Juichi getting a bit hot in the car, he needs his cool suit

Today was real good, I spent all the AM session testing new tyres and did the 2nd best time of the hole test. There is so much grip in motegi its unreal, you can push real hard and brake so late, mostly after the 100m board. NICE GRIP! 

Juichi did all the long run testing in the PM session trying to figure out our final tyre choice for the comming Motegi race. Carlo did a solid long run showing us hes ready to replace us just in case we get to hot at th Suzuka 1000km race this month.

RESULTS DAY 2:

It was a prety good, trouble free day of testing.

I even had the morning off while Juichi was tesing new tyres. Afternoon was busy though with 4 long runs, car felt real good and I enjoyed drivng. Always important to enjoy!

We also had F3 boy, Carlo Van Dam in for his first test. Hes gonna be our 3rd driver for the Suzuka 1000km.

More to come tomorrow…

RESULTS DAY 1:

1	38	ZENT CERUMO SC430	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	1′45.749	1′47.058	1′45.749	BS
2	1	ARTA NSX	Ralph Firman Takuya Izawa	1′45.807	1′47.058	1′45.807	BS
3	32	EPSON NSX	Loic DUVAL Katsuyuki Hiranaka	1′46.023	1′48.357	1′46.023	DL
4	6	ENEOS SC430	Akira Iida Bjorn Wirdheim Roberto Streit	1′46.134	1′47.118	1′46.134	BS
5	100	RAYBRIG NSX	Yuji Ide Shinya Hosokawa Kosuke Matsuura	1′46.676	1′47.396	1′46.676	BS
6	18	TAKATA DOME NSX	Ryo Michigami Takashi Kogure	1′46.703	1′47.811	1′46.703	BS
7	36	PETRONAS TOM’S SC430	Juichi Wakisaka Andre Lotterer Carlo Van Dam	1′46.766	1′46.766	1′47.210	BS
8	17	REAL NSX	Katsutomo Kaneishi Toshihiro Kaneishi Kodai Tsukakoshi	1′46.833	1′48.474	1′46.833	BS
9	35	houzan KRAFT SC430	Peter Dumbreck Tatsuya Kataoka	1′46.931	1′47.782	1′46.931	BS
10	12	CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R	Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe	1′47.355	1′48.223	1′47.355	BS
11	25	ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430	Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki Ishiura Pierre Kaffer	1′47.497	1′48.661	1′47.497	YH
12	3	YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R	Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo	1′47.586	1′49.696	1′47.586	BS
13	39	DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430	Toranosuke Takagi Andre Couto Koki Saga	1′47.816	1′48.169	1′47.816	DL
14	22	MOTUL AUTECH GT-R	Michael Krumm Masataka Yanagida Dominik Schwager	1′48.167	1′48.775	1′48.167	BS
15	24	WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R	J.P.L.De Oliveira Seiji Ara	1′48.538	1′49.389	1′48.538	YH
16	23	XANAVI NISMO GT-R	Satoshi Motoyama Benoit Treluyer Fabio Carbone	1′48.677	1′49.475	1′48.677

Full site coming soon…

Hi everybody!

I know…. its been a while since things have been updated…. Sorry!  But heck this!  here it is again! New website, new blog! I promess, im gonna try to keep it up to date as much as possible with racing news, private lifestyle, my projects and some fun stuff!

Andre

If you speak Japanese you can buy one of my T-SHirts from here..

Weather
Qualifying/Raceday: Cloudy but dry
Temperatures: 24deg C (Ambient)/ 27deg C(Track)

Circuit: Sportsland Sugo (Miyagi Pref)
Track length / race distance: 3.704km / 81Laps

PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom’s bag a point and shed 20kg
The PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom’s recently added a point to their total haul after finishing 10th at the fifth round of the 2008 Super GT Championship. The round, which took place at the Sportsland Sugo in the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan last Sunday, proved to be a challenging outing for the team. (Japanese Version)

Despite being 10kg lighter as a result from the outing at the Sepang International Circuit a month ago, the team still had a 50kg handicap weight, making the PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom’s No. 36 the heaviest among the Toyota Lexus SC430s on the grid on Sunday. The team were however among the better qualifiers on Saturday when Andre Lotterer and Juichi Wakisaka both qualified the car to start from 5th on the grid.

Though a relatively short circuit, Saturday’s qualifying was a hive of activity as both drivers made the most of the weight handicap as Andre Lotterer produced a strong drive in the first qualifying session to qualify fifth. A repeat performance in the Super Lap qualifying, the German’s run in the final time attack earned the team a fifth place start for raceday..

Despite the morning drizzle and fog over the circuit, the weather did change for the better though it remained overcast prior to the race. As the starting driver, Andre was able to maintain his start position and was within reach with the top group for the first part of the race However, 10 laps in, the German lost the left front spoiler, affecting the car’s downforce, particularly in the middle and high-speed corners.

As a result, the German struggled to keep the car on the track before handing over the car to teammate Juichi Wakisaka. The Japanese also struggled with the car through his stint in the race. More drama ensued as Wakisaka spun and was hit by a GT300 car. Though he was able to recover and continue, he had lost valuable positions. In spite of the difficulties throughout the race, the team was able to finish 10th to secure a point and another 20kg weight reduction for the next race.

No. 36 PETRONAS TOM’S SC430
Qualifying: 5th, Race: 10th

Juichi Wakisaka (JPN)
“We had a difficult this time around but that’s racing. We had a really good car, that was fast despite the weight handicap. We demonstrated a good race pace and I think we could have made it a podium finish if we did not have all the problems in the race. With all the problems,we were still able to come away with a point and 20kg less for the next race. So, there are definite positives from this round and am looking forward to the longest race of the season in Suzuka.”

Andre Lotterer (DEU)
“I think we had a good opportunity for a good race this weekend. The qualifying was really good, although we were still heavier compared to the other Toyota Lexus SC430s. The car felt really good and we could have made it to the podium. Then I lost a lot of downforce after we lost the spoiler, which made the car very difficult to keep the car on the track. Then again, even with all the trouble we had, we still managed to get a point and more importantly we will be lighter by 20kgs. This is crucial as we head to the longest race of the season at the Suzuka 1000km race.”

Masanori Sekiya, Team Director:
“This was a really disappointing round, as we brought a car that was able to have finished 2nd or 3rd in Sugo, but this is racing. From the point of view of the overall championship, being 20kgs lighter for the season’s longest and toughest race at Suzuka is definitely a positive. In addition, our form is good and I think we can maintain our strong position for the remaining races of the season.”

Weather
Qualifying (Saturday): Sunny and Dry; Temperature: 36°C (Ambient) / 53°C (Track)
Raceday (Sunday): Sunny and Dry; Temperature: 34°C (Ambient) / 45°C (Track)

Race Format
Track / length: Suzuka / 5.807km
Race 1: 30Laps
Race 2: 20Laps

German picks up another podium finish in hot Suzuka race

The fifth round of the 2008 Formula Nippon Championship at the Suzuka circuit proved another strong outing for the PETRONAS Team Tom’s with driver Andre Lotterer bagging another 2nd place finish in the first of the weekend’s two races. Though narrowly missing out on another podium finish, the German finished fourth in the second race of the outing. Adding another 10 points to his tally, the result keeps the German in second place in the championship behind leader Tsugio Matsuda. Meanwhile, for teammate Seiji Ara, the round proved a tough one as the Japanese finished 13th and 11th in race 1 and 2, respectively. 

Second fastest during Friday’s free practice session, the German had expected to continue his pace through to Saturday’s qualifying. However, the extreme conditions reduced the time frame to allow for the most optimum tyre grip, Andre Lotterer was still able to set the fifth fastest time. As for teammate Ara, after being knocked out of the first qualifying round, the Japanese had to settle for 18th spot for Sunday. With similar conditions continuing over the weekend, the two main concerns on an extremely hot raceday were the tyre grip and heat exhaustion.

Though making up a position at the start of the race on Sunday, the German also struggled in the hot conditions with tyre grip in the first part of the race. On the fifth lap, Lotterer took third position after one of the drivers ahead of him went off . Gaining another position later to move to second, he was able to keep Takashi Kogure behind him to hang on to second. Teammate Ara also made the most of the conditions to finish 13th despite starting from 18th on the grid.

Although starting from 7th on the grid based on the top-8 reverse system adopted for the second race, Lotterer was able to move up the order at the start to move himself up to 4th. Despite the safety car period deployed on the first lap, the German was able to retain his position at the restart on the fourth lap through to the end, though narrowly missing out on the final podium position by sixth tenths of a second. Teammate Ara was also able to gain a position at the start and later moved up into 11th, a position he held through to the chequered flag.

Andre Lotterer (Car No. 36)
Race 1: 2nd / Race 2: 4th
“I think it was probably one of the toughest race so far, especially with the conditions we had to race in. The car was sliding quite a lot from very early part of the race 1, especially low speed corner. I knew that the heat was going to make it difficult on tyres, but I had to make the most of the situation. Overall, I am happy with the result. Finishing 2nd and 4th for both races means I get 10 more points. This will motivate me to keep on pushing!”

Nobuhide Tachi, Team Director
“Thanks to our drivers, we managed to get another podium finish. But we still need to find the best set up for the cars as both drivers struggled to keep the car on the track. It cost them driving in such difficult and hot conditions. As far as for achieving our aim, Andre is still 2nd in the championship, which means we will continue to push for the coming rounds.”