Super GT 2023

[trackratZ]

Here we go again this weekend . Nissan keeping status quo, let's see if they can repeat. Still bummed no Calsonic heritage carried over. And will be interesting with longer races, carbon-neutral fuel, less tire sets!

https://www.motorsport.com/supergt/news/preview-show-video-motorsport-tv/10455687/

In the show, they discuss the following topics:

• How the introduction of carbon-neutral fuel, more 450km races and fewer tyres will impact the racing
• Whether Nissan can make it back-to-back titles in the GT500 class
• How Honda's new ARTA 'superteam' will fare with two cars
• Whether Toyota can mount a recovery after a difficult end to 2022
• Who are the favourites in the ultra-competitive GT300 class
• And why defending champion Kiyoto Fujinami is missing from the grid...

For more information on this weekend's season opener, including how to watch live with Motorsport.tv, click here.

 

[Fairlady_464r]

Bridgestone axed their new wet tire because of mixed feedback across all the teams. So Michelin should still have their advantage in the wet. And they're saying it's going to rain all day during qualifying with a high chance of rain on race day.

 

[trackratZ]

Looking forward for more strategy for fuel and tires this season with 2/3 of races on longer 450km stints.

 

[trackratZ]

Good start, but it’s early in the 8-race season. Wet Michelins are the class!

https://www.motorsport.com/supergt/news/okayama-nissan-pole-wet-qualifying/10456508/

 

[MCN1SMO]

The #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z wins the 2023 season opener in a turbulent race due to bad weather.


The 2023 SUPER GT series has started at the Okayama International Circuit. The Nissan/NISMO camp will enter the Nissan Z GT500, which won the championship in its debut year last year. In addition, we will introduce an updated engine that corresponds to the carbon neutral fuel (CNF) introduced this season, and will maintain the high level of fighting power that showed good results last season and face the 2023 season.

The Nissan/NISMO camp will feature last year's champions, the #1 MARELLI IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette), the #3 Niterra MOTUL Z (Katsumasa Chiyo/Mitsunori Takaboshi), and the #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie).・Quintarelli), and the #24 Realize Corporation ADVAN Z (Daiki Sasaki/Kohei Hirate), the four Nissan Z GT500s will challenge all eight rounds of the series with the aim of winning the championship for the second year in a row.

The #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z wins the opening round after winning the turbulent race.
The weather was clear from the morning, but as the start of the race approached, clouds spread and became unstable. The 82-lap race started at 1:30 pm after two formation laps under conditions of 19 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees track temperature. #23 Z and #3 Z, who started from the front row, defended their position and pulled away from behind in a 1-2 situation. Baggett in #1 Z dropped to 14th position due to confusion on lap 1, but recovered after that and moved up to 12th on lap 5. It started to rain after 5 laps, and by the 12th lap the rain had become quite heavy, and the road surface suddenly became wet.

After 15 laps, #23 Z and #24 Z made a pit stop to change to wet tires. Immediately after that, some machines ran off the track, making it a Full Course Yellow (FCY). Although the rain became more intense, many cars were left with dry tires because they were not allowed to make pit stops during the FCY and SC, and the race was expected to be turbulent. On the 18th lap of the SC, the #3 Z was running 1st and the #1 Z was running 3rd on dry tires, while the #23 Z was running 7th and the #24 Z was running 11th on wet tires. At the end of the 19th lap, the pits were opened, and #3 Z and #1 Z went into the pits to change tires. The race resumed on the 23rd lap, and at this point the #23 Z was 3rd, the #24 Z was 7th, the #1 Z was 12th, and the #3 Z was 13th.

Due to the heavy wet conditions, the #23 Z dropped its position due to the tire mismatch, and by the 24th lap, it was in 6th position. to regain position. He kept overtaking at a pace that was more than a second faster than his competitors, and by the 31st lap he moved up to 2nd place. The #3 Z also picked up the pace in the same way, moving up to 10th on the 32nd lap and then up to 5th on the 39th lap. On the 41st lap, the #23 Z took the lead at the 1st corner, the #3 Z was 3rd, the #24 Z was 4th, and the #1 Z was 5th.

After 42 laps, the #24 Z and #1 Z made their pit stops for a driver change. At the end of the 44th lap, the #3 Z pitted, and at the end of the 46th lap, the #23 Z made a pit stop. On the 48th lap, the machine that went off the track came out and FCY was presented, and at this timing it started to rain again. The #24 Z went off the track at the hairpin and was able to make a restart, but lost a lot of positions. An accident occurred in the GT300 class during this FCY, and an SC was introduced on the 51st lap. The rain intensified, and #23 Z Matsuda, who was running in the lead, slid into the pits just before the pits closed, changed to wet tires, and returned to the line up in 6th place. As a result, #3 Z moved up to 2nd place. The race was red flagged at the end of lap 55 as the rain intensified and lightning was expected.

After a break of about 20 minutes, the race resumed with the SC in the lead. While many machines changed to wet tires as soon as the race resumed, the #23 Z, which had already changed to wet tires, took the top spot. After a quick tire change, the #3 Z returned to the platoon in 3rd position, but an accident occurred in the 2nd machine, and the #3 Z moved up to 2nd position. The Z forces became 1-2. #1 Z was in 7th place and continued to lead the SC in the winning range. Once the SC was lifted, but a machine stopped on the course and the SC continued. Conditions deteriorated further and the race was red flagged again after 61 laps.

After that, the SC led the restart, but the conditions did not improve, and the red flag was presented again on the 63rd lap, ending the race. According to the rules, the ranking at the end of 61 laps was the result. #23 Z, who was the top of the qualifying session, demonstrated its stable speed and ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions to win the race despite the difficult conditions and turbulent developments. The #3 Z also showed its speed in the same way, finishing in 2nd place, and the Zs ended the season opener with a 1-2 stance, just like the qualifying order. After the race, the #1 Z moved up one position to 6th place due to the penalty given to the top cars. #24 Z finished 14th.

 

[MCN1SMO]

 

[trackratZ]

Sure was one of the messiest races in history! The orgs blew it on red flag decisions. Hope they learned from those mistakes!

 

[MCN1SMO]

Round 2

The #3 Niterra MOTUL Z finished 5th and the #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z
finished 7th, keeping the series ranking 1-2
.
The fine weather continued on May 4th, the day before the race, with an air temperature of 22°C and a track surface temperature of 38°C. Two formation laps began at 1:30pm, marking the start of the 100-lap race. Immediately after the start, there was a fierce battle for the lead at the first corner, and the Nissan Z cars improved their positions without getting caught up in the chaos. After the first lap, the #24 Z jumped up to 4th, Quintarelli in the #23 Z jumped up to 6th, the #3 Z driven by Chiyo was 8th, and the #1 Z was 11th. The #24 Z passed the car in front on the second lap and moved up to 3rd, while the #23 Z moved up to 7th on the 4th lap. The #23 Z tried to recover its position by closing in on the car in front, but was unable to overtake it, and on the 20th lap, the #3 Z took the lead and moved up to 8th place.

After 20 laps, machines began to make their first pit stops. Among the Nissan Z cars, #23 Z was the first to make a pit stop after 28 laps. I returned to the course without changing drivers. The #3 Z made a pit stop at the end of lap 35, the #1 Z at the end of lap 36, and the #24 Z at the end of lap 39 to refuel, change tires, and change drivers. By the 41st lap, all cars in the GT500 class had completed their first pit stop, with #24 Z in 4th, #23 Z in 6th, #3 Z in 9th, and #1 Z in 12th. On the 42nd lap, Hirate in the #24 Z dropped to 5th position due to the trailing behind, and on the 43rd lap Takaboshi in the #3 Z passed the car in front and moved up to 8th.

In the middle stages of the race, close-quarters battles continued, but there was not much change in the rankings, and there were no major accidents, and the race came to a stalemate. The timing and accuracy of the second pit work seemed to have a big impact on the ranking. After 59 laps, the #23 Z makes its second pit stop, and the GT500 class cars begin their second pit stop. #3 Z did the second work at the end of lap 60, #1 Z at the end of 73 laps. The #24 Z, which had been leading the race until the end of the GT500 class, made its pit stop at the end of the 78th lap and returned to the race in 3rd place. After all cars in the GT500 class completed two pit stops, the #24 Z was 3rd, the #3 Z was 5th, the #23 Z was 9th, and the #1 Z was 11th. The competition for entry positions will intensify.

On the 95th lap, with five laps to go, an accident occurred in front of the #24 Z running in 3rd place when two GT300 class cars collided with each other. Couldn't go back. The #3 Z continued a fierce battle for 4th place with 3 cars for over 10 laps, and the position of the Zs changed in the last lap as some of the leading cars dropped out in the final stages. In the end, the #3 Z came in 5th, the #23 Z in 7th, and the #1 Z in 9th, with three Nissan Zs taking points. is kept.

 

[MCN1SMO]

NISMO Wallpapers

 

[MCN1SMO]

Major crash for Matsuda in Round 3

 

[MCN1SMO]

 

[trackratZ]

Super super glad he’s OK!! The safety testament of those Super GT cars are incredible. Two major crashes of the Nissans last and this year.

 

[MCN1SMO]

 

[trackratZ]

Here comes 4th round, Nissans doing well at quali.

Fuji SUPER GT: Kondo Nissan beats the Hondas to pole (motorsport.com)

 

[trackratZ]

Fuji SUPER GT: NDDP Nissan wins rain-hit, red-flagged race (motorsport.com)