Fuji GT 500km Race, a popular fixture in the Golden Week holidays in Japan, was held at Fuji Speedway on 28-29 April, 2013.

In sharp contrast with the previous Okayama round which had been hit by severe weather, it was fine and comfortable on Saturday. So everything was on schedule and the knock out system qualifying session got underway at 2 p.m., after the free practice sessions. In the Q1 for GT300 cars, Daiki Sasaki in S Road NDDP GT-R set the fastest time and nine out of the 13 survivors for Q2 were Yokohama equipped cars.

However, in the subsequent Q1 for GT500 cars, the two Yokohama shoed cars were classified in 12th and 13th, so they couldn't make their way into Q2 section. As for the GT300 class, Hironori Takeuchi in Okinawa-IMP SLS was the fastest Yokohama driver in Q2 but he had to settle for fourth. He was also the fastest among all FIA GT3 car drivers but the JAF GT cars generally looked to be superior in this event.

Many spectators visited Fuji Speedway on the race day, 29th April, as it was a national holiday. The teams checked their car set up during the warm-up session in the morning and the 500km, 110 laps, long distance race began at 2 p.m.

WedsSport ADVAN SC430, being equipped with the Yokohama tires, started the race from the 12th grid with Seiji Ara at the wheel, while Hironobu Yasuda drove D'station ADVAN GT-R for its first stint, starting from the 13th. Helped by an incident between other cars at the last corner of the opening lap, Yasuda completed the lap in 11th and gained another position on the next lap by overtaking Keihin HSV-010 that lost its speed in the aftermath of the incident. On the other hand, Ara fell down to 13th on Lap 2, as he was passed by KeePer Tom's SC430 which started from the back end of the grids, but WedsSport ADVAN SC430 soon got back to its original position because of the Keihin backed Honda's retirement.

Now Yasuda was running in the points but he was also passed by the KeePer car that was superior in race pace on Lap 4. Thus, the two Yokohama shoed cars were in 11th and 12th, clocking the lap times somewhere around 1'34"-35" consistently. However, Weider Modulo HSV-010, which was recovering the lost ground due to the first lap incident, passed the Yokohama cars on Lap 9 and 10, so they lost one position each.

After regaining the positions by the retirement of Motul Autech GT-R, Ara overtook Yasuda on Lap 26 and then the pit stop of a car in front of them put them in 10th and 11th places. On Lap 30, D'station ADVAN GT-R made the pit stop earlier than most of the other competitors and Yasuda handed the car to his partner, Michael Krumm. In contrast, Ara in WedsSport ADVAN SC430 drove the longest first stint in the GT500 class and changed to Andre Couto after completing 41 laps.

In the early stage of the second stint, D'station ADVAN GT-R was in 11th and WedsSport ADVAN SC430 in12th. But Krumm started to struggle probably because of picking up too many "marbles" on the track, so he had to allow Couto, running in a better pace, to pass him on Lap 51.

As the race entered its second half, D'station ADVAN GT-R came back to the pit on Lap 72 to change to Yasuda. Couto drove for a long 40 lap stint before making the stop on Lap 81 and WedsSport ADVAN SC430 resumed racing in the hands of Ara again.

Their positions remained the same as just before the pit stops, Ara in 11th and Yasuda in 12th. Their pace was good but it wasn't enough to get in the points, so WedsSport ADVAN SC430 finished the race in 11th and D'station ADVAN GT-R in 12th, both being one lap down from the winner.

In the GT300 class, while Takeshi Tsuchiya in Okinawa-IMP SLS lost two positions at the start, Kazuki Hoshino driving S Road NDDP GT-R moved up to fifth. Then, as some of the leading cars were hit by problems, Hoshino was running in third on Lap 3 but, a few laps later, he started to lose momentum and gradually fell back.

But, as if to swap the role with Hoshino, Koji Yamanishi in Crystal Croco Lamborghini GT3 was moving up through the field, after starting the race from the tenth grid. He was in fourth already on Lap 4 and gained one more position four laps later. After that, Hankook Porsche's dropping down put Yamanishi up to second, followed by Hiroki Kato in Eva RT Test-01 Apple MP4-12C.

When the first round of pit stops was done, however, it was Panasonic apr Prius GT with Koki Saga at the wheel that was running in second, while Mugen CR-Z GT was still leading the race. The Prius started the race with Morio Nitta in the driving seat and completed the first lap in ninth. Nitta then spun at the last corner on Lap 6, which once sent him back to 18th, but, after his persistent recovery and a very quick pit stop, the car suddenly emerged in the leading pack.

When the race was about to reach its halfway point, GSR Hatsune Miku BMW was in third and Crystal Croco Lamborghini GT3, now with Shinya Hosokawa at the wheel, followed in fourth. The leading group looked to be settled for a while but the Hatsune Miku car dropped out of contention, as Tatsuya Kataoka made a mistake at Turn 1 on Lap 60 and badly damaged his left side front tire.

Although Panasonic apr Prius GT was gradually reducing the gap with Mugen CR-Z GT, which was more than 40 seconds at a time, it seemed too far away to catch up. However, the CR-Z suddenly came in the pit on Lap 94 because the car's driver felt a thumping vibration from the front tires and there was no choice but to replace them. This dramatic reversal gave the lead position to the Prius which eventually became the first hybrid racer to claim a win in the Super GT series.

Among other Yokohama equipped cars, Crystal Croco Lamborghini GT3 finished the race in third, followed by Okinawa-IMP SLS which earned the fourth place for the second consecutive race. The Yuji Ide / Igor Sushuko pair in OGT Bonds Racing GT-R came in fifth, after starting the race from the 25th grid! Ide came back to the Super GT series for the first time in three years and has never driven a GT300 car before this race but the pair performed extremely well.

　[Result : Winner in the GT300 class]
"The CR-Z was really fast this time, so I once thought we might end the race in second, just as we did last year. But, when I was driving, I also thought there might be a chance if we didn't give up and kept pushing until the finish.

"Our motivation was very high because there were a lot of media coverage on the 'hybrid duel' (between Toyota and Honda) and we really wanted to be the first hybrid winner, as we had started this project earlier than Honda did. We actually have had a few chances to win in the past but it didn't come easily. Today, we had a kind of miracle. Lady Luck smiled on us. But we would be happier if we could have won after a fair and square battle with them. Nevertheless, we would like to thank the team, everyone involved in this hybrid project and Yokohama Tire that provided very good tires."

　[Result : 3rd in the GT300 class]
"We chose a 'safe' set up before the start of the race and it worked. The engine also ran very well. So I think these were the reasons why we could finish in third. We slightly eased our pace towards the end because we had a little concern about tire life.

"In the second half of the race, we had contact with a GT500 car, because of a mutual misjudgment of space available, and it caused vibration on the car. On top of this, we had a difficulty in down shifting and I was almost going off the track because of this. But I suppose the fact that we kept our own pace without pushing too much led to a good result. And Hosokowa did a good job, despite that this was only the second race for him after a long absence. I think this might be the biggest factor. We'll try our best again next time."

"Based on the result of the season opener in Okayama, and taking the data from the pre-event testing into account, we provided new specification tires for this Fuji round. The new tires were improved, or normally evolved we would say, not only in the grip level but in the durability and consistency. The improvement was confirmed in this race but the result shows there is still a lot of work to do.

"Both WedsSport ADVAN SC430 and D'station ADVAN GT-R chose the medium type compound tires in the qualifying session and started the race with them. Then, for the second stint and after that, the WedsSport car continued to use the same medium ones but the D'station car switched to the medium hard type compound because, during the first stint, the driver reported the rubber might be too soft for the car. As for the WedsSport car, Seiji Ara could drive for 41 laps in the first stint with the medium, so there was no need to change it to the harder one.

"For the next Sepang round, we basically plan to ship the tires with compounds that we chose after the off season testing at the circuit. But we hope to utilize the findings from the first two races of the season in the preparation work for the Malaysian event.

"As for the GT300, we've also done the preparation for this race, based on what we had found in Okayama. Panasonic apr Prius GT won the race but the team might not be satisfied how things went because Mugen CR-Z GT was clearly faster, although the car lost the lead due to a problem. As was the case in the GT500, we must admit there is a lot of work to do, too, and will make every effort to produce faster and more consistent tires for this class.

"Because almost no GT300 car had joined the testing at Sepang, we plan to ship the tires that we chose with consideration for the data from the last year's event."