SUPER GT TYRE TESTING

Yesterday; January 14, 2010 concludes a three day hot weather testing by two of Nissan’s Super GT teams at the 5.543km long Sepang International Circuit.

According to one of the organizer, the teams were mainly testing newly developed tyres that were to be used on the summer races in Japan.

Yokohama Motorsport Department manager, Matsuoka Hirotsugu says the temperature in Malaysia is quite similar to Japan in the summer season.

“It’s hot here all the time thus making it an ideal testing ground for the new hot weather tyre compounds we developed for racing.�

He added that the testing will not only benefit the Super GT cars but also cars in other races that the company supports.

“Super GT is very demanding as the tyres not only have to suit the race track but also the cars and in Super GT we have a wide variety of cars that requires different tyre build.�

This year Yokohama is aiming to capture the championship for both the GT300 and GT500 class in the Super GT championship.

Matsuoka says that since the Super GT have one round here in Sepang, the data collected will not only be used to develop tyres for that round but also the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER).

“We like the MME because it is able to showcase our ability to produce tyres that can withstand the extreme condition of n endurance race and there is no other such race in Asia.�

The super GT season is expected to start around March and the Malaysian round of the race series will be on the 18th to 20th June.

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