The off season might be too long for the enthusiastic fans, but the time for waiting has ended. The 2012 Super GT series raised its curtain at Okayama International Circuit.

The tight and technically demanding race track in Okayama has a relatively low COF - Coefficient of Friction - track surfaces that are unwelcome conditions for tires. On top of this, the rule change about qualifying this year imposed even harder strain on tires. In the Knock Out qualifying procedures, which was the case in this round, the teams must use the same one set of the dry tires throughout Q1 and Q2 and the cars must start the race with the tire sets that were used on the last qualifying lap of each car, unless the conditions require the wet tires. Plus, the race distance which had been shortened last year was now back to its original form, i.e. 300km.

The official practice sessions, two hours in total, were run on the wet surfaces. Then once the weather got better and it looked like the GT500 cars should do their qualifying laps on the dry track but the hopes were dashed. The rain came again just before the start of Q1 and the teams were faced with the difficult task to choose the right tires from wets, intermediates or slicks for the 15 minute session in which only a few tire changes were possible. In addition, it even hailed during the intermission after Q1, so the whole paddock was tossed up and down by the ever changing weather.

One of two ADVAN shoed GT500 cars, WedsSport ADVAN SC430, clocked the second fastest time in the chaotic Q1 by the hands of the team's new addition, Andre Couto, thanks to the timely call for using slicks in the closing minutes of the session. In the following Q2 session, however, Seiji Ara's attempt to beat the cutoff for Q3 with the used slicks was unsuccessful and the car ended the qualifying sesssion in eighth - meaning just one step away from surviving for Q3 - by Ara's best time 1'24"218.

D'station ADVAN GT-R got in the track for Q1 with Bjorn Wirdheim at the wheel. But, on his third lap, he found the car's gear box didn't work properly when he tried to down shift at the end of the back straight, which denied his all-out qualifying attempt. As a result, he failed to make his way to Q2 and the team was forced to start the race from the lowly 14th grid.

In the GT300 class, Endless Taisan 911 secured the pole position through the efforts of its new driving pair, Kyosuke Mineo and Naoki Yokomizo. Under the very unstable weather conditions which hit the qualifying session of the class, Yokomizo kept improving his time lap after lap in Q3 and beat all competitions by clocking a new course record, 1'28"975, on his third timed lap.

"The surface conditions weren't very good, so clocking that lap time was beyond my expectation. I'd like to thank to my team and ADVAN for giving me a good car and good tires," he said. Among other ADVAN equipped cars, the FIA GT3 cars were dominant mainly because of their superior power output and JLOC Lamborghini GT3 sat on the fourth grid, followed by Manepa Lamborghini GT3, and the reigning champion GSR Hatsune Miku BMW took the seventh grid. On the other hand, the brand new JAF GT cars also made a good showing, as apr Hasepro Prius GT ended the qualifying session in sixth and Subaru BRZ R&D Sport in eight.

The rolling start for 82 lap race got underway on Sunday 2 p.m. The track was dry but the chilly wind blew and the air temperature was around 10 degrees Celsius with the surface at 15 degrees.

Ara was at the wheel of WedsSport ADVAN SC430 when it started from the eighth grid but he lost two positions in some jostling during the opening lap. Wildheim in D'station ADVAN GT-R completed the lap in 14th where he started the race.

Keeping the gap with his direct competitors within less than a second, Ara hung in there and managed to move up to ninth on Lap 8 and to eighth five laps later. But then he had Eneos Sustina SC430 running in a sluggish pace in front of him and struggled to find a way to get past it. Meanwhile, Wirdheim was running in a controlled pace to save the tires because the team planned to use them until the finish of 82 lap race, hoping for gaining a few places during the pit stop. Still his consistent drive led to some position gain on the track and he was in 12th on Lap 8 and then moved up to 11th on Lap 15.

As the teams were getting ready to the pit stops, Ara made a costly mistake on Lap 31. At the entry of the first of Double Hairpins, he hit the Eneos car from behind and made it spin around.

"Probably because his tires had gone, his braking was way earlier than my prediction... I hit my brake hard but couldn't avoid contact," Ara said later in a chagrined tone but, for this incident, WedsSport ADVAN SC430 was given a drive through penalty. As the leading cars had made their pit stops, Ara was leading the race from Lap 38 but he served the penalty on Lap 41 and visited the pit again on the next lap for driver change. And when Couto rejoined the race after refueling and tire change, he found himself in lowly 12th.

Ara's penalty gave the lead position to D'station ADVAN GT-R because Wirdheim was the last one in the GT500 class to make the mandatory pit stop. On Lap 44, he finally came in the pit to change to Hironobu Yasuda and the team forwent the tire change as planned at the stop. Thanks to the shorter stop time, the Japanese driver was in eighth when the car resumed racing. However, probably because the temperatures of both air and surfaces were rising after the start of the race, Yasuda's pace gradually dropped off during his stint and he lost a few positions. Eventurally, D'station ADVAN GT-R finished the race in 11th, just one place out of points.

Couto's pace was comparable with those of leading cars and he managed to overtake Yasuda on Lap 68 but he did it in a yellow flag zone - meaning no overtaking was allowed for safety reason. Consequently, the Macau resident was given a ten second penalty stop.

"There was a close pack of three or four cars just in front of me, so I couldn't see the yellow flag at all...," said Couto. After serving the penalty, WedsSport ADVAN SC430 ended the race in 12th. Thus, to their disappointment, both of the ADVAN equipped cars had to leave Okayama without scoring a point.

By contrast, the stars of GT300 class race were the ADVAN shoed cars. Endless Taisan 911 with Yokomizo at the wheel started from the pole position and immediately pulled from the rest of the field. After building a 0.8 second margin during the opening lap, he stayed away from pursuers and kept the lead position throughout his stint which was the longest among the leading cars. On Lap 41, he came in the pit and gave over the car to Mineo for the second half. When Mineo rejoined, he found himself still leading the race with a massive 10 second margin.

But it was quite eventful behind the leader. Manabu Orido in Manepa Lamborghini GT3 was hit by Hideki Yamauchi driving the sister car, JLOC Lamborghini GT3, on Lap 5 and lost a lot of ground. The assailant also dropped down the order because he was penalized for causing an avoidable collision. Then, four laps later, apr Hasepro Prius GT which was running in seventh by the hands of the veteran Morio Nitta halted due to a mechanical problem. Nitta managed to bring the hybrid car back to the pit using the electric motor power and resumed racing once after some repair work, but he eventually had to retire because of damage to the car's exhaust system.

The string of incidents floated Yuhi Sekiguchi in S Road NDDP GT-R up to fourth. The FIA GT3 spec Nissan GT-R kept the position even after changing the driver to Katsumasa Chiyo on Lap 38 but the hopes for a good result in the car's debut race were dashed when he collided with a GT500 car at the final corner and went off the track on Lap 47.

As the race entered its final phase, a serious threat was closing in to Mineo. Gainer Dixcel R8 LMS in second was reducing the gap with the race leader at a rapid pace. And, after the struggle between them for a few laps, the Porsche driver yielded at last on Lap 71.

After that, the spectators' attention turned to GSR Hatsune Miku BMW which was in contention for the third place. Nobuteru Taniguchi at the wheel of the BMW began to attack on Hankook Porsche and, with just four laps to go, he managed to get ahead of the Porsche, proving the ability of the reigning champion. Then Art Taste Porsche followed the Taniguchi's path and finished in fourth by overtaking the Porsche in front of it on the final lap.

　[Result : 2nd in the GT300 class]
"It ended as a frustrating race. We didn't have an opportunity to test the tires in the long run and had no idea how the tires would wear out in the race. But Naoki did a good job making the tires last until the half distance, so I thought I should do the same. As a matter of fact, I was managing the tires really well but the Audi's pace was way faster than ours.
"It's a real shame to end the race in second. But our Porsche suits better to Fuji (the venue of the next round) and the second place finish in Okayama is significant when we think of the whole championship. Our only aim at Fuji is to win!"

　[Result : 2nd in the GT300 class]
"Everything was going well until the handling balance began to get a little worse in the middle of the race. But luckily my tire management worked and the balance came back, so I was able to pull away from the Audi.
"The result was disappointing but I think we have proved the ability of the tires and our car for sure."

"During the off season, we did a testing at Sepang in January and checked the tire performance under the very severe conditions. Considering the rule change this year, our main aims for the development were to improve the qualifying performance and, at the same time, the durability that should be required in the race. For this season opening round at Okayama, we brought in the improved tires that incorporated the results from our recent development work but, with regard to the compound range, the actual temperatures during the race weekend was a little lower than our prediction.

"As for the GT500, Seiji Ara at the wheel of WedsSport ADVAN SC430 drove in a good and consistent pace since the early stage but he came across an unfortunate accident and was penalized as a result of it. Andre Couto drove the second half and was able to keep a remarkable pace too but he was also given a penalty later in the race. They used the medium soft compound for both stints and I think the tires proved to be very consistent in terms of performance.

"D'station ADVAN GT-R tried to run with the same set of tires from start to finish. To make this possible, Bjorn Wirdheim controlled his pace to save the tires and changed to Hironobu Yasuda after the long stint that was more than 40 laps as planned. But it was a shame that the pace in the second half stagnated and fell below our expectations.

"As for the GT300, Endless Taisan 911 claimed the pole position in style and led the best part of the race. We wish they could keep that position until the finish but the opponent's car was so fast at that time. But I think we can expect their hit back at Fuji in the next round because the Porsche suits better to the track.

"We haven't had a GT500 tire testing at Fuji but we already have a clear picture on the tires that should be used there. Preparing the solid strategies for the longer than usual 500km race which needs at least three stints, we are hoping for the good starting positions and the catch-up in the championship."