2020 Japanese Super GT

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I think it is primarily aimed to increase the ground effect of the front wing, and to artificially increase the volume of the rear diffuser.

recall ferrari and redbull started using a high rake angle some years ago also to make the front of the car more stable during heavy braking.

[Japanese Samurai]

This article says that as a disadvantage of high rake, there is an increase in drag due to an increase in the frontal projected area, etc.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by canaglia

recall ferrari and redbull started using a high rake angle some years ago also to make the front of the car more stable during heavy braking.

Yes - there are a lot of factors that contribute to the choice of rake angle.

There is also a thought that by having a high positive rake, then when the car accelerates there is a momentary (as load builds at the rear) stalling of flow. The front wing 'rotates' and the stall gives a period of reduced drag/downforce.

So in answer to the query - yes a high rake can lead to a reduced drag, but there are many other features of aero at play.

[canaglia]

yeah, actually every f1 team is using a more or less high rake angle, including mercedes that usually was the car with the lowest rake angle in grid during previous seasons.
Anyway if 2020 dtm/class1 cars have a higher rake angle by rules, guess they got some drag reduction anyhow. This week-end at spa dtm cars were reaching >280km/h before les combes, on a onboard kubica hit about 292km/h

[hvr777]

Motorsport.com digs down the origin of "Rookie Racing" which continues Team Le Mans' legacy. Basically Rookie Racing carries on with majority of the Team LeMans' crews, with some changes including maintenance garage by Cerumo.

https://www.motorsport.com/supergt/n...shima/4848075/

[Japanese Samurai]

JAF publishes application for registration of 2021 FIA International Sports Calendar
http://jaf-sports.jp/cms_file/cms/cm...4183_00001.pdf

[Japanese Samurai]

Autosport web is reporting problem of set-up of FR-NSX GT.
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/608215?all

*The problems of NSX GT seen from the first round are the top speed and tire dropdown.
*The top speed of the GR Supra is about 300km/h, whereas the average of NSX is avobe 290km/h.
Only Keihin NSX (#17) marked near 300km/h due to the set-up difference.

*The cause of the tire dropdown was overuse of hard tires during the Saturday practice session in response to the weather forecast that qualifying will be raining.
*Nojiri (#8) says that their car has a lot of bouncing, so there is a room for improving the ground contact of tires.

*Ryan Dingle (#8 engineer) says that GR Supra's character is similar to that of LC500. It has good race pace, and low tire wear. By properly applying the load to the tire, tire wear can be suppressed.
*Under Class 1 plus alpha regulations, it is difficult to apply aerodynamic down force to front tires.
*Dingle says that it is difficult to save front tire wear under the common suspension, aerodynamicaly. If you focus on suspension set-up, you lose the aerodynamic advantage, like modern F1. That is the aim of the Class One regulations.

*Road temperature will be higher in the second round of Fuji.
*Tomohiro Onishi (Honda chassis development engineer) says that they must improve the accuracy of tire selection.
*Masahiro Saiki (Honda SGT project leader) says that race pace of #17 was competitive, so they would like to refer to their set-up.

[Japanese Samurai]

Autosport web reports Hiroaki Odajima (MI motorsport director) interview.
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/608436?all

About GT500
*We believe that the existing packages are sufficient to meet the requests of the team.
*Relative rankings can change for factors other than tires.
If factors other than tires change, we can handle them.

*Autosport speculate that basic set-up for 2020 spec GTR has not been fixed, so Michelin has no choice but to wait for it.

*Michelin also had a hindrance to racing tire production due to coronavirus.
*Tire manufacturing plant re-opened on May 1, but spent two weeks reproducing.
*We were unable to manufacture the tires for the first round using the test results of the Fuji official test in June. In a word, in the first round, we were racing with tires made from old spec data.
*However, we can use tires that reflect test results in the 2nd round.

About GT300
*We take a different approach to supplying tires to the GT300 this year.
*In other words, this year's GT300 tires are not tires developed exclusively for SGT.
*From GT3/GTE tires all over the world, we select and supply those suitable for SGT.
*Odajima says this is an attempt to continue the series.
*GT300 class does not take a stance of neglecting development costs because of competition.
*Therefore, we are trying to strike a balance between cost and performance.
*The team has to spend a huge amount of test money when it comes to introducing different spec tires like GT500 in each race.
*Maintain the continuity of the series while competing. This is important for GT300 class.
*However, since we have tires of all specs in the world, it is possible to supply tires tailored to the course characteristics and road temperature.
*In fact, this "sustainable" concept was scheduled to start in 2021.
*However, because of strong demand for tire supply, we decided to start supplying one year ahead of schedule.

[Japanese Samurai]

NISMO is uploading the HQ factory movie on its Twitter.
Oddly enough, #3 GTR also seems to be maintained at NISMO HQ factory.
https://twitter.com/NISMO_JP/status/1291315810913234944

[Japanese Samurai]

Cars Tokai Dream 28 (#2) introduces swan neck rear wing stay, finally.
https://twitter.com/mooncraft_jp/sta...16582968340481
https://twitter.com/mooncraft_jp/sta...28894949265408

[Japanese Samurai]

The truth is unknown, but Team Studie (#7) BOB Suzuki says that JAF-GT300 MCs have an advantage in qualifying because they have a qualifying boost mode.
https://note.com/studiebob/n/ne9d2a35f914f

[Japanese Samurai]

SGT official website is reporting tire manufacturer interview part.1 Bridgestone.
https://supergt.net/news/single/20137

About significance of participating in SGT.
*It's all about tire competition.
*There is no other category in the world which has such a high level of tire competition.
*Technology development can proceed in the presence of strong rivals.
*Our technology will be paid attention to and brand value of Bridgestone will be improved.
*Rapid development skills are required, and the good/bad results are clear, which is useful for training young engineers.

You took championship both GT500 and GT300 last season
*Tire performance is all about running fast and maintaining it.
*Of course, it's a condition that keeps the tires safe from breaking.
*Achieving both qualifying speed and (avarage) race speed, this was the reason for winning both classes.

About tire development change in tire by Class 1 regulations
*Nothing has changed. We are supplying tires that have evolved due to the extension of development up to now.
*In the first place, our tires do not change so much between car models.
*Since the technical specifications of the vehicle have been unified this year, it seems that the difference in tires is reflected in the difference in race results.
*Now each car manufacturer is trying to use tires as under the previous regulations. As the car becomes more complete, there may be requests to evlove the tires.

About GT300 tire development
*Our GT300 tires were developed for GT300 using the technology developed for GT500. Therefore, although it is GT300 tire, we have not developed any technology dedicated only to GT300.
*Our base technology was cultivated with GT500, so we think it's working well.

[Japanese Samurai]

Hiroyuki Matsumura (X Works, #33) couldn't pass the rookie test.
According to the team, Shaun Thong will drive 2/3 of the race tomorrow, and retire.
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/609355?all

[Japanese Samurai]

https://supergt.net/news/single/20141

Daiki Sasaki says that Team Impul (#12) focused on Q1 clear in qualifying.
So Hiramine mainly drove the car in the pratice session.
Sasaki admits that this strategy was bit tricky.
It seems still difficult for them to compete in the straightforward strategy.

https://twitter.com/kakkie1020/statu...08041546575872

Kunihiko Kakimoto (NISMO ambassador) tweets that #3 had a good long run pace in the practice session.
He also tweets that #3 and #23 have an advantage when it gets hot.

[Japanese Samurai]

Autosport web is reporting Honda 2nd round qualifying report
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/609374?all

*Masahiro Saiki (Honda GT project leader) says that they could prove that NSXs have very high potential to have been achieved front row in the 2nd round.
He says that the main role of HRD is to put together the direction of NSX set-up.

*Tomohiro Onishi (Honda chassis development engineer) says that their target this time is to beat the rival in race pace. Therefore, he was not confident in the qualifying result, but the driver did his best.
*The marking tire of the 3 BS user teams are different also this time.
Therefore, he think that the correct direction can be seen according to the race results.

[Japanese Samurai]

SGT official website is reporting tire manufacturer interview part.2 Michelin.
https://supergt.net/news/single/20143

About impact of coronavirus on SGT tire development
*The Michelin Group, including the French racing tire manufacturing factory, has been shut down until the end of April.
*The factory restarted on May 1, and started manufacturing SGT tires with the highest priority.
As a result, we were able to meet the official test at the end of June and the first round in July.
*The transportation cost (by air) increased due to the effects of the coronavirus.
*We would like to thank GTA for considering our tire production and transportation schedule when updating the SGT calendar.

Is SGT a top priority category for Michelin?
*We consider SGT to be a particularly important category because it is a place where we can compare our competitiveness with our rivals and where we can introduce innovative technologies.
*As proof of that, when the factory restarted in May, we started production of SGT tires with the highest priority.
*GT500 cars have very high performance, so it is of great value to us to be able to develop tires with the latest technology.
*We are applying the technology obtained from SGT to other categories.
This has not changed since the Corona era.

About background and aim of tire supply for GT300 class
*Since we stopped supplying tires to the GT300 class in 2014, we have received requests from many teams to restart tire supply.
*We have an environment where we can prepare the tires we want to supply, we decided to restart.
*The current regulations allow free tire development like GT500.
However, GT300 is a category where the majority of privateers are entrants.
*Therefore, there is an opinion that the GT300 tires should have the same contents as the commercially available racing tires, and we also support this.
*Therefore, the GT300 tires we supply this year have a wide range of specifications, with the specifications in common with the existing GT category tires.
*This will reduce costs and burdens on user Teams and make it easier to carry out continuous racing activities.

[Japanese Samurai]

Autosport is reporting FCY system introduction.
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/609730?all

*Naoki Hattori (GTA race director) says that current FCY system has a time lag.
*SGT uses Wi-Fi for the radio waves from the race director due to the legal restrictions (radio law).
*If GTA can use the same radio waves as overseas, the FCY system will work properly.
*This radio law is the reason why live on-board distribution is not possible in Japan.
*Masaaki Bandoh (GTA) says that they want to introduce FCY system from 1st round in 2021 on the race day press conference.

*On the other hand, operation of LED display system will start from this round.

[Japanese Samurai]

Race day press conference by GTA (Masaaki Bandoh)
https://car.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1270347.html

Impression on 1st round
*We have been trying to do what we can do by holding an event in the Corona Era.
*We believe it is important to continue the event as professional sports.

About "Fuji meister"
*We are holding a campaign to predict who will be the driver champion in Fuji.

About introduction of FCY
*FCY will be tested during the practice session of the 3rd round at Suzuka.
*If there is no problem, we plan to introduce FCY from the 1st round of next year.

About Mie Prefecture's declaration of a state of emergency
*We plan to hold the event in line with our guidelines against coronavirus.
*In the Suzuka Round, increase the maximum staff number of teams from 16 to 18.

About BH charity auctions
*With the cooperation of the BH auction, we were able to charity 270 items, totaling 27.2 million yen. We achieved 100,000 views on You Tube.

About reserve driver
*4 or more domestic drivers cannot be registered, but this is alleviated because it is difficult for foreign drivers to participate.

About substitute driver Sena Sakaguchi's success
*The important thing is to build a pyramid of drivers.
*It's very good for young drivers to step up.
*I want to create an environment where young drivers can receive good treatment including salary. Motorsport must succeed as a business.

About Takanokono Hotel
*Takanokono hotel will be the title sponsor also in the final round.

[MagVanisher]

Interesting that the radio law prevents onboard camera footage from being shown during the race, but also hampers the introduction of full course yellow flag.

[Japanese Samurai]

LED display shows:
1) Driver's first and last name initials
A-driver: in left side, B-driver: in right side
2) Current ranking in the each class
(GT500: white, GT300: blue)

[Japanese Samurai]

Autosport web is reporting Honda post race report
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/609995?all

*There was a pick-up phenomenon in Honda again.
*Tsukakoshi says that If they leave the racing line when overtaking GT300, race pace will drop due to pick up tire debris.
*Tomohiro Onishi (Honda chassis development engineer) says that they have a good pace in single runs, however, in the traffic situation, it takes time to slip out. this is their big problem.

[Japanese Samurai]

According to D'station racing facebook page, cause of Cozzolino's black and white flag was a track limit violation.
https://www.facebook.com/DstationRac...66320163486261

[Japanese Samurai]

According to SGT official guide book,
GR Supra GT300 is equipped with evo-sus (evolution suspension) with pushrod mounting points changed to upright instead of lower arm.

[Japanese Samurai]

It seems "Evo-sus" means "Pushrod on Upright" in English.

[Japanese Samurai]

POU is also used in mother chassis vehicles, according to SGT official guide book.