Toyota junior Koyama, the reigning Formula Regional Japanese champion, is registered as the third driver for the Arnage Racing-run #50 Lexus RC F GT3 this season alongside Igor Fraga and Yuga Furutani.
Both Fraga and Furutani were able to complete the rookie test in the opening official pre-season test at Okayama earlier this month, with Koyama only completing a small handful of laps at the end of the second day.
SUPER GT regulations require newcomers to complete 12 consecutive laps at a pace acceptable to the GTA, without incidents or running off-course.
Despite completing 21 laps at the wheel of the Anest Iwata Lexus on Saturday, Koyama was unable to clear this requirement amid the difficult weather conditions, and a further attempt on Sunday morning also resulted in failure.
While Koyama is not scheduled to race in the opening race at Okayama next month, she must complete the rookie test a later date in order to take part in the longer 450km races that she is slated to contest.
«Yesterday [Saturday] the main thing was to clear the rookie test,» Koyama told Motorsport.com. «Last time at Okayama I was able to do just three laps to get used to running with the GT500 cars.
«Fuji is a much bigger circuit so there was no problem on that side. But with the timing of the rain, and the testing menu, it was difficult, especially with the limited number of tyre sets and the unpredictable weather.
«A lot of things didn’t fit together. This morning I tried again, I was first out of the pits, but the amount of surface water was really high. It was good practice for running in heavy rain, but I wasn’t able to achieve the goal.»
The #50 Lexus was one of a large number of cars in the GT300 class to sit out the afternoon session entirely, preventing Koyama from having another attempt at clearing the required 12 laps.
«Now we’re thinking about where I can do the rookie test,» she continued. «I’m not scheduled to race at Okayama, but at the moment the plan is for me to do the second race at Fuji, so before then…»
Masami Kunii, who is in charge of the Super Licence squad that helps run the new-look Anest Iwata team, revealed that permission is being sought from the GTA for Koyama to fulfil the rookie test requirements in a test immediately following the opening round at Okayama.
«We think we can do it on the day after the Okayama race, on Monday,» said Kunii. «That’s what we want to do, but it depends if someone from the GTA stays behind [to oversee the test].»
While Koyama was unable to complete the rookie test at Fuji, it’s understood Team LeMans third driver Seiya Jin was able to clear the requirements at the wheel of the team’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 on Saturday.
The other rookies in the field, including Bruno Spengler (BMW Team Studie), Shun Koide (Team UpGarage Honda), Liang Jiatong (Pacific Racing Mercedes, pictured below), Reimei Ito and Yugo Iwasawa (both Yogibo Racing Honda), all completed their 12-lap runs in the Okayama test.
#9 PACIFIC Vspo NAC AMG
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
