Ohta Buoyed by Honda Prelude’s Rate of Improvement

Honda’s Kaku Ohta says he has been encouraged by the new HRC Prelude-GT’s rate of improvement over the winter, despite a low-key final official SUPER GT test for the No. 8 ARTA car at Fuji Speedway last weekend.

Ohta and his co-driver in the No. 8 ARTA Prelude Hiroki Otsu concluded the Fuji test 14th and slowest of the GT500 field across both days, with a best lap of 1:28.941 on Monday.

However, the sister No. 16 car was fastest of all on the final day of testing in the hands of Ren Sato, who set a time just under one second faster than Otsu’s benchmark.

Ohta took encouragement from Sato’s lap time as he summarized what have been a low-key pair of official tests for the No. 8 car, which is set to be one of a handful of GT500 cars in action for a final makers’ test at Fuji next week, on March 24-25.

“The No. 16 car’s performance in the last session was good, finishing with the top time,” Ohta told Sportscar365. “I’m very happy about that and now we can review all the data between the two cars.

“To be honest, the No. 8 side has been struggling a lot, but we were able to figure out what the biggest issue was, so now we have more confidence than we had before.

“We have another test before the first round, and HRC is doing good work right now. The car is getting faster and faster right now, and the No. 16 car is the evidence for that.”

The overall timesheets at both Fuji and the preceding official test at Okayama were topped by the title-defending No. 36 TOM’S Toyota GR Supra.

But Ohta says he is taking heart that the GR Supra is going into its seventh season, with few obvious modifications from last year, as Honda bids to end Toyota’s winning streak.

“I know this championship is at such a high level, so it’s not an easy task, but I am happy to say that we are improving a lot,” said Ohta. “Hopefully we will be able to win.

“The other manufacturers have the same car as before, so I am hoping their rate of improvement is not as big, and that we are still finding a lot of stuff to improve.”

Otsu: Being Part of HRC-Backed ARTA Effort an “Honor”

Ohta is sharing the No. 8 ARTA machine with Otsu, who has been part of the Aguri Suzuki-led team since 2023, initially sharing the team’s No. 16 car with Nirei Fukuzumi before being paired with Ren Sato for the past two seasons.

The one-time GT500 race winner believes that making the most of the heavily revised structure for the No. 8 car, which has Kento Taguchi as the chief engineer working alongside engineers dispatched directly by HRC, will be key to success this season.

“I’ve been driving in GT500 for a long time, and I’ve gained a lot of experience, so being chosen by HRC to be part of this structure is a great honor,” Otsu told Sportscar365. 

“However, having been chosen, I believe what’s expected of me is to become champion. 

“To build a strong team together with Ohta-san, we need to try and bring together all the things that have changed, including the increased involvement from HRC.

“I think we have a pretty impressive team with a lot of engineers and data engineers. The number of people looking at the data and those involved in building the car has increased considerably, so I want that to be our strength.

“First and foremost, it’s important to make the car fast, and since we both have a lot of experience as drivers, I think if we give it our all, we’ll be able to make a fast car.”