Hoppy Team Tsuchiya Rd.8 race report
https://www.as-web.jp/supergt/653292
Takeshi Tsuchiya had a strategy in mind for final round. It's no-tire-change strategy.
The road surface temperature is low because it is a race at the end of November.
Therefore, if you do not change the tires, you do not need to warm up.
In the practice session, Matsui tested two tires.
One is the conventional tire suitable for long runs. The other is a new soft tire.
If the new tires work, it is a strategy to aim for the top by replacing the usual four tires.
However, the new tires did not work due to road surface temperature and the team decided to use the long run tires.
Matsui passed in 7th place in Q1 and Sato won the 11th grid in Q2.
For a successful no-tire-change strategy, you must check the life of the tire.
The team spent 50 laps from the practice session to the warm-up run.
As a result, it was found that the amount of wear was insufficient for the number of race laps.
However, according to Yokohama engineers, the structure of the tires is okay, so the team decided to leave it to the driver.
Team director Tsuchiya asked the two drivers to manage to keep the tires.
Sato was the start driver.
When Sato gave the inside of the corner for GT500 on lap 7, Sato pushed #4 and #4 spun.
After the race, Sato and Tsuchiya apologized to the #4 garage.
Sato made a pit stop on lap 23. No-tire-change strategy was adopted, but a drive-through penalty was imposed for contact with #4.
For the team, the race was over, but Tsuchiya was happy with Matsui's lap time.
That's because the lap time was stable even if the tires chosen by the team lost grip.
Tsuchiya says the team would have been in 9th place without a drive-through penalty.
It seems like a mother chassis car to raise the position with the pit strategy, but if the Yokohama tires are not healthy, the SGT will not be interesting.
Tsuchiya says this season is a season in which everyone has grown.
By choosing Porsche, the team was able to grow both engineering and strategically.
Especially the tires have greatly evolved.
A young Yokohama engineer joined the team and was able to develop tires together.
Tsuchiya was able to logically judge the quality of the tire without feelings.
Through the experience of failure and success, they were able to develop tires by trusting each other while communicating with each other.
Tsuchiya is thinking of entrusting authority to young staff of the team for the next season.
He has a comprehensive strategy, but wants to give the lead role to the young staff.
He wants to take Tsuchiya Engineering to the next stage.