All three GT500 manufacturers have gathered for a two-day test with their 2024 machines, with Honda, Toyota and Nissan each running a single car each.
Honda officially unveiled the Civic Type R-GT test car on Monday ahead of the test, while Toyota and Nissan are running upgraded versions of their existing cars, the GR Supra and Z respectively.
Action began on Tuesday morning with a two-hour session, and it was Naoki Yamamoto who took out the Civic for its first laps.
Honda SUPER GT project leader Masahiro Saiki said upon the car’s unveiling: «This time is only a shakedown, so the main thing will be to check the data to see if it matches our simulations, so I’m not worried about the laptimes.
«We’re seeing numbers [from simulations] with a different trend to the NSX, so it will be important to confirm those [on-track].»
#90 GR Supra
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
Nissan’s test car has also undergone significant aero revisions compared to the 2023 model, with a new nose that resembles the upcoming NISMO version of the Z road car that was revealed last year.
It is running on Bridgestone tyres, which could have significance as the marque evaluates a replacement tyre supplier for its two works NISMO-run cars after Michelin’s departure at the end of the year. Impul regular Kazuki Hiramine was at the wheel for the first laps.
The morning session was briefly interrupted by a crash for the Supra, which appeared to have Toyota stalwart Yuji Tachikawa at the wheel.
Action resumes at 2pm local time for another two-hour session, with four more hours of running planned for Wednesday.
This story will be updated
