Next stop: the USA!
The next round of the season takes us to the legendary Laguna Seca circuit, let’s take a look at how the teams and drivers did at the last round in Japan, and how they stack up as we wrap up the first half of the season.
An impressive debut for Nilsemann
Nilsemann2002 made his GT500 debut with Turn One last time out at the Autopolis circuit in Japan, and immediately impressed, taking pole position for the race by a margin of over 0.7 seconds. During the race, a Full Course Caution meant he could only finish in P4, but the 3-time SRF GT-MES champion cemented himself as a competitive contender right out of the gate.
Can anyone stop TSR? Maybe only TSR themselves
Team Simpact Racing have absolutely dominated the first half of the season, with 2 wins in 3 races, and a massive championship lead over second placed team Arrows. The two sister squads of Simpact and Simpact Honda have been regular contenders at the front of the field during the first 3 races, and there is little indication of them slowing down in the coming rounds. Their success has come at a cost though, and they are the team with the most amount of weight ballast mandated on their cars, with Simpact Honda having more ballast than the entire rest of the grid combined.
Arrows continue their charge
Arrows Racing Team have had a good start to the season, with the British squad sitting second in the teams standings, and its lead driver ART_James winning at the second round, they looked strong coming into Autopolis. He could only finish 5th in that race though, but eventual winner Tomsoft’s efforts could not take their 2nd place spot in the championship. These two results mean that he has a hefty amount of ballast coming into Laguna Seca, which could play against him.
The Golden Bears roar along
Golden Bear Motorsport have had a mixed start to the season. After slightly disappointing results in the first 3 rounds, and rumors of a driver change coming into round 4, the team needs a stable and consistent driver lineup to make their way up the grid.
The new teams’ pace remains a mystery
Coming into Round 3, two new squads joined the series, those being C&H Racing and 2 Mutch Racing. C&H and their lead driver zigzagg310 had a disappointing qualifying, starting on the final two rows of the grid. 2 Mutch’s lead driver nuthunmuch qualified 6th, but started last due to technical problems. Both teams left Autopolis with zero points and DNFs due to disconnects. If they can get their problems sorted, we will see their real pace at Laguna Seca.
