Words and Photos by Gavin Oliva
Over the years, the debate between Super GT and DTM, which series had the best drivers, teams, and cars. Well finally, the two excellent racing series brought together for the first time in history to battle on the shores of Japan. The organizers have deemed it the "Dream Race."
In the earlier test, the Super GT teams showed a clear advantage on home turf with the DTM teams trying to find the pace to keep up. It didn't take long, and by Qualifying, two of the DTM teams had moved up into the top five. The most impressive of the two was the BMC Airfilter Audi RS5 driven by Loic Duval with a qualifying time of 1'42.158 just behind the leader Nick Cassidy with a 1'41.827 who took Pole Position for Race 1 held on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Loic Duval in RS5 crashed unexpectedly on the way to the grid, which allowed the next fastest finisher Naoki Yamamoto and the Raybrig NSX-GT to move up into his spot.
In Race #1, Nick Cassidy and the KeePer TOM's team #37 LC500 car dominated the field to take the checkered flag. Closely following behind him was the Keihin NSX-GT #17 car driven by Koudai Tsukakoshi in 2nd and the Raybrig NSX-GT #1 car driven by Naoki Yamamoto. The home advantage was apparent as the Super GT teams dominated the top 10 spots, wise tire choice also made it tricky and played an important factor with the ever-changing weather conditions.
If fans thought Race #2 held on the next day would be a repeat of the previous, they'd be sorely mistaken. This time around the DTM teams, the #11 BMW driven by Marco Wittmann and #28 BMC Airfilter Audi RS5 driven by Loic Duval managed to give a strong performance on the track to capture second and third place, respectively. It would not be enough to stop the #64 Modulo Epson NSX driven by Narain Karthikeyan from claiming victory.
In a press conference held on Sunday, the ITR President Mr. Gerhard Berger and GTA President Mr. Masaki Bandoh talked about the effort that was made by both organizations and participating manufactures to make this "Dream Race" a reality. Another topic touched upon was the Class 1 regulations that are being implemented and further developed for future races.
