Honda’s Ohta Confident for Fuji After Suzuka Speed

Honda SUPER GT driver Kakunoshin Ohta says the speed demonstrated by Real Racing in last month’s Suzuka round has given him confidence of targeting a first win for the new Civic Type R-GT when the season resumes next week at Fuji Speedway.

The Civic has so far proven competitive since it was introduced by Honda as the successor to the NSX-GT at the start of this season, with the four-door car having finished in third place in each of the three races it has contested so far.

Ohta and his teammate in the No. 17 Real Racing car, Koudai Tsukakoshi, also delivered the Civic a first pole in the second round of the season at Fuji in May.

The pair finished sixth in the following race at Suzuka, but only after fighting their way back from 15th and last on the GT500 grid after a costly spin from Tsukakoshi in Q2.

Ohta is hoping to keep up the momentum gained from that race in this weekend’s Fuji 350km as Honda chases its first victory with the Civic.

“Our pace was really fast and we would have been able to fight against No. 37  and No. 14 [TOM’S and Rookie Racing Toyotas that finished 1-2],” said Ohta.

“Especially in comparison to the other Hondas, we were the fastest car when we were running alone. 

“The biggest strong point of the Civic is the straight line speed. It was really difficult to overtake Nissan and Toyota at Suzuka last year, but this year it was possible.

“Normally, less drag means less downforce, but now we are strong in high-speed corners also.

“Of course we have confidence [for Fuji] and we will try our best, although the fact we have already scored 19 points [resulting in 38kg of ballast] could be a little problem.”

Honda project leader Masahiro Saiki expressed his satisfaction with the Civic’s showing at Suzuka, as the No. 16 ARTA car of Hiroki Otsu and Ren Sato finished third to keep up the marque’s perfect streak of podium finishes since the start of the season.

“If the No. 17 [Real Racing car] had started higher up the grid, I think they would have been in a position to fight for the win,” said Saiki.

“Not making a mistake in qualifying has become very important. [For the No. 16] the tires wore out and the pace dropped in the final stint. The other manufacturers were also having sudden drops in pace, so tire [selection] and setup are also important.

“The NSX was often fast in qualifying but the straight speed was poor and we often had difficult races. But looking at this race, it feels like we’re not losing out anymore. 

“Considering it was the first time we ran the Civic [at Suzuka], it feels like we weren’t struggling too much.”

On Real Racing’s pace at Suzuka, Honda’s head of car development Tomohiro Onishi added: “The No. 17 lost quite a lot of time in the pits as well, so if we had no mistakes in the pits, with such a fast car and tires that fit the conditions…”

Nonetheless, Onishi added that he was pleased to see the Civic showing well in the sweeping first sector at Suzuka, calling it a step forward compared to when the car first hit the Mie Prefecture track during winter testing.

“Compared to that time, the car has been updated, and there has been progress,” said Onishi. “In qualifying this time, our times in sector one were comparable to those of the other manufacturers, and it feels like we could almost match them.”