GOODSMILE RACING & TeamUKYO RACE REPORT 4

2024 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round4　FUJI GT 350km RACE

SUPER GT Round 4 “FUJI GT 350km RACE” was held at Fuji Speedway for the second time this season.
　This time, the race distance was set at 350km, slightly longer than the usual 300km. To accommodate this race distance, the number of sets of tires that can be brought in for this race was increased by one set each, with five sets for dry tires and six sets for wet tires.
　The BoP (Balance of Performance) of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 this time was set at 1,359 kg, the same as the previous race at Fuji, with 35 kg of BoP weight for the car and 39 kg of additional weight to be carried as a speed suppression measure. Furthermore, in terms of engine power output, the intake restrictor diameter of the BoP for high-speed circuits was downsized from Φ36mm x 2, as it was up to the last season, to 35mm x 2, so it was expected that the power reduction due to the summer weather would be even greater than usual. The success weight (SW) on Car 4 is 24kg, which is equal to the points earned up to this point x 2kg.

8/3[Official Practice, Official Qualifying]
Weather: Sunny
Course: Dry
Temperature / Track Surface Temperature:
Before Q1: 33°C / 54°C
During Q2: 32°C / 53°C
　At 9:00AM, the official practice session started under the severe heat caused by the intense humidity in addition to the temperature of 29°C/track surface temperature of 38°C. Kataoka on No. 4 Good Smile Hatsune Miku AMG spent the first 6 minutes of the session waiting in the pits before heading out to the course.
　Kataoka recorded 1 min 38.939 sec on the 6th lap, and after two pit stops, again recorded 3 times in the 1 min 38.9 sec range. He proceeded to confirm the sets he had brought in and evaluate the tires with this high level of driving precision.
After 45 minutes into the official practice session, a GT500 class car stopped at the side of the course due to trouble, and the red flag was displayed. At this time, Taniguchi took over the car, and from this point on, the team proceeded to confirm the long run. Taniguchi completed nearly 15 consecutive laps, and with the exception of warm-up laps, almost all of his laps were in the 1 min 39 sec range. On the 27th lap, Taniguchi showed a strong run at 1 min 38.923 sec with fuel on board for the final race.
Taniguchi continued to steer the car during the 10-minute class-exclusive practice session that started at 10:25. He ran a qualifying simulation and improved his best time to 1 min 38.394 sec, finishing the session in 4th position in the class, a highly promising position.
　In the FCY test that started at 10:55, Kataoka checked the car’s finish. He ran a total of 10 laps, setting the 2nd fastest time of 1 min 39.000 sec. In the Circuit Safari from 11:20, Kataoka finished the morning session in first place with a 1:39.466 on the final lap, bringing his morning drive to a satisfying end.
　In the afternoon qualifying rounds, the Q1 of GT300 was again divided into two groups in order of team ranking. In the new combined Q1 and Q2 time addition system adopted this year, the winning team from the previous round draws lots to determine the group that will run first in Q1. However, since the track surface conditions are better for the later-running group than for the earlier-running group, there were complaints from various sides that the rule was unfair, giving the later-running group an overwhelming advantage. In response to this, GTA decided to change the qualifying rule from Round 5, but the existing rule were to be applied until this race, so Group B, including GOODSMILE RACING & TeamUKYO, was picked to do the unfavorable first run as a result of the lottery drawn by the winning team from the previous round.
　The Q1 qualifying session was scheduled to start at 2:25, but was delayed by 5 minutes to deal with the oil that had been spread on the track due to the trouble in the FIA-F4 race held just prior to it. In addition, as a result of oil removal, it was feared that the difference in track conditions between the earlier and later runners would be even greater than usual, so it was decided that the “WET format” would be applied. In the WET format, the times of Q1 and Q2 are not combined, and the top 4 cars in the upper 16 and lower 16 are not swapped in Q2. The Q1 entrants need only focus on remaining in the top 8 of their respective groups according to this rule.
　At 14:30, Taniguchi, who was in charge of Q1, set his machine out on the course in conditions where the temperature rose to 33°C and the track surface temperature to 54°C. He carefully encouraged the tires to start gripping the scorching track surface, and ran two warm-up laps. While the rivals around him were improving their times one after another, Taniguchi was still in the 1 minute and 45 seconds range on the third lap, not having done an attack.
　On the fourth lap, when he set the 8th fastest time of 1 min 39.254 sec, the remaining time was already down to 30 seconds. Soon after, his rivals improved their times and he dropped back to 9th position. While the team was panicking due to possibly falling in the lower 16, which they could not have imagined from the morning’s results, he recorded the 6th position time of 1 min 38.837 sec in the last attack on the 6th lap, and finished the Q1 safely in the upper 16. On the fourth lap, when he set the 8th fastest time of 1 min 39.254 sec, the remaining time was already down to 30 seconds. Soon after, his rivals improved their times and he dropped back to 9th position. While the team was panicking due to possibly falling in the lower 16, which they could not have imagined from the morning’s results, he recorded the 6th position time of 1 min 38.837 sec in the last attack on the 6th lap, and finished the Q1 safely in the upper 16.
“Actually, we made a mistake in counting (laps) against our initial assumption, and we thought we could go one more lap at the end, but that wasn’t possible, so… We had already set a time before the final attack, so there was no problem at all, but if we had one more lap, we would have been able to set a better time. I’m not worried because we went through (Q1), but if that had gone wrong… Sheesh (laughs). I’m glad it’s just a funny story now.” (Team manager Ukyo Katayama)
　Q2 started at 15:41. With the green signal, Kataoka, the attack driver, headed out to the course and started driving early to get the heat going. On the 5th lap, he recorded a time of 1 min 38.335 sec, better than the Q1 time, and was in 4th position when he crossed the control line. He continued his attack, but during that time, his rivals improved their times, and he temporarily dropped back to 6th position. However, Kataoka’s final attack was a best time of 1 min 38.093 sec, and he finished having moved up to 3rd position.
　Although he was unable to match the pole position of No. 65 (LEON PYRAMID AMG) and No. 87 (METALIVE S Lamborghini GT3) in second place, he still could to compete from the good position of third on the second row for the 350km race on Sunday.

8/4[Final]
Weather: Sunny
Course: Dry
Air/Track Surface Temperature:
Prior to Start (2:30 PM): 35℃, 56℃
Early Race (3:30 PM): 34℃/55℃
Mid-race (4:00 PM) 31℃/50℃
End of Race (4:40 PM) 29℃/45℃
Kataoka appeared on the preliminary top three drivers’ talk show, which has become a regular feature at Fuji. Kataoka revealed his plans to “start coaching the day after the finals,” impressing the fans, who had already packed the hot track from the morning, with his strength and toughness to deliver results in a race with an extremely tight schedule.
　Kataoka was in charge of the 20-minute warm-up session that started at 13:00. After returning to the pits at the out-in for a tire change, he ran 11 laps. He was able to confirm his race pace for the finals by setting consecutive best times of 1 min 40.363 sec and 40.314 sec in the last part of the run.
　14:30. With temperatures reaching 35°C and track temperature 56°C, the 350km race began with the familiar parade lap led by police vehicles. Kataoka, who was in charge of starting for No. 4 Good Smile Hatsune Miku AMG, maintained the 3rd position for a while from the opening lap and continued lapping. From the start, the pace of pole position car No. 65 was so fast that it gradually got away from him, but he was able to keep up with No. 87 starting 2nd in front of him, and on the 5th lap, he recorded his personal best time of 1 min 39.892 sec while keeping the gap within 1 second.
　He continued to maintain a good pace, always in the low 40s, but No. 87′s pace was slightly faster, and the gap widened to 2 seconds on lap 10, and 3 seconds on lap 17. Behind car No. 4 were car No. 777 (D’station Vantage GT3), car No. 88 (JLOC Lamborghini GT3), and car No. 56 (Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R), all of which were keeping a gap of almost 1 second.
　On lap 25, car No. 25 (HOPPY Schatz GR Supra GT) slowed down due to trouble and stopped at Dunlop Corner, triggering an FCY (Full Course Yellow) for the car to be recovered by the FRO.
　The timing was at the very borderline of whether the pit window for the GT300 class would open, just over a third of the race distance, and even if they made a pit stop here, they were in a difficult spot where a second pit stop might be necessary depending on conditions in the latter half of the race. However, the leading car, No. 65, foresaw the FCY being triggered and made the decision to jump into the pits just before the pitlane closed. Although this left a risk in the latter half of the race, this allowed the team to change drivers, refuel, and change tires while the surrounding cars continued to drive slowly at the upper limit of 80 km/h, resulting in a margin of more than 50 seconds over the following cars after exiting the pits.
　On the other hand, Kataoka quickly recovered to the 1 min 40 sec range after the FCY was dismissed, and on lap 31, when the No. 87 car in front of him went for a driver change and refueling, he moved up to the provisional lead position. From then on, Kataoka’s laps were 1 min 40.815 sec, 1 min 40.532 sec, and 1 min 40.264 sec, showing a pace that did not wane at all even in the final stages of the stint. After 35 laps, the No. 4 car headed for routine work, changing to Taniguchi, refueling, and changing 4 tires before pitting out.
　”HWA analyzed that Fuji was the most sensitive to weight this time (of the year). I was very conscious of how we could make ‘super long’ laps and make lap times with less fuel. I was very conscious of how to shorten the lap time in the race as a whole. Our strategy this time was also on that side. Normally, we would pit in earlier, and tend to go for the undercut because of the SC risk… So, we stretched out a little bit.” (Team representative Takanori Aki)
　This decision paid off, and after pitting out, car No. 4 succeeded in holding off the tip of the previous Fuji champion, car No. 88, and returned to 6th position in excellent conditions with a clear track in front.
　From here, Taniguchi immediately lapped in the 1 min 40 sec range, and by the 40th lap, with a time of 1 min 39.789 sec, gradually pulled away from the previous winner, car No. 88, and made a saving margin.
　On the 44th lap, No. 2 (muta Racing GR86 GT), which had stayed out, came into the pits and took 3rd position. On the following lap, No. 52 (Green Brave GR Supra GT) also went to the pits, and when all cars finished their pit work, No. 4 rose to 2nd position following car No. 65.
Immediately after that, Taniguchi improved his best time to 1 min 39.732 sec. However, another car was approaching from behind at an even faster pace. J.P. de Oliveira in car No. 56, which had qualified 6th, easily overtook car No. 88 in 3rd position and came within a second of car No. 4 with his momentum.
　Here, Taniguchi responded with a 1:39.959 on lap 50 and a 1:39.812 on lap 51, and while considering the remaining race distance and tire management, he played psychological warfare against his “fated rival” whom he had matched up with many times in the past.
“The feeling of the tires itself was down, but if I opened up the various ‘drawers,’ I could manage to get into the 40s flat or 39s range. I used that in a skillful and clever way to keep the opponent in suspense depending on the number of laps remaining and how I caught up. It was a psychological battle, so I pushed when I needed to push… and held back a little when I got stuck in a jam, such as the 500.” (Taniguchi)
　With these “tricks,” he set race bests of 1 min 39.502 sec on lap 56 and 1 min 39.498 sec on lap 59, setting the fastest lap of the day. However, he was well aware that he could not just brush off his opponent easily and pull away from car No. 56.
“With seven laps to go, he was already firmly stuck to me, so (from that point on) I just tried to hold him off. I knew they had a fast turn-in and we had a fast exit to Sector 3, so I just kept (to the first lap) and went to Sector 3. Once we exited the last corner, we again got separated a bit. I repeated that in order to get away.” Taniguchi showed his last stand and drove in the 39-second range on Lap 63, Lap 65, and again on Lap 69, just before the checkered flag, to defend his 2nd place position as he headed for the goal.
　On the 70th lap, just after car No. 4 crossed the starting line, the winning GT500 car finished, and car No. 56, which was running right behind it, was confirmed in 3rd place, so the destined battle was decided in favor of car No. 4. Taniguchi drove one more lap to complete 71 laps and finish in 2nd place, his first podium finish in nearly two years since the 5th round in 2022.
　The winner was car No. 65, making it a 1-2 finish for Mercedes-AMG GT3. At one point, the gap between No. 65 and the other cars had been nearly a minute, but in the last part of the race, the gap had narrowed as No. 65 was running at a much slower pace, perhaps because of fuel consumption, and at the finish line, the gap between No. 65 and No. 4 was 31.647 seconds.

 

■Comments from the Team

Team Owner: Aki Takanori
In any case, pace-wise, we were not as good as the No. 65 car, but we ended up in a good position, and it was a good race. We were able to get into the pits at just the right time and get in front of cars No. 88 and 87, which was significant. Kataoka was also getting lighter, and I think he gained 3 to 4 seconds in the last 3 laps or so. Taniguchi’s out lap was also very fast from about the second lap. So really, I think we were able to show our overall strength. And, in the end, we had the “fated showdown.” A traditional one, like the Giants-Hanshin match (laughs). Overall, I would say that we had a good chance because of this temperature, and the borderline between brands that show strength at this road temperature and those that can’t is always around here. We had the difficulty of matching up, but being “matched up” also means that we can apply our skills in the future. Praying that Suzuka too will get as hot as possible.

Team Manager, Ukyo Katayama
I had a good response during the free practice throughout the weekend, and this time I was able to set good times even with harder tires. I wasn’t able to get a full attack in Q1 (laughs), but I had the speed to get through without any problems. In Q2, I was a few tenths short, but I was using harder tires to win the race rather than the pole. I thought it might not be good if it got too cool, but I had no problems in the latter half of the race. These tires will be good for Suzuka and other hot rounds in the future. The balance, which has been difficult to achieve in the past due to some rather peaky parts, is getting better. Although it is a little late, various areas are coming together, including the engineers who came from HWA. Anyway, results are the most important thing in a race (laughs), so I am happy for the first time in a long time.