The Okayama GT 250km Race was originally scheduled as the season opener in the first weekend of April but had to be postponed to 21st and 22nd of May due to the aftermath of the earthquake disaster. Since it was held seven weeks later than in past years, the air and surface temperatures were higher and the accumulated data became useless, which forced the teams to race under unusual conditions. Nevertheless, the ADVAN equipped cars displayed impressive performances. In the GT500 class, ADVAN Kondo GT-R finished the race in ninth after the crew's persistent efforts, while 'triple a' Vantage GT2 won the GT300 class in spite of an accident in the closing stage.

Although the warm up session on Sunday morning had to be cancelled due to heavy rain since the early morning, the weather quickly improved and the surfaces were completely dry when the race got underway at 2 p.m.

With Bjorn Wirdheim at the wheel and starting from the 11th grid, ADVAN Kondo GT-R lost a position at the start but then gradually moved up the field, thanks to the team's tire choice at Q2 in which they had looked ahead for better performance in the race. Wirdheim came back to the pit on Lap 31, when he was running fifth, to change to Hironobu Yasuda and the Japanese resumed racing with the new medium tires, which had the same compound with the one his teammate used, on the car. After displaying some close battles with Lexus cars until the closing stage, Yasuda eventually finished the race in ninth and scored valuable two points for the team.

Meanwhile, the starting driver of WedsSport ADVAN SC430, Seiji Ara, spent the early part of his stint in a close pack of the cars and then changed to Tatsuya Kataoka on Lap 24. Kataoka managed his very long stint - more than 40 laps - well and finished the team's first race on a dry track in 15th.

As for GT300, 'triple a' Vantage GT2 was the star of the race in this class. Kazuki Hoshino, who was at the wheel when the race started, kept the race leading Ferrari in his firing range and even got closer to it every time they were lapped by GT500 cars, making the most of upsets caused by the situation. On Lap 22, Hoshino became the earliest stopper among the leading cars to change to Hiroki Yoshimoto. Four laps later, the Ferrari made a pit stop and when it went back to the track, Yoshimoto just went past on the straightaway and got ahead of the early leader.

Still there were a few cars staying on the track yet to change to their second drivers. After 'triple a' Vantage GT2 and the Ferrari did their stops, the lead position was taken over by RIRE Lamborghini RG-3 with Manabu Orido at the wheel and helped by superb durability of ADVAN tires he managed to do a very long 40 lap stint - nearly two-thirds of the race distance, before handing the car to Atsushi Yogo. Then the next four laps were led by Hiroki Kato in another ADVAN shoed car, Evangelion RT Test Type-01 Apple Shiden.

However, the Shiden's lead ended soon because it had been forced to make an unscheduled pit stop earlier in the race and lost a considerable time when its right-hand door came loose and half-open. Consequently, Yoshimoto was comfortably leading the race in the closing stage with an eight second gap with his main opponent, the Ferrari. But, on Lap 50, he was hit from behind at Hairpin by a GT500 car which was lapping him. Yoshimoto spun on the spot and it allowed the Ferrari to regain the lead position.

It looked 'triple a' Vantage GT2's race for victory ended by the incident but then Yoshimoto began strenuous pursuit and cut down the gap with the leader lap by lap. Five laps to go (Lap 59), he finally caught the tail of the Ferrari on the straightaway and then dove into the inside at Hairpin on the same lap to come back to the GT300 class leader. After that, the Ferrari quickly lost its momentum and Yoshimoto secured the victory with a large 13 second margin to it.

RIRE Lamborghini RG-3 finished in third, followed by the ADVAN equipped Hatsune Miku Good smile BMW. As a result, as many as nine cars out of the GT300 top ten were ADVAN shoed cars, which was another proof of the ADVAN tire's strong performance in races.

　[Result : 9th in the GT500 class]
"Our pace has been less than ideal this weekend since the start of practice sessions on Friday. It certainly affected our performance in the qualifying session and we ended up with lowly 11th. But it was good to score some points by gaining a few positions and finishing the race in ninth, and I think we did our best anyway.
"For my stint in the second half of the race, we again used the same medium tires which Bjorn had. As the temperatures were unusually high for this Okayama round, it was somewhat tough conditions for tires. But I was still able to hold my main opponent, car no.6, behind me throughout my stint, so I would rather focus on those positive aspects and look forward to the next Sepang round.
"As for the race in Sepang, we had already found out suitable tires when we visited there for winter testing, so we have reasons to be confident for it."

　[Result : 15th in the GT500 class]
"It was our very first race with the ADVAN tires on dry surfaces. I had been prepared for a tough race, considering the situation until the qualifying session, but, in the event itself, it was even harder than I had anticipated.
"On this track, we can't really rely on aerodynamic downforce and our lack of mechanical grip, which I had felt in the previous Fuji round, became obvious and much worse than before. We haven't had a proper testing and this was the first time for us to race on dry surfaces. Therefore, we should fully accept what we learned here in Okayama and I hope we would utilize them for our tire development later on.
"It was a tough race for us but I tried to finish it at least. As a result of our efforts to complete the race, we could learn how the car and tires changes in the race conditions and the knowledge will certainly help us in the future, I would say."

　[Result : 1st in the GT300 class]
"We had been driving a perfect race for us until I was hit by a GT500 car and spun! I didn't think he tried to lap me there, as we were not so close yet at that point.
"As a result, the Ferrari passed me by but I was able to pursuit it flat out because I had saved my tires in the first half of my stint not to compromise the performance throughout the race and it just paid off. And the Ferrari's tires seemed to be almost gone.
"The team did a great job at the pit stop which was really quick. Thanks to that, I was ahead of the Ferrari at Turn 1 when it came out from pit lane and I thought I would have to push on this lap to extend the gap. I was sure pushing hard at that one lap had helped us.
"We lost the last race because of my unnecessary hustle, so I feel really relieved to be able to make it up already in the earliest opportunity."

　[Result : 1st in the GT300 class]
"I thought the Ferrari might pull away but I was able to follow it as my tires warmed up quickly just after the start beyond my expectation. Particularly when we were lapped by GT500 cars, I came so close to the tail of the leader.
"My tires didn't wear badly but they were losing grip because of marbles I picked up during my stint, so we had to make the pit stop a bit earlier. But Yossie (Yoshimoto) did a great job after that.
"When his car was hit by a GT500 car, I was very disappointed for the bad luck. He wasn't to be blamed for the incident and we were having an almost perfect race until that moment. But Yossie didn't give up at all and made up the gap with a blistering pace. I was told later I was screaming when he finally overtook our opponent but I don't remember that at all because I was so excited then!"

　[Result : 3rd in the GT300 class]
"The car suited to this circuit well and I was able to get accustomed to it quite a bit during this second race for me. This car has the same mid-engine layout with the IS350 which I drove last year but they are very different. IS350 is a true racing car but this one is rather a tuned street car (Laugh). Nevertheless, it's fun to drive and has a lot of potential, I think. It can be a great car to race if we continue to improve more and more.
"I was able to keep my face in the race narrowly! My long stint wasn't planned. We just intended to watch the situation during the race and decide when I should come in. The car suited to the track and it was easy to drive. And I was in a good shape, so the team allowed me to go as many laps as I could.
"I was so glad to get on the podium today!"

"The race was held in late May, seven weeks later than usual, so we naturally assumed the air and surface temperatures should be higher and decided the specification of tires we would use here, also considering the data from the testing here in March. However, the actual temperatures were even higher than we anticipated since the practice sessions on Friday. As a result, there was a certain gap between the working range of our GT500 tires and the actual temperatures.
"In such a situation, ADVAN Kondo GT-R failed to go on to Q3. But, during the race, we had a comment from one of our drivers that he was able to keep up with opponents. So it can be said that the less than ideal grid position affected the final result.
"As for WedsSport ADVAN SC430, we still need more track time on dry surfaces and we don't fully understand the direction to go to develop the dry tires for the SC430. In fact, we haven't really started the tire development to suite the particular car yet. It was a tough race for the team and us but, nevertheless, we are nearing to discover a clue to find out the right direction for the development for the team's Lexus SC430.
"In the GT300 class, 'triple a' Vantage GT2 scored a beautiful victory and another ADVAN shoed car, RIRE Lamborghini RG-3, finished in third. We don't really know what kind of tires other tire manufacturers used after Q2, but we chose our tires for the qualifying session, keeping better performance in the race in mind. So we were confident about our prospect to win in this class and, looking back the race, we think it's fair to say the ADVAN tires performed very well."