Honda’s Makino “Emotional” After Prelude Shakedown

Honda SUPER GT star Tadasuke Makino admits he found it “emotional” to be handed the responsibility of turning the marque’s Prelude GT500 car’s first-ever laps when the car was shaken down at Sportsland Sugo earlier this month.

The Prelude was revealed as the Civic Type R-GT’s successor at the end of September, with Honda holding a two-day shakedown at Sugo over the following two days with Team Kunimitsu duo Makino and Naoki Yamamoto sharing driving duties.

However, despite Yamamoto’s extensive past experience of shaking down new Honda GT500 models, it was Makino who was tasked with the car’s first laps.

The opening day — held in front of media and paying fans — was cut short amid heavy rain, but a second day was held in dry conditions behind closed doors.

“Obviously the conditions were really, really hard, with a huge amount of rain and a lot of rivers on the track,” Makino recalled of the experience speaking with Sportscar365.

“Also there was not a lot of time, so it was a very difficult situation. But I think this was a really important job I did for Honda and HRC. It’s something really big.

“In the past, I think Yamamoto-san did all the first Honda shakedowns, with the NSX and the Civic, but this time I was shaking down the car.

“It’s a little bit of emotional feeling to be able to shake down the Prelude. It felt like a big responsibility.”

The Prelude marks a significant departure from the four-door Civic that was introduced last year, with a more conventional sports car body shape in line with the cars of Honda’s rivals, the Toyota GR Supra and the Nissan Z NISMO.

Makino said his first impressions of the new challenger were positive, noting that the ergonomics are more favorable to a driver of his physical stature.

“The car felt good,” said Makino. “Because it’s a coupe, the door is really big compared to the Civic. My height is quite big compared to many of the other drivers, 177 [cm], but this car is really easy to ride for somebody of my size.

“There’s more space in the cockpit, changing drivers will be easier, and it looks good!”

Makino added that he backed Honda’s decision to retire the Civic from GT500 competition after just two years of mixed results.

It comes against the backdrop of SUPER GT implementing a four-year aero freeze in the top class starting next season — albeit with certain exemptions for manufacturers that introduce new models in that timeframe.

“If we would use the Civic, we have to use the same aero package for four years,” said Makino. “If we can use the Prelude next year, I think we can build a lot compared to this year. We have understood the areas where we are losing out to Toyota and Nissan.

“With the Civic I am sure we can still improve a lot, but considering the scaling and everything, Honda decided that the Prelude would be much better than the Civic.”