Nissan drivers say Michelin’s wet dominance may be track-specific

The French tyre firm caused a stir last year when it revealed an unconventional new wet-weather tyre, using that to dominate the only rain-affected race of the season at Sugo with the two NISMO-run Nissan Zs.

Michelin’s wet-weather prowess continued into a rain-soaked qualifying day at Okayama, as the #23 Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda and Quintarelli took pole ahead of the #3 car shared by Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi.

Best of the rest was the Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT, the sole Dunlop user in the top GT500 class, albeit 1.5 seconds behind Matsuda’s pole time.

Michelin’s rivals had appeared to close the gap in last month’s rain-soaked official Fuji test, where Bridgestone and Yokohama tested new designs of tread pattern, although Bridgestone finally opted not to register its revised tyre for the season.

Quintarelli and Chiyo both told Motorsport.com that the evidence from Fuji suggests that, at faster tracks, the balance of power in wet conditions could change.

“In Sugo or Okayama, low-to-medium load tracks, I have a lot of confidence,” said Quintarelli, who topped Q1.

“At different tracks with higher loads it might change a bit, as we saw in the Fuji test; we had Yokohama and Bridgestone coming on strong. 

“But I knew we would be competitive here, except in huge rain. In heavy wet conditions I think we are still behind. Michelin’s window is more towards the damp conditions.”

Tsugio Matsuda, Ronnie Quintarelli, #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Chiyo, who drove the #3 car in Q1, added: “We saw the other tyre manufacturers testing new solutions at Fuji, which means they are closing the gap. But it always depends on the type of track, and how much water is on the track. 

“At this particular track, in damp conditions, we are strong. But Bridgestone is stronger when conditions are worse. This time the conditions matched us well, especially in Q2.”

Explaining why Takaboshi struggled to match his opposite number Matsuda in Q2, Chiyo explained: “For Q1, the set-up was good, but for Q2 we had a different spec of tyre. 

“Takaboshi was struggling more with understeer and the laptime suffered compared to car 23. But the fact Michelin is still stronger than the others means we could be P2.”

Quintarelli also spoke of his relief to score pole alongside Matsuda after he suffered a crash on the second day of the Fuji test, leaving the NISMO crew with a major repair job.

“The #23 crew had to work very hard to restore the car,” said the Italian. “So to pay back their effort with this pole position was a great moment for me.”

 

While the two Michelin-shod Nissans locked out the front row, the other two Zs failed to make it out of Q1.

The Kondo Racing car, which uses Yokohamas, qualified down in 11th place, while the Bridgestone-shod Impul car was 12th of the 14 runners in Q1.

Impul driver Bertrand Baguette, who shares the #1 car with Kazuki Hiramine, said he wasn’t surprised that Bridgestone opted to shelve the new wet tyre it sampled at Fuji, despite the positive feedback he gave about the revised tread pattern.

“We liked the new tyre, and we wanted to use it, but Bridgestone has to make a decision based on all three manufacturers,” Baguette told Motorsport.com. “Maybe our set-up was more adapted to the new pattern than the others. 

“The new tyre is better in some conditions and the old tyre is still better in some conditions. It’s all about compromise. I’m sure Bridgestone will develop the new pattern further before they bring it to the races.”

#1 MARELLI IMPUL Z

Photo by: Masahide Kamio