JAF GP: Difficult qualifying sessions for Hitotsuyama Racing at the Fuji Sprint Cup

The JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup is a special non-championship event for the Japanese Super GT and Super Formula. It is taking place this weekend and one Audi R8 LMS ultra team has entered the GT300 class of the Super GT.

As was the case during the bulk of the 2013 Super GT season, the sole Audi entry in the GT300 class this  weekend  is the #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Hitotsuyama Racing. Their regular two-man driver line-up of Akihiro Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons will be behind the wheel this weekend. They had a season of ups and downs as they worked against bad luck and a negative Balance of Performance, but they never gave up and worked hard all season long, despite the setbacks.

The Fuji Sprint Cup is split into two sprint races per category. Each car has two drivers and each driver will do one of the two sprint races individually. The two Super GT classes are also split for the races, running GT500 and GT300 separately in the sprints.

Qualifying was held on Friday, with each driver qualifying for his own respective race. In the Hitotsuyama Racing camp it will be Richard Lyons in the R8 LMS ultra for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki will take the wheel for race two.

It was a difficult qualifying session which saw the R8 LMS ultra relegated to the rear of the field, as has been the case in Super GT all season long. Richard Lyons qualified nineteenth for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki qualified twenty-first for the second race.

The two races are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. We wish the best of luck to the Hitotsuyama Racing team and their drivers for the races this weekend.

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media

By Johan Laubscher