Ahead of the Fuji 500km in May, GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh announced that the current standard race distance would be increased from 300km to 350 or 360km, supposedly to promote better fuel economy.
Bandoh reiterated those intentions at the final round at Motegi, revealing that the SUPER GT schedule will be held exclusively on Japanese soil for the third year in a row.
While the drivers surveyed by Motorsport.com generally rated the idea positively, a recurring theme was that a longer race with just one pit stop would allow teams and drivers much less flexibility when entering the pits due to fuel economy concerns.
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Currently, GT500 teams tend to pit relatively early, often not long after the minimum distance of a third, so as not to get caught by a warning period, but some crews prefer to leave their stops later.
At Motegi, the earliest pit stop among GT500 runners was on lap 23 of 63, while the last was on lap 32. A 350km race on the Tochigi Prefecture circuit would mean 73 laps, or 75 laps in the case of a 360km race.
Nissan driver Ronnie Quintarelli made his stop on lap 28 and gave the number 23 NISMO GT-R a second stint of 35 laps, and the Italian believes that any strategy deviation would be lost with a longer race.
“I’m not sure about fuel consumption, I think it could be at the limit,” said Quintarelli. “It will be critical for the tires and there will be no tank window. Perhaps all the cars will pits within three laps.” [of one another].
“I think it will be like the first two stints at Fuji [500km]. If they do, it’s fine, but it will be hard for fuel economy. “
Real Racing Honda’s Bertrand Baguette was one of the early stoppers on lap 25, sharing Quintarelli’s opinion on the strategy but believing the GT500 cars would have little trouble making the extra distance.
“At least the first driver will do more laps because I only drove 25 laps in Motegi!” quipped the Belgian. “At least there are more opportunities than drivers to make a difference, but I think it will make the strategy easier because it makes the pit window smaller.
“Our first stint was 25 laps and our second stint was 40 laps, which means that we have an easy 15 lap lead. That’s 70 km on this route, so the engine can easily handle the additional distance [on two tanks of fuel]. “
TOMS Toyota man Ryo Hirakawa shared Quintarelli’s concerns about fuel economy but otherwise supported it.
“I don’t know if we can go 360 km with two full tanks,” said Hirakawa. “We’d have to save a lot of fuel just to make one pit stop. But it would be more interesting for the strategy, so it could be more fun.
“It’s good to try new things, like Formula 1 with sprint qualifying [at the British Grand Prix]. It’s good for the fans, so I’m for it. “
