Favored by good weather, the third round of the Super GT series was held at Fuji Speedway. The event in May is now a popular fixture during the Golden Week holiday period in Japan.

This Fuji round in May had been a 500km race for years but it was shortened to 400km this year. However, the rules still required two pit stops and two driver changes for each car. Therefore, it wasn't allowed to go through the race distance with only one pit stop to get the better of the two stoppers, even if the car has good fuel efficiency. This also made each stint shorter, which could lead to a faster race pace. Probably expecting more exciting battles than before, almost 80,000 spectators visited the venue during the weekend.

The ADVAN shoed cars made a good start of the season and won both GT300 and GT500 classes in the season opener at Okayama International Circuit. Among them, HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R, which scored its maiden win on the home soil there, performed well and got some points again in the second round held at Suzuka, so the weight handicap it had to carry in this round reached to 46kg. Despite this heavy weight penalty, the car made a good showing which was enough to go in the Super Lap session with the eighth fastest time in the first qualifying, after registering the sixth fastest time in the preceding free practice.

However, Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira spun off at the Coca Cola corner of the decisive time attack lap, probably because he was too eager for a good starting position, and he had to settle for the eighth grid for the race. Meanwhile, Aston Martin Akasaka DBR9, which skipped the previous Suzuka round, now got the customized tires for the British car and showed better performance than it did in its first appearance at Okayama.

In the GT300 class, as many as six ADVAN equipped cars contended for the pole position in the Super Lap session and Daishin ADVAN Ferrari sat on the front row, followed by Weds Sport IS350 and Jim Gainer ADVAN F430 as the latter jumped up from sixth in the previous session to fourth. On the other hand, the third fastest car in the practice sessions, Privee Apple Shiden, was hit by a power steering failure just before going out for a qualifying attack and had to start from the undeserved 18th grid, looking to catch up the leading opponents in the race.

When the race day - May 4, Monday - came, it looked to be a perfect day for racing with dry track surfaces under the slightly overcast sky. But, as the time to start approached, the sky was starting to clear up and the bright sunshine brought the surface temperature up to 38℃ with the atmosphere temperature at 22℃ just before the start. Those temperatures gradually came down during the race; still the conditions weren't easy for drivers, cars and tires.

The race started after the rolling lap and the leading competitors entered Turn 1 in a close pack. And when this echelon came to the Hairpin Corner, two cars touched each other and spun. De Oliveira skillfully steered clear of this incident and managed to jump up to second at the end of the opening lap.

Then he pursued the race leader so hard that he steadily cut down the gap. On Lap 9, the Brazilian eventually overtook the leader at Turn 1, making the most of a slip streaming on the long straightaway of Fuji Speedway.

De Oliveira and HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R made steady headway until its first scheduled pit stop just after the 20 lap mark, while the chasing opponent (car no.1) came in to the pit on the same lap, so their positions might be changed by their crews' working efficiency during the stop.

Kondo Racing's crew finished the tire change and refueling in 35 seconds but, when Seiji Ara took over the car from de Oliveira and came back to the track, his main rival was in front of him, thanks to the slightly quicker pit works. On top of this, a Lexus SC430 (car no.36) made the most of a longer first stint and managed to take the top slot after the car completed its first pit stop in Lap 29. As a result, Ara was then in third but he kept the position until their second stop.

Ara came in to the pit at the end of Lap 55 as planned. After the routine work, de Oliveira took the wheel of the car again and resumed the race. When the second round of the leading competitors completed, HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R was in third again.

Although de Oliveira kept a consistent pace, he was then passed by a hotly pursuing Honda NSX (car no.8) which was running a relatively shorter third stint because its second stint was a bit longer than those of others. After that, he had to defend his position from another pursuer, a Lexus SC430 (car no.6), but he narrowly managed to finish the race in fourth.

With this point earning finish, the de Oliveira/Ara pair is now the leader of the drivers' championship and Kondo Racing is also leading the teams' championship. Since the next round will be held at Sepang, Malaysia, where the team won the races for two years running, the Kondo Racing's further leap forward can be expected.

For reference sake, HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R and the NISMO run Nissan GT-R (car no.1) used the redesigned rear fenders which have an effect to increase the top speed in exchange for a bit of down force. Therefore, these two cars had less side force in corners but the deficit was covered by the superior grip level of ADVAN racing tires. Mainly because of the win in the season opener, HIS ADVAN Kondo GT-R had to carry a 46kg weight which was the second heaviest in the GT500 class but the car was able to lead the NISMO run car in the first stint, which clearly proved the ADVAN racing tire's performance in front of the huge crowd of spectators.

Turning to the GT300 class, Takayuki Aoki in Daishin ADVAN Ferrari overtook the pole sitting opponent (car no.43) during the opening lap and led the early stage of the race.

While Aoki's Ferrari was faster on the straightaway, the opponent closed the gap in Sector 3 which is the most technical part of the circuit. The game seesawed for a while but Aoki eventually lost the lead position on Lap 16.

Although the chasing Ferrari didn't lose much ground to the car no.43, Aoki had to come in to the pit earlier than the opponent on Lap 30. So they once ceased fire and, when all leading competitors of the class rounded off the first pit stops, Aoki's partner, Tomonobu Fujii, was in second again but the gap to the race leader had grown larger.

Daishin ADVAN Ferrari steadily ran through the remaining laps with one more pit stop and finished in second. M7 Mutiara Motors Amemiya SGC7 took the last place of the podium after a bruising battle with Weds Sport IS350. This meant that the Amemiya team got on the podium in all three races this season and kept the runner-up position in the championship.

Whereas the race winner of the class changed all four tires at each of its two pit stops, the leading ADVAN shoed cars, Daishin ADVAN Ferrari and M7 Mutiara Motors Amemiya SGC7, kept their tires unchanged at the first stops and, after running through two stints with one set of tires, the Ferrari changed only two tires on the left hand side of the car at the second stop, while the Amemiya's Mazda RX-7 didn't change the tires again and went throughout the race with just one set! Such strategies can only be possible with the ADVAN racing tires which had high level of grip and incredible durability as well.

Moreover, another ADVAN equipped GT300 car, avex apr COROLLA Axio, which was newly introduced this season, finished in seventh and beat its sister car using other tire brand, which was another proof of the ADVAN racing tire's superiority.

　[Result : 4th in the GT500 class]
"Our weight handicap had increased only 6kg but the race was really tough for us this time.
"But our race pace was quite consistent despite the car was so heavy, thanks to the ADVAN's effort to supply us the strong and usable race tires.
"With this fourth finish, we will have more weight handicap for the next race. This means our third consecutive win in Sepang will be quite difficult, to be honest. But we have a plenty of data for the circuit and we are confident in our car and tires, so we'll try our best."

　[Result : 2nd in the GT300 class]
"We took the best possible strategy and implemented it in the race without making any mistake, but the opponent was still faster than we were and that's all.
"We didn't change tires at the first stop as we planned. With nursing the tires for the first two stints and Tomonobu (Fujii) driving only minimum laps (just enough to clear his mandatory laps), I went out for the final stint after changing only two tires on the left hand side, as those might not last until the finish.
"I think we had a good race and got the best possible result because the opponent's pace was basically faster than ours was."

　[Result : 3rd in the GT300 class]
"I have nothing to complain. Basically, we had no other choice than the no tire change strategy to challenge for a win but we weren't sure if the tires would last until the finish. If they wouldn't have lasted, then we were going to change only two tires on the left hand side for the third and last stint. But, when we checked the tires during refueling, they looked like O.K. for one more stint, so we decided to continue with the same tires. So I only pushed when I really needed to and nursed the tires where I could.
"The car was really good and the tires performed well until the finish.
"The next race at Sepang won't be easy for us because we have already earned many points (and the weight handicap), so our aim over there will be adding some more points, not trying to win. I would have liked to win at Sepang but we have to change our plan after the third place finish today."