Race report: Subaru BRZ GT300 at Super GT rd.3 in Sepang

On 9-10 June round 3 of Autobacs SUPER GT was held at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The circuit has proper facilities for a Formula 1 Grand Prix such as a grandstand and pit building, and among drivers, the track is known as being a worthy circuit to aggressively race on. Sepang's track has a technical layout with a series of mid-speed combined corners and so is challenging. Lap times compared to other racers were very consistent during the practice, free run and qualification sessions - 11th to 12th place. The final race of Round 3 of SUPER GT run 49 laps and a distance of 300km. The SUBARU BRZ GT300, driven by Tetsuya Yamano and Kota Sasaki, started from 12th position after the qualifying and finished the race in 8th.

Qualifying took place under a cloudy sky on the Saturday. Starting from the morning practice session, the R&D SPORT team repeatedly tried various settings to acquire the speed that they lacked, compared with their rivals. Sasaki recorded the 12th fastest time in the first qualifying round, which meant the team couldn't advance to the Super Lap. The drivers, engineers and STI's General Director, Hideharu Tatsumi, racked their brains to enhance the road-holding ability.

On race day at Sepang, the final race began with a fine morning and became the hottest day of SUPER GT for the past few years. Temperatures reached as high as 35°C and track temps went up to 55°C. Even though the scorching heat had been expected, it made conditions a lot tougher for the drivers than on other circuits. Before the race, driver Yamano had commented with a smile, “The only countermeasure is to get my body used to the heat to prevent heat stroke. I have done some things like running in a racing suit to accustom my body to exercising in high temperatures. Meanwhile, Sasaki said, “I already got in shape for last month's Nürburgring 24-hour Race. I'm confident that I'm still physically strong enough for this race”.

While the SUBARU BRZ is a turbo car with good handling ability, it has the smallest engine displacement among the GT 300 cars. Sepamg has 2 long straights, so this is not necessarily a circuit that the SUBARU BRZ excels on.

 Before starting the race from the 6th row back, Yamano had said, “The difference between our speed and the speed of these faster rivals is quite clear on straights, and an unnecessary battle will just end in tyre wear” And so despite falling to 15th at the beginning of the race, he recorded consistent lap times. He also explained his reason for coming back to the pit early on Lap 19, “It's easier to build up my rhythm without feeling any stress when I'm on my own rather than in a group”. His strategy paid off and Sasaki had gradually moved up to 8th by Lap 31 after taking over from Yamano for the final part of the race. 

Sasaki held back in the last half of his turn because he had to drive a long distance, and so dropped to 9th. However, as the car in front ran out of fuel and stopped on the track on the final lap, the SUBARU BRZ climbed back to 8th. As the team had acquired championship points for a second consecutive race following the Fuji round, STI General Director Hideharu Tatsumi said, “At this stage, 8th is an excellent result. The drivers didn't give in to the heat until the end of the race. I think this is the reason for the good result above everything else. All of us in the team will be brainstorming to make the car even faster”.

While Yamano had hoped for a position in top 6, he is still satisfied: “Our strategy worked and we got this result. I think the team is on track, but we can't hope to beat the top teams unless we make our car a lot faster. In saying so, I think the SUBARU BRZ will be able to come into its own in the next race at SUGO because that circuit doesn't have many long straights, on which FIA GT cars fare better. It also has many technical corners, which our car is good at. Please follow our race”.

Watch the weekend review movie of Tetsuya Yamano explaining the cooling systems for the driver, watch Yamano-san avoiding crash, and Sasaki-san battling with Audi R8 proving that the BRZ is faster around corners and is able to creep away.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qydb8FFA0d4 autoplay:0]