Japan Super GT Championships 2005 set to be Exciting Event
JAPAN SUPER GT 2005 CHAMPIONSHIPS SET TO BE AN EXCITING SERIES
With new cars and drivers forming new teams the Japan Autobacs Super GT 2005 Championships is set to be an exciting and challenging one, according to Secretary General of the GT-A of Japan, Jiro Kaji who are the main organizers of the event.
The lst round of the eight –round of the 2005 championship, formerly known as Japan GT begins March 26-27 at the Okayama International Circuit in Aida.
A total of 44 teams will be participating in the championships, now in its 11th year — 18 in the GT500 class and 26 in the GT300 class. This includes six new cars, eight new drivers and two all-new teams participating.
Jiro said in a pre-event interview that among the new teams which will interest Malaysian motor racing fans is the entry in the GT300 of a new car — the Lotus Sport Exige managed by Malaysia-based Amprex Motorsports. This entry is among the seven new cars in the GT300 which includes an A & S Corvette C6.
At this juncture there are no further details of the drivers of this exciting car, except that it is common knowledge that Malaysian national car manufacturer Proton owns Lotus and Proton has a racing unit called — 3R (Race, Rally and Research).
Amprex Motorsport owned by veteran Kuala Lumpur-resident Japanese driver Genji Hashimoto participated in last year’s GT500 in his Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT.
Jiro confirmed that the Lotus Sport Exige is not an entry in Rd 1 of the championship.
Among the new entries in the GT500 is a Ferrari 550GTS, a McLaren GTR and a Bandai Supra.
Of the manufacturers teams, Jiro said that Toyota had increased the number of Supra cars making it eight units while Honda has modified its NSX car making it more powerful.
A new driver in the GT500 is former F1 and IRL IndyCar Series driver, Taranouke Takagi who will likely race in a Toyota Supra.
He said while some teams have retained their veteran winning teams, others have introduced new drivers and also switched them from the two-power class.
Although most of the drivers are Japanese, there are also drivers from Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Portugal and Italy. Current F1 driver Ralph Schumacher was a former driver in this championship series when it was called JGTC (Japan GT).
Jiro said that with these developments, the 2005 championship is expected to be much more competitive than the 2004 season.
He also that the “internationalization of the GT”series is in progress and there are ongoing discussions to have races in China, South Korea and other countries in Southeast Asia, aside from Malaysia.
The second round of the championship series will be at the new Fuji Speedway, near Tokyo on May 3-4 and the third round at the Sepang F1 Circuit Malaysia on June 24-26.
