SuperGT round 2 is on Sunday and teams were out at Okayama International Circuit today for the two Friday practice sessions. Here’s our GT500 class update.

Session 1 started at 10:00am. It was cool at only 12 C but skies were clear and the weather was dry. It had rained last night so the circuit was still slightly damp although the racing line cleared up quickly after a few laps and the GT-Rs got down to business. Over the 10 practice laps the Calsonic/IMPUL #12 GT-R turned the best time of 1’24.267 followed by the ARTA #1 NSX, the YellowHat #3 GT-R all inside the 1’24 bracket. More NSXs and GT-Rs lapped just one second behind in the 1’25’s. As for the Toyota’s none were seen anywhere near the top and the fastest was the TOM’s SC430 turning a 1’26.517 putting it in 11th place. It’s clear they have a lot of work to do tonight.

Session 2 was slated to start at 2PM but was pushed back an hour. When the GT500’s finally did get on the track it was already 3.45PM. With new tires and a full load of fuel the GT-R’s made valiant efforts but the TAKATA #18 NSX was the quickest car on the day being the only one to make it into the 1’23’s managing a 1’23.999 second fastest was the Xanavi/NISMO #23 GT-R at 1’24.025 which really is a heroic effort when you consider the 50kg weight handicap earned in SuperGT 2008 round one plus the 55kg extra the GT-R hauls around above the 2007 GT500 car.

The top 10 times from today’s practice look like this:

1. TAKATA #17 NSX – 1’23.999
2. XANAVI NISMO #23 GT-R – 1’24.025
3. REAL #17 NSX – 1’24.116
4. ARTA #1 NSX – 1’24.161
5. MOTUL AUTECH #22 GT-R – 1’24.355
6. CALSONIC IMPUL #12 GT-R – 1’24″367
7. RAYBRIG #100 NSX – 1’24.424
8. YellowHat YMS TOMICA #3 GT-R – 1’24.766
9. EPSON #32 NSX – 1’25.214
10. WOODONE ADVAN Clarion #24 GT-R – 1’25.444

More practice sessions tomorrow at 10AM with qualifying at 2PM. The race itself begins 2PM Sunday.

Link: Photo Gallery: SuperGT GT500 Round 2 – Okayama – Practice Session – 11th April 2008