Japanese Super GT

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by CornfordCaster, Aug 23, 2020.

  1. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Any one else been following this series this year? The race at Suzuka was cracking and it's just so much fun to watch.
    After doing the Wednesday night ACC GT4 race at Suzuka this week it was just mental to watch the multi-class racing there. The series is broadcast on YouTube on The Race channel.
    fRZn and SteveDrivingSlowly like this.
  2. SteveDrivingSlowly

    SteveDrivingSlowly ACC Results Ste(ve)ward

    Posts:
    832
    Likes:
    1,333
    Sounds awesome mate, I will have to find it on youtube to watch!
  3. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    just watch for 5 minutes from 54:45 when they start to get into traffic.
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2020
  4. SteveDrivingSlowly

    SteveDrivingSlowly ACC Results Ste(ve)ward

    Posts:
    832
    Likes:
    1,333
    Woah that is awesome!
  5. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Hi-Jacking this because I'm watching the Super Formula today as I'm not much of a Supercar guy. Round 1 starts in half an hour.
    fRZn likes this.
  6. fRZn

    fRZn Team Driver

    Posts:
    121
    Likes:
    97
    PSN ID
    fRZnAU
    I personally rank Super GT as the best racing series on the planet, nothing comes close to it in terms of edge-of-my-seat excitement every race weekend!
    Nissan appear to be nowhere this season (again), and they only lucked into the win with the strategy call. Sekiguchi wasn't very far behind if you consider the amount of extra ballast he was carrying. I really hope Quintarelli and Matsuda get another season together next year, because even though they're getting along (I think they're both over 40 now...) they haven't lost any of their speed. Same goes for Mardenborough, after cruelly being robbed of his first win at Fuji two years ago, the Yokohamas don't seem to match the pace of the Bridgestones or Michelins.
    With the once-more imminent downfall of DTM, I don't think there will be many happy Honda engineers after having to move the motor to the front of the car for the sake of convergence. The car appears to be a little quicker (at least at Fuji).
    Before the pandemic I had plans to drag a couple of friends along to Japan as a poorly disguised attempt to see WEC, Super GT, and Super Formula races around October/November, but it seems those will have to be put on the back burner until 2022 at least now - hope the manufacturers stick around until then!
    Looking forward to this weekends round at Motegi - hopefully Nissan can perform the impossible!
  7. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    I'm new to Super GT this season after hearing so much about it the past few years and have really been sold on what I have seen so far. I'm not familiar with the history so much but am familiar with a few of the drivers, still trying to figure out who I want to support but the GT300 Lotus is coming up as a favourite for me after the Fuji performance. In GT500 I don't really have any preferences yet but probably lean my support to Honda>Toyota>Nissan even though my all-time favourite car is a Datsun. @fRZn is there any other history I should know or look into? The tyre war seems like a really important factor which I have no idea about.

    I wont be able to watch Motegi live this weekend but since it's easily available for re-watching I'll probably get through it on Monday!
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2020
    SteveDrivingSlowly and fRZn like this.
  8. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571

    Just a reminder to watch this everyone on your Sunday afternoon everyone.
    This is TOP level racing.
  9. fRZn

    fRZn Team Driver

    Posts:
    121
    Likes:
    97
    PSN ID
    fRZnAU
    Much to my (unsurprised) disappointment, Nissan were no where again at Motegi. I was happy to see Real Racing take another win though! It will be interesting to see how the Honda performs now with 86KG of ballast and the fuel flow restrictor. I don't think they'll have much of a chance at a podium at Fuji due to the long main straight.
    I believe this is the first season that they are running two pro drivers. For the last few seasons they were running Katoh and an older gentleman driver. I'm pretty sure that was there first win ever, so no better time than now to jump on the Lotus hype train!
    I personally support the Subaru. They run a modified EJ20 - the same used in their old WRC cars. It has a tendency to blow up when they're in good positions though. I also have a soft spot for the prius, both cars have a hybrid system but one uses the system from the camry, and the other from the road going prius. Unfortunately I can never remember which car runs which system... :D. Before last year, both were mid-engined hybrids running the motor from the old TS030!
    Sam and Rob do an awesome job bringing up historical tidbits throughout the race and Super GT World has a wealth of information maintained by RJ O'Connell, if you're curious.
    As for the tyre war, it is what makes Super GT so competitive along with the success ballast. The bridgestones appear to be the tyre to beat in GT500, with the michelins and yokohamas close behind. It's hard to gauge how good the dunlops actually are considering they're only used by Nakajima racing. In GT300 though, the tyres seem to be more even.
    In case you didn't catch the news after the tyre failures at the second Fuji race, a new rule was introduced for round 3 that mandated changing of all four tyres during the mandatory pit stop, much to the anger of the teams running JAF-spec and mother chassis cars. Thankfully this rule was reverted, so you'll probably see the Lotus trying to run the entire race without changing tyres again at the next Fuji round, since the car is very easy on them.
  10. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Once again hijacking this for the second round of Super Formula
    SteveDrivingSlowly likes this.
  11. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Mostly watched this one live but missed the end. I still can't get over just how damn good this series is!
    Nissan had a bad run of things again at Fuji. They have been on the podium just once this season when they won in Suzuka! Not looking good at all, Mardenborough had some tough luck with the cars issues.

    BUT my little Lotus got killed lugging around that 93kg of success ballast wasn't able to make the most of its tyres.

    Sam and Rob really do a great job their commentary and they're pretty great to listen. For anyone reading this thread who hasn't watched any of Super GT yet you should seriously give it a try! It's free and all on YouTube!
    SteveDrivingSlowly and fRZn like this.
  12. fRZn

    fRZn Team Driver

    Posts:
    121
    Likes:
    97
    PSN ID
    fRZnAU
    After an almost-podium lockout from Nissan for the second time around at Suzuka, there's only 2 points separating the top 5 in the championship!! I still think it will require a miracle for Quintarelli/Matsuda to win the championship from here (even though they sit in third place).

    If you don't know already, you'll be happy to learn that the ballast is halved for round 7, so the GT500s point totals will be their weight handicap, while the GT300s will have their weight handicap set to 1.5 times their points (down from 3 times). So they're definitely still within a shot of the championship!

    While I was happy to see Nissan take another win (again with a bit of help pitting just before the safety car came out), I was disappointed that the Subaru wasn't in a position to dive into the pits as well. They looked good for at least 2nd place before the safety car but ended up pointless down in 12th.

    In case you're wondering why Super GT don't open the pit lane while under safety car, it's because of a literal traffic jam that occurred at Sugo a few years ago:
    CornfordCaster likes this.
  13. SteveDrivingSlowly

    SteveDrivingSlowly ACC Results Ste(ve)ward

    Posts:
    832
    Likes:
    1,333
    It is a great series to watch that is for sure. This and the British GT have replaced all of the sim racing streams I have been watching in recent weeks!
    CornfordCaster likes this.
  14. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Christ! What a mess, I know they mentioned that this circuit has a reduced grid because of the tiny pitlane even though they're not running it this season but this was ridiculous!

    They were explaining this in the last race so I'm really excited to see how the battles are going to shape up in the last two rounds!

    Here is Rd 6 which I didn't post here but I did watch of course.


    Unfortunately I wont be able to watch Rd 7 live but will be sure to catch up with it really quick.
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2020
    PaulCox likes this.
  15. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    Round 7 was another exciting race which has set up a lot of interesting battles for the final round happening son Sunday.
    Unfortunately there were technical difficulties during the broadcast so some of the early-mid stages of this race were lost but it was another cracker race!
  16. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    This is the link for the race tomorrow which I wont be able to watch live but if I get that change to do a quick analysis of the championship situation in both classes then I'll edit that in to this post as well.
  17. CornfordCaster

    CornfordCaster Moderator Team Raceonoz Gold Member

    Posts:
    441
    Likes:
    571
    WOW.

    What - A - Finish
    Utter heartbreak and joyful emotion too. Close battles in the final stages to take the win in both classes.

    I think I can officially say that is my favourite racing series now and it's not even close. I still need to get more familiar with all the teams and drivers but I will be eagerly looking forward to the 2021 season.
    SteveDrivingSlowly likes this.