2011 Japanese Super GT

[chernaudi]

Dumb question probably, but are there any GT500 cars that still used a steel unitbody between the front/rear firewalls/bulkheads, or is the chassis mainly a carbon fiber monocoque using only a few parts from the parent chassis?

I had heard/read since 2009 that only the roof and A-pillar needed to be from the production car, and the rest of the chassis is free within regs.

[rich07]

I doubt it very much chernaudi, those cars have progressed a lot over the last decade, they are basically LMP2 cars with a roof. And with no European cars and only the three japanese manufacturers the chances of any of them using a steel unitbody are pretty slim.

Dont know about the a pillar but the roof used to be compulsory, not sure about 2011 though. I remember watching a interview with a nismo engineer and they asked him what production parts were on the Gt500 350Z and he replied, 'the roof and the badges'.

[chernaudi]

The most recent rules that I've read was in '06, and they said that the chassis between the front and rear firewalls had to be production derived, which I assume meant that floorpan and sturctural/integral unitary panels had to be production derived. Everything fore/aft that central structure was free, which is why they ran clip type subframes, transaxle gearboxes, and pushrod double wishbone suspension with coilover shocks or in the case of the Honda HSV, torsion bars, basically similar to the Audi R18, R15 and R10, both Peugeot 908s, and, of course, the Acura ARX-02, from which the HSV indirectly gets its engine (the ARX-02 engine was a heavily modified 4 liter version of the HPD 3.4 V8 that Highcroft's ARX-01e and Honda Racing use in the HSV).

I read somewhere on this forum a long time ago that since 2009, teams were allowed to run all carbon chassis with a steel roll cage and a production based roof and A-pillar integrated into the carbon unitbody. However, I also read that the Honda NSX in '09 used a production based aluminum monocoque between the aformentioned subframes, but the source for that was Wikipedia, so take that for what you may.

Any link or something the new rules would be appreciated, as I can't find any updated items at their site.

[rich07]

Chernaudi, maybe shoot Japanese Samurai a PM, he sounds like he'd know the current rules.

[kurski]

Round 2 Fuji gets underway on 4/30 & 5/1

Due to the effect caused by the great earthquake, 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round2 FUJI GT 400km RACE became the start of 2011 SUPER GT Series. Being unable to do any testing up to this point, how will teams take on the battle? It would be interesting to see especially the new comers to the series and the teams with new cars, new drivers, and new changes. What about the race itself? Also, SUPER GT will be hosting many aiding activities for the people who suffered from the quake with a unified message, "Gambaro! Nippon" Bring yourself to the circuit and take the energy and inspiration from SUPER GT to extend your energy to the people in the affected area as well as to expand the reach of support.

Thrill and excitement steal your eyes till the finish.

Due to the effect caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, Round 1 Okayama initially scheduled to be the season opener has been postponed to May 21st and 22nd. As a consequence, Round 2 Fuji will mark the start of 2011 season. Unprecedented earthquake disaster gave impact to SUPER GT also causing suspension of testing and events for about one and a half month since the quake. Usually, teams spend time in building the base for upcoming season by collecting tire and machine data and enhancing communication among new team members as well as drivers in pre-season, but they could not run their cars at all during the period this year (except shakedown of newly introduced cars). In contemporary racing, teams put their effort in collecting data to simulate their strategy before taking on the actual race. But for this season, their data is zero. All teams have to take the battle off the cuff. There could be more troubles and human errors than usual. Tires may lose grip suddenly or cars may run out of gas just before the finish. With thrill and excitement, you will never know what will happen till the end at this year's Round 2 Fuji.

Flexibility is the key to a win.

Considering all elements mentioned above, this race in particular, the teams continuing to have same organizational structure as last year may be in better position. For instance, defending champion No.1 Weider HSV-010 (Takashi Kogure/Loic Duval). There is no change in drivers' line-up or team management of the team. For machine, though, Honda conducted a major modification on their champion machine, HSV-010GT. Radiator is now mounted on the side to improve the speed. But, from a different point of view, Honda teams may not have found the base setting of the car yet. Out of four HSV-010 GT teams excluding Weider, three teams continue with the same drivers' line-up and management, and that could be an advantage. However, lacking in data still remains as a concern.

In contrast, there were a lot of changes in the drivers' line-up as well as team structure in the Lexus fleet. All six Lexus teams had changes in their driver combination. But the effect should not be a negative one, rather, teams may find many stimulating benefits since most of the drivers who switched teams know Lexus/Toyota cars very well and '11 model SC430 is practically the same car as last year's model. A team to watch among the fleet would be LEXUS TEAM KRAFT, entered under No.35 D'STATION KeePer SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Couto). In spite of having both drivers as well as its management changed, the team is tightly united under a key word; that is "Juichi Wakisaka." Considering team members including the team manager Akira Iida are all recruited based on the relationship with Wakisaka, it certainly is a "Team Juichi." Although a brand new team in terms of organizational structure, the team may be able to outperform the top teams once every piece fits together.

For Nissan fielding GT-R, all teams except manufacturer's ace team NISMO saw changes in the drivers' line-up. But, same as others, most of the drivers switching teams in Nissan are experienced GT-R drivers. Among all, two drivers of No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Joao Paulo de Oliveira) are both protégé of team manager Kazuyoshi Hoshino and have become Formula Nippon (FN) champion. With more matured GT-R, IMPUL should be competing for the top place along with No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer), also with FN champion duo.

All teams could not have enough testing in pre-season, but the race will be hosted at historical Fuji Speedway, which means that the data accumulated in drivers and team managers should become the significant factor. How promptly can a team respond to a sudden change in circumstances? Flexibility may become the key for winning the race in Fuji.

Indeed, experienced drivers and teams may have better chance at upcoming Fuji event, but, looking back in the history, there was always a new star in a stormy race. For that, brand new teams of GT500, No.19 WedsSport ADVAN SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka/Seiji Ara) and No.46 S Road MOLA GT-R (Masataka Yanagida/Ronnie Quintarelli), deserve attention. Although being "new," they are formidable as both teams have a proven record of becoming GT300 champion and all drivers have experience in driving in GT500. Another interesting team to watch is No.8 ARTA HSV-010 with Hideki Mutoh, coming back from Indy Series, and Takashi Kobayashi, who had achieved the first-pole-in-first-race at Round 6 Suzuka last season. With addition of a former Formula One driver, Kazuki Nakajima, No.36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Andre Lotterer/Kazuki Nakajima) should be put right in the tor favorite list.

New GT300 cars are must-see

There are a lot of news topics in this season's GT300. Firstly, a variety of FIA GT3 homologated cars will be competing in GT300 for the first time. Namely, BMW Z4GT3 of No.4 HATSUNEMIKU GOODSMILE BMW (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Taku Bamba), Ferrari 458GTC of No.11 JIMGAINER DIXCEL DUNLOP 458 (Tetsuya Tanaka/Katsuyuki Hiranaka), Chevrolet Corvette Z06R of No.360 RUNNUP SPORTS CORVETTE (Atsushi Tanaka/Kazuyoshi Okamura), and new Porsche. Situation may be harder for these new cars with insufficient testing, but considering that powerful FIA GT specification European cars had always been successful at high-speed track of Fuji, they may be able to show outstanding performance from their first race. Of course, No.2 EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 Apple Shiden (Kazuho Takahashi/Hiroki Katoh) promising to clinch long-awaited title, No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi/Kosuke Matsuura), and the defending Fuji winner No.74 COROLLA Axio apr GT (Morio Nitta/Yuji Kunimoto) are also the favorites for the race.

Competitive landscape may go under a major transformation in both GT300 class and GT500 class this season. In order to gain insight, you must see the 2011 season opener Round 2 Fuji. (Supergt.net)

My favorite is Nakajima/Lotterer duo, hopefully they have a good season ahead.

[TF110]

Wish there was a way to watch these races here in America, or online. Anyone know how or where?

[BBSB]

Originally Posted by TF110

Wish there was a way to watch these races here in America, or online. Anyone know how or where?

You mean Live?
I put a site I found on google in the old thread asking if anyone knew how to use that site but nobody even bothered to respond. It was the only site I could find where they stream the Japanese "J sports" channels. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to unlock the stream. The site didn't respond to my queries either.

[hondafan37]

What did happen with the rules accord between the DTM, the SuperGT and Grand AM?

This accord must be fantastic because would have 3 championship with 6 marks (Honda, Lexus, Nissan, Mercedes, Audi and BMW) in 3 different continents. Each brand could have 1 team with 2 or 3 cars in each championship and could have a world championship with 30 races (10 for championship) without the cost to transport the cars between the continents. Only must be fly the drivers to run every race

[TF110]

I've read that for 2012 G.A. will adopt cars (daytona prototypes) that look like the make of the engine... Chevy's looking like vettes, BMW's looking like BMW's? Not sure so much what Ford's will look like. But if the SuperGT DTM hookup is in place soon- this will be great.

[helgi]

A new US based championship will have rounds outside GA. It's going to be a 1-hour racing format if Iremember correct. And GA itself will have some GT3 machinery (Audi, Mercedes). There were some talks between DTM and Super GT organisers, but since then there was no mention on common rules. But there should be something in common because BMW returned to DTM because new silhouettes will race in North America, Europe and Asia. And I was thinking about some sort of world champ for makes and drivers (not teams) based on three different series. At least, ILMC started from the same base.

[hondafan37]

A new US based championship will have rounds outside GA. It's going to be a 1-hour racing format if Iremember correct. And GA itself will have some GT3 machinery (Audi, Mercedes). There were some talks between DTM and Super GT organisers, but since then there was no mention on common rules. But there should be something in common because BMW returned to DTM because new silhouettes will race in North America, Europe and Asia. And I was thinking about some sort of world champ for makes and drivers (not teams) based on three different series. At least, ILMC started from the same base.

This is a wrong decision. We do not need more championship, we need upgrade the existing championship. The Grand Am lever in this moment is very bad then why is not improve that? You must remove the horrible DP and will replace that for the DTM, Super GT `s cars.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by hondafan37

This is a wrong decision. We do not need more championship, we need upgrade the existing championship. The Grand Am lever in this moment is very bad then why is not improve that? You must remove the horrible DP and will replace that for the DTM, Super GT `s cars.

Thats what the new 2012 Daytona Prototypes are for. Personally I hate them (the current DP), but Ill reserve my thoughts until the new DPs are revealed, problem is you have too many teams currently commited to DP, and some pretty damn good quality ones as well.

[TF110]

They should be closer to what SuperGT is running if what they're saying is true. Coupled with the gt3 cars, you basically have an americanized SuperGT, seeing as how they've got some new gt3 cars in gt300 class. I'm getting excited as this may be the coolest gt racing there is. If DTM gets on with SuperGT then GA jumps on as well.

[The IC]

autosport-web has photos of most of the 2011 cars up in their gallery now

http://as-web.jp/photonews/?c_id=2

[The IC]

Fuji qualifying results are up...Michelins must be good there

http://supergt.net/supergt/2011/1102...B5%90%E6%9E%9C

[Japanese Samurai]

2011 version R&D Legacy B4
http://car.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/...11_444001.html
Biggest change point is a change from the CFRP reinforcement monocoque to a tubular frame. This car completely suited 2012 regulations by this change.

2011ver
http://car.watch.impress.co.jp/img/c...leg08.jpg.html
http://car.watch.impress.co.jp/img/c...leg17.jpg.html
2010ver
http://car.watch.impress.co.jp/img/c...leg09.jpg.html
http://car.watch.impress.co.jp/img/c...leg19.jpg.html

[Speed-King]

I really like the new version of the Subaru, looks a lot racier...

And just to get this right: They went from a "modern" carbon fibre" chassis to an old-fashioned tubeframe? And that is what the 2012 rules demand?

If so, that's very interesting. GT300 and Grand Am GT allow/will allow GT3-cars pretty soon, maybe they can also come up with a unified ruleset for the tubeframe cars?

[Japanese Samurai]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

And just to get this right: They went from a "modern" carbon fibre" chassis to an old-fashioned tubeframe? And that is what the 2012 rules demand?

JAF-GT300 regulation is very confused.
The JAF-GT300 machine is classified into four categories(A-D).
Category A is a machine that completely adjusts to 2010 regulations(Jim Gainer's F430).
Category B is a machine that completely adjusts to 2012 regulations(Corolla Axio, Lexus IS, Legacy B4).
Category C is a machine based on loading going car(Garaiya, Vemac)
Category D is a machine that doesn't apply to all other categories(Shiden, 996GTRS, Mosler GT, Gallardo RG3, 458GTC)
Category E is FIA-GT2 machine until 2010.
Category F is FIA-GT3 machine.
*Category D can take part in a race only at the end of 2011(It is likely to become a special authorization machine after 2011)
*Legacy B4 is category B now though this car was category D until last year.

[DS"]

Could the Subaru be a sneak peak at the DTM-cars from 2012 on? Of course I don't what DTM and SuperGT are up to, concerning unified regulations, but it sounds interesting indeed that SuperGT will have new regs in 2012, too.

[TF110]

I thought different. That DTM would go to carbon chassis not tubular? That and a switch to coupes, BMW M3, will only be coupe from '12 onward.

[FIRE]

DTM will have a spec carbon tub.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by TF110

I thought different. That DTM would go to carbon chassis not tubular? That and a switch to coupes, BMW M3, will only be coupe from '12 onward.

And on top of that, Hans-Werner Aufrecht has told in an interview today that the SuperGT will run DTM regulations von 2013 on. Over the last weeks, HWA kept talking about the Japanese manufacturers that might enter DTM, so perhaps Subaru is preparing a DTM entry. But my speculations have the same amount of truth inside, than Herr Aufrechts "promises" he did over the last couple of years.

To sum it up, I'm confused.

[Speed-King]

The Subaru is a GT300-car, whereas the DTM-cars are suppossed to be elegible for the "big" GT500-division.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

The Subaru is a GT300-car, whereas the DTM-cars are suppossed to be elegible for the "big" GT500-division.

Ah okay, I thought the Subaru was a GT500 car. So Aufrecht's words do make sort of sense for once.

[alexkiller8]

it's a shame that super gt 500 will transform in dtm and not the reverse, i like a lot more a "typical" gt500 aero/body shape than a dtm one.