The Sakura marque has failed to register a win in the opening four races of the season for the first time since 2017, with GT500 rivals Nissan and Toyota having split honours evenly between them in the first half of the 2023 campaign.
Nissan’s #3 car, the NDDP Racing Z of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi, leads the standings following its win earlier this month at Fuji, five points clear of the #36 TOM’S Toyota GR Supra of Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata in second.
Honda’s top representative in the championship is the Team Kunimitsu car of Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino, who are 22 points behind in third with a best finish of second at Fuji in May.
Honda's SUPER GT season so far:
| No. | Team | Drivers | Pos. | Pts | Best finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Kunimitsu |
N. Yamamoto T. Makino |
3rd | 27 | 2nd (Fuji I) |
| 17 | Real Racing |
K. Tsukakoshi N. Matsushita |
6th | 21 | 3rd (Fuji I) |
| 64 | Nakajima Racing |
T. Izawa K. Ota |
=9th | 16 | 2nd (Fuji II) |
| 16 | ARTA | N. Fukuzumi H. Otsu |
=9th | 16 | 3rd (Fuji II) |
| 8 | ARTA |
T. Nojiri T. Oyu |
12th | 11 | 3rd (Okayama) |
Honda SUPER GT project leader Masahiro Saiki isn’t expecting a turnaround on home turf this weekend at Suzuka, where the brand has gone winless since 2018, but is optimistic of being able to recover lost ground in the two following races.
“In recent years, Suzuka has become a weak point for us,” Saiki said. “We haven’t been able to win at all.
“Somehow at Fuji we’ve been able to score poles and podiums in recent years, so I was confident it would be okay this time, but our Achilles’ heel is Suzuka.
“At Sugo and Autopolis we’ve had relatively good results, so I hope we can catch up and surpass our rivals there.”
Reflecting on Team Kunimitsu’s season so far, Makino admitted wet weather in two of the four races held this year hurt the team’s chances, with both the Okayama curtain-raiser and the most recent Fuji race being dominated by Michelin-shod Nissans.
But like Saiki, Makino is looking forward to the Sugo and Autopolis rounds, which precede the season finale at Motegi in November.
“It’s been a difficult season,” said Makino, who appears on course to race this weekend after his big crash last weekend at Motegi in Super Formula. “At Okayama, I made a mistake in the FCY situation, and last time at Fuji we finished P3, but we got a time penalty.
“It hasn’t been smooth compared to the last two or three years, and if it rains, there’s no chance to beat the Michelin guys. But we are still the top Honda in the championship.
“The car is quite strong, especially in qualifying. We got all five cars through to Q2 [at Fuji]. But the race is difficult because the straight line speed is less compared to the other cars.
“Cornering speed is good but the races have been hard to manage. That’s why Honda has been struggling a bit, I think.
“I think the next race at Suzuka will be difficult, especially for us [due to the Team Kunimitsu car’s success ballast], but I think we have a big chance for Sugo and Autopolis, so hopefully we can have good results there.”
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