Round 4 of the Autobacs Super GT

Pic 1: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Last weekend was the Round 4 of the Autobacs Super GT International Series in Sepang International Circuit. Interestingly it has rather been sort of a 'tradition' for me to attend since the race first came to Malaysia in the year 2000 (at that time it was still called Japan Grand Touring Championship (JGTC)). And I must add that I was really lucky to have access to the paddock and pit every year for the past eight races in Malaysia.

This year was no exception and being the debut year of the Nissan R35 GT-R it's a must for me to catch the race version of the car. The R35 has been on the podium's first position for the past 3 races prior to Sepang International Circuit. It got a 1-2 finish in Suzuka and Okayama and first position in the Fuji GT 500km.

And in Sepang International Circuit?

Another 1-2 finish with the WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R taking first position and MOTUL AUTECH GT-R coming in second. The last place on the podium belongs to the TAKATA DOME NSX. Woohoo......superb results for the R35!

One of the things I notice this year is the lesser crowds; there were only 25,516 spectators against the previous year of 34,150 spectators. That's a drop of 25%!! And to think the management of Sepang International Circuit announced a target of 65,000 people for the race.

Geez....must be the rise in fuel prices and overall increase of cost in living that is keeping the crowd away. This is a sad fact and will potentially affect the future of Super GT in Malaysia for next year. There were a couple of support races but none of them got too much of my attention. The Aston Martin Cup is something new but the rest are well quite just allright in terms of spectatorship; the likes of Asian Supercar Championship, Asian Formula Renault Challenge and the Formula V6 Asia.

The best part of the Super GT is of course the cars, the technology and the race queens!! :P

==Winner Comments==

No. 24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R [GT500]
Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira: “Fantastic! Nothing can beat this feeling. The team, the crew, the tires, everything was in great condition, so I was confident we could win. Last year, ours was a come-from-behind win. But this year the lead machines were also very fast and it was a difficult race where we had to push, push and push the whole race."

Seiji Ara: “As a team, we were aiming for a win here at Sepang. Our Yokohama tires were better in every aspect compared to last year, and that helped us go into the race more aggressively than ever. De Oliviera got us a good position in yesterday's qualifying and he turned the machine over to me today in a good position, which made things easier for us. Both the machine and the tires performed with good consistency and we expected to have a close competition with the other GT-R machines, but it looks like we had more to spare than machine No. 22. The performance was especially good in the low-speed turns, and when No. 22 made a mistake, I was able to pass it with no sweat."

Pic 2: L to R: Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira, Masahiko Kondo & Seiji Ara

No. 77 CUSCO DUNLOP SUBARU IMPREZA [GT300]
Tetsuya Yamano: “Kota [Sasaki] got the pole position for us, so I had a very easy start. The team had told me to go out and get us a 15-second margin and I was able to do that, so it was a perfect race for me. Two years ago, our team manager, Mr. Omizo, brought me to this team saying that he wanted me to help them win with the Impreza. Last year we tried but couldn't turn the effort into results. This year the machine has been very good, so we really wanted that first win, and everyone on the team was determined that this race at Sepang would be it. Everyone did there job to give us this win. I am really happy."

Kota Sasaki: “This is the first time in my life that I have gotten three wins at one event. It has been a fantastic weekend. I am really grateful to all the staff on the team. Yamano-san got us a good margin over 2nd place, but our pit work takes time, so things were very close. I knew the machine was fast, and that made things easier for me mentally, but there were some worries about the durability of the course of a full race, so I was paying full attention to everything. For me this was just another win, but when I think about how long and hard the team has worked for this win, I really feel the weight of it."

Pic 3: L to R: Kouta Sasaki & Tetsuya Yamano

The results are as follows:-

GT 500 Class Top 10

WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R - J.P.L. De Oliveira / Seiji Ara

MOTUL AUTECH GT-R - Michael Krumm / Masataka Yanagida

TAKATA DOME NSX - Ryo Michigami / Takashi Kogure

ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430 - Takeshi Tsuchiya / Hiroaki Ishiura

RAYBRIG NSX - Yuji Ide / Shinya Hosokawa

REAL NSX - Katsutomo Kaneishi / Toshihiro Kaneishi

PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 - Juichi Wakisaka / Andre Lotterer

ENEOS SC430 - Daisuke Ito / Bjorn Wirdheim

YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R - Ronnie Quintarelli / Naoki Yokomizo

houzan KRAFT SC430 - Peter Dumbreck / Tatsuya Kataoka

GT 300 Class Top 10

CUSCO DUNLOP SUBARU IMPREZA - Tetsuya Yamano / Kouta Sasaki

MOLA LEOPALACE Z - Kazuki Hoshino / Hironobu Yasuda

ORC AMEMIYA SGC-7 - Hiroyuki Iiri / Ryo Orime

EBBRO UEMATSU 320R - Ryohei Sakaguchi / Masaki Matsushita

I.M JIHAN CO.LTD APPLE Shiden - Kazuho Takahashi / Hiroki Katoh

DOUBLEHEAD avex apr MR-S - Kyosuke Mineo / Yuya Sakamoto

triple a MURCIE RG-1 - Koji Yamanishi / Atsushi Yogo

WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 408R - Haruki Kurosawa / Shogo Mitsuyama

apr MR-S - Kohei Hirate / Keisuke Kunimoto

DAISHIN ADVAN Z - Takayuki Aoki / Tomonobu Fujii

Here are a small portion of the 5400+ pictures I took during the race. Enjoy!

Pic 4: The R35 safety car

Pic 5: The pit lane before the start of the race

Pic 6: MOTUL AUTECH GT-R

Pic 7: ORC AMEMIYA SGC-7

Pic 8: WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 408R

Pic 9: WedsSport IS350

Pic 10: YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R

Pic 11: DOUBLEHEAD avex apr MR-S

Pic 12: JIMCENTER ADVAN F430

Pic 13: YUNKER POWER TAISAN PORSCHE

Pic 14: XANAVI NISMO GT-R

Pic 15: I.M JIHAN CO.LTD APPLE Shiden

Pic 16: I.M JIHAN CO.LTD APPLE Shiden in the nude

Pic 17: triple a GALLARDO RG-3

Pic 18: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Pic 19: 8 individual throttle bodies in the CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Pic 20: ARTA Garaiya

Pic 21: Aeroworks on the GREEN TEC KUMHO IS350

Pic 22: KUMHO BOXSTER-GT

Pic 23: WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R

Pic 24: DAISHIN ADVAN Z

Pic 25: PETRONAS TOM'S SC430

Pic 26: EPSON NSX

Pic 27: WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC 408R

Pic 28: DOUBLEHEAD avex apr MR-S tailing the KUMHO BOXSTER-GT

Pic 29: Rear shot of the ZENT CERUMO SC430

AND OF COURSE, THE OBLIGATORY RACE QUEEN PICTURES AS FOLLOWS...............

Up close - Nissan GT-R (R35)

Pic 1: The new Godzilla, the Nissan GT-R

The new Nissan GT-R created waves of excitement in the motoring world. I guess it's now the must have and one of the most admired automobile for the younger generation. Surprisingly even with the high price tag of RM700,000 (USD213,240) there is already quite a number of the R35s running around in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Up until now, I've only admired them from afar but thanks to bro Leonard, I've got the opportunity see one up close.

The particular unit is coated in Super Black (KH3) and looks simply stunning. You've got to be seeing it in the flesh to appreciate the beauty of this 'monster' and get an idea of how big the car is. Admiring the car up close there's a couple of items that I didn't know existed in the car like the flush-mounted aluminum door handles and the built in Electronic Toll Collection System (ETC) which is a automatic fare collection system for the highways in Japan.

Pic 2: The Electronic Toll Collection System card slot

The packaging of the engine is very neat with the washer reservoir, brake fluid reservoir, etc.. all hidden under neat covers. The VR38DETT twin-turbo V6 acts like a work of art on display under the aluminum hood. :P

Pic 3: The VR38DETT ~ 3.5 seconds for the century sprint

After seeing many videos of reviewers tinkering with the set-up switches in the centre panel, finally I've got the chance to flick it up and down myself. Allowing changes to gear shift characteristics, damper settings and stability control settings to be adjusted according to driving conditions; that's a very cool toy. But even cooler is the multifunction display. It's a bit slow to switch between displays though. But hey, it looks superb!

Pic 4: The dash

The Brembo brakes are massive at 380mm in diameter front and rear with two-piece floating-rotors coupled with 6-piston front and 4-piston rear monoblock callipers. I think they are bigger than my dinner plates at home. :O

I tried sitting at the rear but even with my average Asian height, my head is already touching the ceiling, or rather the rear windscreen. I doubt those seats will be used as the footwell is almost non-existent. Hahaha :D

Here are some more pictures of the beast......

Pic 5: Huge Brembos behind 20" super-lightweight forged-aluminum wheels

Pic 6: The meter display. Note the paddle shifters for the GR6 dual-clutch transmission on the steering wheel

Pic 7: The simple yet functional centre fascia

Pic 8: Ultra cool multifunction display

Pic 9: Rear view of the R35. Note the whole rear is practically one piece of bumper!

Pic 10: Exhaust note at idle produces a menacing deep growl

Michael Krumm Ready to Claim Third Malaysian Victory at Super GT‏

Pic 1: The Xanavi NISMO 2006 GT-R making 'dough nuts'

Two-time Sepang Super GT winner Michael Krumm today provided a sneak preview of the hot battle awaiting at the upcoming 2008 Super GT International Series Malaysia at Sunway Pyramid and immediately declared that he was ready to claim his third victory on Malaysian soil.

Driving the Xanavi NISMO Skyline race machine, Krumm, who is a two-time overall champion, thrilled the crowd at the open car park area as he drummed the machine to its thunderous roar and making squeeking ‘dough-nut’ spins around the open car park area.

Speaking at a press conference before the Street Demo, the German driver said the 2008 Nissan GT-R machine would be ‘much more powerful’ than the one used at the street demo; adding the race in Sepang would be an exciting thrilling affair for the fans. “What you are about to see here will just be a small portion of the real action that would be happening in Sepang next weekend; it’s just to give you a feeling of the atmosphere of the race,” said Krumm, who would be partnering Japan’s Masataka Yanagida for the race.

We shall see what happens this coming weekend...... :)

Pic 2: That's Micheal Krumm in the background

Front mounted intercooler ..... yea how I wish

Pic 1: If only........

This is not a mod post but rather a post to express my wish for a front mounted intercooler for the ER34. Been wishing for the ER34 to have one mounted up front instead of the puny factory side mounted intercooler.

Currently when boosted higher than the factory boost level, power will only increase up to a certain level. Any higher boost and the ER34 actually drops in power. This is due to the increase in air intake temperature. With a larger front mounted intercooler, the drop in intake temperature provides a denser intake charge to the RB25DET NEO and allows more air and fuel to be combusted and thus increasing the power output of the engine.

Sigh....talking about air fuel ratio, the ER34 is running pretty lean at the moment. Need to do something really soon. :(

The ER34 is a money sucker!!! Grrr........

Pic 2: How I wish........