For final month’s fourth spherical of the season at Fuji Speedway, JLOC introduced certainly one of its two GT300 contenders, the #88 entry, in Evo2 spec for the primary time, having made the improve throughout the two-month break that adopted the earlier race at Suzuka.
Nevertheless, the crew elected to maintain the #87 automotive in its unique specification for each that race and the next one at Suzuka amid considerations about Stability of Efficiency.
That proved to be a deft resolution because it was the #87 machine shared by Natsu Sakaguchi and Kosuke Matsuura that was the extra aggressive of the 2 JLOC entries, ending a detailed second behind the UpGarage Honda of Takashi Kobayashi and Shun Koide.
Yuya Motojima and Takashi Kogure in the meantime introduced house the Evo2-spec #88 Lamborghini for a fourth-place end.
JLOC crew boss Isao Noritake advised Motorsport.com: “The #87 automotive will keep in Evo1 spec till the tip of the season. The reason being, as predicted, the BoP is hard for the Evo2, and we really feel the Evo1 remains to be capable of combat.
“Subsequent 12 months, we’ll work with Lamborghini to area two vehicles in Evo2 spec.”
Whereas the #87 machine was helped to a second-place end at Suzuka by the beneficial timing of a late full-course warning, Matsuura mentioned that variations within the BoP assist to clarify why the older automotive was capable of outpace its newer sibling.
“We’re working with two air restrictors [at 39mm] on the #87 automotive, however on the #88 automotive they solely have one [at 51mm], so they’re slightly slower on the straights than us,” Matsuura mentioned.
“I believe it will likely be robust for the Evo2 in the event that they don’t revise the BoP.”
JLOC swapped spherical its chassis after the large crash Matsuura suffered on the third spherical at Suzuka in June, which led to the #87 automotive being written off.
The previous #88 automotive was rechristened because the #87 from the next race at Fuji onwards, with a completely new automotive being delivered in Evo2 spec to exchange it.
Matsuura reported that “the sensation is a bit completely different” with the previous #88 machine he and Sakaguchi are piloting now, in contrast with the automotive that was used for the primary three races earlier than being written off at Suzuka.
“The [old] #87 was a little bit of an understeer automotive, however this one is extra of an oversteer automotive,” mentioned the ex-IndyCar driver.
“It’s exhausting to check as a result of the BoP and handicap weight change each race, however after we modified the automotive, the outcomes have been barely higher, so possibly the [old] #88 was sooner.”
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