By Johan Laubscher
The 2013 Japanese Super GT Series was a difficult season for the Audi
teams, but Hitotsuyama Racing never gave up and continued to push with their
Audi R8 LMS ultra.
Two Audi teams committed to the series at the beginning of the year. Hitotsuyama Racing entered a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra, along with äpr racing who entered one 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Hitotsuyama Racing competed at all of the rounds this season, however äpr racing made a mid-season change to run with a Nissan GTR GT3 vehicle.
Two Audi teams committed to the series at the beginning of the year. Hitotsuyama Racing entered a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra, along with äpr racing who entered one 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Hitotsuyama Racing competed at all of the rounds this season, however äpr racing made a mid-season change to run with a Nissan GTR GT3 vehicle.
The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog
Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual
Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links
throughout the review below:
Super GT Test: Okayama
The official Super GT test days were hosted at Okayama in Japan.
Hitotsuyama Racing and äpr racing each had one Audi R8 LMS ultra at the test,
with the former being a brand new 2013 car. The latest generation car proved to
be very competitive at the tests.
Round 1: Okayama
The Japanese Super GT got underway at Okayama. Two Audi R8 LMS ultra
cars were entered. A 2013 spec car from Hitotsuyama Racing and a 2012 spec car
for äpr racing. The organisers added a 40kg penalty to the 2013 car during the
week leading up to the event. It proved to be a difficult weekend as the cars
qualified in the lower half of the field and finished fourteenth (äpr) and
sixteenth (Hitotsuyama).
Round two of Japanese Super GT Championship took place at the Fuji
Speedway. The two regular Audi R8 LMS ultra teams took part. Hitotsuyama Racing
with a 2013 R8 LMS ultra and äpr racing with a 2012 R8 LMS ultra. Both teams
qualified outside of the top ten for the race held on the Monday following the
weekend.
Round 3: Sepang
Sepang in Malaysia hosted the third Japanese Super GT round. Two Audi
R8 LMS ultra cars took part, one Audi R8 LMS ultra each from Hitotsuyama Racing
(2013 spec) and äpr racing (2012 spec). The Audis again struggled in this
round, Hitotsuyama were unable to qualify after suffering clutch problems and
äpr qualified twenty-second. During the races the difficult weekend continued,
but the Hitotsuyama Racing entry was able to improve to fourteenth and the äpr
racing car up to seventeenth.
Super GT Test: Suzuka
The Japanese Super GT held a two-day test at Suzuka this week.
Hitotsuyama Racing took part in the test, fielding their 2013 Audi R8 LMS
ultra. This was also the first event where the äpr racing team fielded their
new Nissan GT3 car, having switched from their 2012 R8 LMS ultra which they
fielded during 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Hitotsuyama Racing did well
during the test, placing within the top ten during some of the sessions.
Round 4: Sugo
Round four of the Japanese Super GT was at Sugo for a 300 km event.
Only one Audi was entered, the 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Hitotsuyama Racing. It
has proven to be a difficult year in Super GT. The Hitotsuyama R8 LMS ultra
qualified in nineteenth. The race itself saw the team progressing steadily. A
good call on strategy, which saw them running on slicks in difficult weather,
netted them a good top ten result by finishing in eighth (within the GT300
class). A very positive result for the team in a very testing season.
Round 5: Suzuka
The Suzuka 1000 km was round five of the Japanese Super GT Series this
weekend. The Audi R8 LMS ultra of Hitotsuyama Racing was entered with their two
regular drivers: Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons. They qualified twelfth and
finished the grueling endurance event in eleventh place within the GT300 class.
Round 6: Fuji Speedway
The Japanese Super GT hosted round six at Fuji Speedway. The single
2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Hitotsuyama Racing was on the grid. Their regular
drivers were back in the car this weekend: Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons.
It has proven to be a difficult 2013 season for the team and this continued in
qualifying, as they qualified in twenty-fourth place within the GT300 class.
Despite coming from twenty-fourth on the grid, the team was able to move up
through the field. They stormed into the top ten and got as high as eighth.
Unfortunately lady luck did not smile upon the team, as a gearbox issue lost
them time with only four laps to go. They ultimately finished thirteenth in
GT300.
Super GT Test: Twin Ring Motegi
The Japanese Super GT held an official test sessions at Twin Ring
Motegi this week. The tests took place on Monday and Tuesday. Hitotsuyama
Racing was present and took part with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The team’s
regular two drivers, Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons, were joined by Oliver
Jarvis for the test day. The first day was cancelled due to severe weather
conditions. The #21 Hitotsuyama Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra placed seventh during
the morning session and eleventh during the afternoon session. Jarvis, who has
competed in Japan for many years, was included in the test to assist
Hitotsuyama Racing. Audi Japan and Audi Sport customer racing made the decision
to add Jarvis to the test day line-up, however it has been mentioned that
Jarvis will not be competing in any of the Super GT races.
Round 7: AutopolisAutopolis hosted round seven of the Japanese Super GT. Hitotsuyama Racing was entered with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra and their regular two drivers: Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons. They qualified very well by taking seventh place within the GT300 class. The final race result was twenty-first position and five laps down, after a race with many incidents.
Round 8:Twin Ring Motegi
The finale of the Japanese Super GT was held at Twin Ring Motegi this
weekend, the eighth round of the year. Once again Hitotsuyama Racing was the
only Audi R8 LMS ultra entrant with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra entry. The #21
Audi was driven by their regular driver line-up of Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard
Lyons. It has been a difficult year for the team. They placed twenty-first
during practice and qualified fifteenth within the GT300 class. The race itself
saw the Hitotsuyama Racing team coming home for a twenty-first place finish.
This event concluded the 2013 Super GT season, but many of the teams will be
competing at the special non-championship event in November, the Fuji Sprint
Cup.
Special Round: Fuji Sprint CupHitotsuyama Racing concluded their 2013 season at the JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup this weekend, a special non-championship event for the Japanese Super GT and Super Formula. It has been a long and difficult season, but the team never gave up and that was the case again this weekend.
As was the case during the bulk of the 2013 Super GT season, the sole Audi entry in the GT300 class this weekend was the #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Hitotsuyama Racing. Their regular two-man driver line-up of Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons were behind the wheel. They had a season of ups and downs as they worked against bad luck and a negative Balance of Performance, but they never gave up and worked hard all season long, despite the setbacks.
The Fuji Sprint Cup was split into two sprint races per category. Each car had two drivers and each driver took part in one of the two sprint races individually. The two Super GT classes were also split for the races, running GT500 and GT300 separately in the sprints.
Qualifying was held on Friday, with each driver qualifying for his own respective race. In the Hitotsuyama Racing camp it was Richard Lyons in the R8 LMS ultra for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki took the wheel for race two.
It was a difficult qualifying session which saw the R8 LMS ultra relegated to the rear of the field, as has been the case in Super GT all season long. Richard Lyons qualified nineteenth for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki qualified twenty-first for the second race.
The first GT300 race got underway on Saturday morning. Hitotsuyama Racing pushed hard with Richard Lyons and the race concluded with the #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra having recovered up to thirteenth place by the finish, up from the nineteenth starting position.
The second and final GT300 race concluded the JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup weekend and the 2013 season for Hitotsuyama Racing. Akihiro Tsuzuki piloted the #21 R8 LMS ultra to nineteenth position.
2013 was a long and difficult season for Hitotsuyama Racing, but they never gave up and continued to give their all at every single event. It remains to be seen what the team’s plans are for 2014, following a post on their Facebook page on 4 November: “Thanks to our drivers Akihiro and Richard, mechanics, and everyone who supported us this season. We will be back with a new package next year. Please stay tuned.”
Photo credit:
Hitotsuyama Racing
RacerLink
äpr Racing Team
Audi Sport Communication / Media
