Breaking news
Super GT
Audi: Tyre war the "major worry" for Super GT entry
Audi sport chief Dieter Gass has said that differences in sporting regulations need to be ironed out before the manufacturer can commit to Japan’s Super GT Championship.
Marcus Simmons
Published: May 24, 2019, 6:01 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Gass has identified the open-tyre rules in Japan and the testing restrictions in the DTM as potential obstacles for adding a Super GT programme with the RS5 DTM.
That is despite the aligning of the technical regulations between the DTM and Super GT, which means that Japan’s three Super GT manufacturers will compete in the DTM finale at Hockenheim this October, before the DTM squads visit Japan for a ‘match race’ at Fuji in November.
- All Super GT races are streamed live and for free on Motorsport.tv.
Audi is currently represented in the secondary GT300 class of Super GT, with the Hitotsuyama Racing squad running an R8 LMS GT3 car, but Gass said that Audi top brass in Japan are keen to add a GT500 attack with the DTM machine.
But while the DTM runs on control Hankook tyres, Super GT features a tyre war between Yokohama, Bridgestone, Michelin and Dunlop.
“First of all I’m very much looking forward to the races this year [against the Japanese] already,” said Gass.
“I do notice quite a good interest from the Japanese importer as well, and personally obviously I would love to do it.
“But we need to have more discussions and see as well what the budgets are and what the possibilities are, because still there are a few differences in the regulations.
“I think the major worry before you could commit to run in the Japanese championship is to see what the tyre situation is.
"You have the tyre war and that means if you want to go there and compete at a competitive level you need to see what the tyre situation is, and potentially you need to do quite some significant testing as well, which then again puts us in a difficult situation with the German regulations, because testing is not allowed.
“So there’s a few open questions that need to be fixed before we can really think about that.
“But the interest is there – in terms of performance that is the biggest point.
“There’s a few differences in the engines, but that’s easier to be fixed.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Lotterer: No Japan return while I'm in Formula E
Next article Suzuka Super GT: Lexus locks out front row as Nissan struggles
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Marcus Simmons
A motorsport life in graphic detail
General
A motorsport life in graphic detail
Latest news
"Slippery as hell" – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar explain the "extreme" challenge of Mexico
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
23 min
"Slippery as hell" – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar explain the "extreme" challenge of Mexico
Pato O'Ward questions promoters in Mexico after IndyCar Barcelona race confirmation
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 33 min
Pato O'Ward questions promoters in Mexico after IndyCar Barcelona race confirmation
Sergio Perez praises Colton Herta impact - but has no say over 2027 Cadillac F1 team-mate choice
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Sergio Perez praises Colton Herta impact - but has no say over 2027 Cadillac F1 team-mate choice
Why “ignorance is a superpower” for Kimi Antonelli, according to Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Why “ignorance is a superpower” for Kimi Antonelli, according to Daniel Ricciardo
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe