Supra GT) caught fire in sector 3, leading to another entrance of the safety car. As car #25 was engulfed in flames, a red flag was raised, and the race was paused at around 3:40 PM.
The restart was initially scheduled to resume approximately 30 minutes later. However, it was delayed twice due to the occurrence of a thunderstorm during the race pause. Ultimately, under the SC’s guidance, the race resumed at 4:30 PM. Teams were allowed to switch to wet tires during the grid wait, and GOODSMILE RACING and Team UKYO, anticipating no further rain, chose the harder set of the two wet tire options they had brought.
Uncertainty lingered regarding how many more laps could be completed until the latest race extension time of 5:30 PM. During this time, the weather and track conditions were unstable. With many uncertainties, the SC returned, and the race resumed on the 68th lap.
Due to the cooling of each car’s tires during the SC period, #11 and #10, equipped with quickly warming Dunlop tires, took advantage of their warm-up speed and once again overtook Taniguchi at the Coca-Cola (A corner).
However, on the 73rd lap at the TGR corner, Taniguchi overtook the #10, using a similar overtaking move by Kataoka in the first stint. On the 77th lap, he skillfully overtook #11 from the outside and reclaimed the lead.
As the track dried with each passing lap, cars with wet tires started searching for wet patches, deviating from the racing line. Around 15 laps remained, and the time difference between the wet tire runners in higher positions and those who switched early to slicks and dropped down the order began to shrink. Teams were wrestling with the decision of whether to stick with wet tires until the end or switch to slicks, sacrificing positions momentarily but aiming for a better pace afterward. Amidst this, the #11 was the first among the leading cars to make a move. On the 81st lap, it headed to the pit, switching to dry tires.
On the other hand, Taniguchi commented, “I know my pace the best. The tires are almost out, completely shredded. It feels like I’m running on sand, not asphalt. It might seem like my pace hasn’t dropped much, but this is a ‘killer.’ There’s around 10 laps left; it’s better to pit now before it’s too late.” Following his judgment, he drove into the pit road on the 84th lap, switching to slick tires. This became the turning point of fate.
Returning to the track with cold, slick tires, #4 found itself in a situation where there was “no grip at all.” Taniguchi explained: “I entered turn 1 cautiously but went straight through. Acceleration afterward was almost nonexistent. The brake at A corner also didn’t work—it just kept spinning when I turned the steering. I tried to turn gently, but…,” leading to an off-track situation.
Although the car came to a stop without hitting anything, unfortunately, the nose was facing the barriers when it stopped. It took time to engage the reverse gear, and upon returning to the track, #4 had fallen to a disappointing 14th place. Despite frantic efforts to recover, it managed to climb to 12th place by the 93rd lap, where it received the checkered flag.

 

■Comments from the Team

Team Owner: Aki Takanori
The decision at the end was difficult. I was thinking of staying out for the last 10 laps, but Taniguchi’s tire information came, saying, “It’s done.” The tires that came in were actually in terrible condition, so, well, it was clear that “it was no good.” When you see the actual condition, you’ll understand. But we were in the lead. The judgment could come later. There might also be reactions like, “Why did you pit first?” But whether we stayed out or pitted, there was a chance to win. So, I don’t think staying or pitting was a “mistake,” but we introduced unnecessary factors. We had to win at Fuji, and the preparation was thorough, but Suzuka, well, it’s not our strongest track (tears).

Team Manager, Ukyo Katayama
If this were F1, everyone would probably be fired. Looking back now, even with worn-out tires, I wonder if we could have pulled it off or if we could have won even going with slicks. Choosing the hard wet tires for the restart and the effort Taniguchi put in at that moment were impressive, and it was a good run. However, considering that such a skilled driver, with so much experience, made such an “immature” mistake, it’s just that he really wanted to win. But, well, it’s a race, so mistakes happen. This might sound naive, but it’s not just the driver’s fault. The driver might say, “It’s my fault; it’s embarrassing,” but overall, it’s also the team’s fault. So, it’s not about overconfidence; it was a rare moment of panicking.