Apr “Fired Up” To Show LC500h’s Real Potential

The apr team is “fired up” to try and show the full potential of the Lexus LC500h in the final part of the SUPER GT season with favorable circuits coming up for the only hybrid-powered car in the field, says team director Hiroto Kaneso.

Now in its second season of competition in the Japanese series, the hybrid-powered LC500h has proven to be a consistent frontrunner in the GT300 field but has only scored one podium finish so far, which came at last year’s Autopolis round.

The drivers of the No. 31 machine, Kazuto Kotaka and Jin Nakamura, sit ninth in the standings with a best finish so far this season of fourth at Suzuka in June.

Speaking to Sportscar365 ahead of the sixth round of the season at Autopolis, Kaneso believes apr should be in a position to aim for a first win with the LC500h both this weekend and in the postponed season finale at Suzuka in December.

“In terms of the car performance itself, we haven’t had any major issues, but just the races themselves haven’t gone in our favor,” Kaneso said. “We have been scoring consistently in the races, but we just haven’t had a chance to really show ourselves.

“But among these last three races, Autopolis and the last round at Suzuka should be especially well-suited to the LC. The downforce will be even more pronounced [at Suzuka] in the cold conditions, and that’s really the LC’s strength.

“I think we’ll finally have a chance to show ourselves properly. So we’re really fired up to do well both here and in the final round.”

The No. 31 Lexus goes into this weekend’s Autopolis round as the heaviest car in the GT300 field at 1380 kg, up three kilograms since the previous round at Sugo according to the Balance of Performance bulletin released ahead of the event.

Conversely, the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 that had been the heaviest car has been handed a 10 kg weight break, bringing it down to 1372 kg.

Making matters even harder for apr is the fact that all of the GTA-GT300 (‘JAF’) cars have been forced to run with a 18mm spacer on the skid plate mount instead of a 15mm one since the Sugo round, effectively increasing the car’s ride height.

Against that backdrop, Kaneso believes making full use of the No. 31 car’s hybrid system will become even more important in terms of maintaining its competitiveness.

“All the JAF cars are slower in the corners, so that makes things tougher, but at least with the hybrid system we are getting more of a ‘push’ out of the corner,” said Kaneso. “The straights here and at Suzuka are relatively long, so that will be important for us.

“We’re getting heavier too, we have the heaviest weight for this race, so that makes braking and cornering tougher, so we really need to make the most of our strength exiting the corners.”

While Kotaka is in his second season as a full-time member of the apr stable, Nakamura is in his rookie season, having stepped up from Japanese Formula 4 last year and combining his GT300 duties with a season in Super Formula Lights.

Rikuto Kobayashi is in a similar situation in the No. 30 apr Toyota GR86 GT that he shares with gentleman racer Hiroaki Nagai.

“Both drivers have been excellent,” said Kaneso. “Nakamura still needs to build his experience. His one-lap speed is good, but he needs to become a bit tougher in battle. It’s the same with Kobayashi.

“It feels like the young drivers these days can be a little reserved, although Kotaka is kind of an exception. He is a real fighter, so I’d like to see the other two go in that direction.”

Apr went into the 2024 season with stability in terms of its car lineup, having introduced the GR86 GT (also used by the Inging and Shade Racing teams) in 2022 and then the LC500h the following year as the successor to the fan favorite Prius PHV.

Asked about the team’s 2025 plans, Kaneso replied: “The plan is to continue with both cars [the LC500h and GR86] next year. That will probably be the case until Toyota releases a new sports car, and then things that might change again.”

Kaneso expressed less certainty about whether there would be a change to the driver lineups across its two GT300 entries, with Kotaka, Nakamura and Kobayashi all belonging to the Toyota young driver scheme.

“The drivers aren’t our choice: it’s just a matter of which drivers Toyota would like us to look after,” he stated.