Japanese Audi R8 LMS with Cyndie Allemann Challenging Super GT

By Tarek Ramchani :

Great news that comes from Japan. Hitotsuyama Racing, a privateer Japanese Audi team is about to enter the world famous Super GT. The team will field two Audi R8 LMS in the lower GT300 class.

Hitotsuyama Racing isn't new the Audi R8 LMS. Last year they raced in two series, the GT Asia Series scoring a victory at the home round at Suzuka and also the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, almost a Japanese VLN which the team won. The team also raced at the ILMC round at Zhuhai and at Macau. The team is of course backed by Audi Japan.

However things won't be easy for the team, while last year they took parts in proper GT3 races in the Asian series, this year the move into Super GT means more competition and mainly radically different rules. The Super GT which is the top Japanese motorsport series is divided into two classes. GT500 the upper one featuring the fastest cars, almost true "Closed prototypes". While the GT300 one is for less powerful and modified machines. The Audi will enter the GT300 class a much fought class with very large entry lists each round. The competition will come from various challengers, mixing exotic Japanese racers and supercars from Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Lamborghini, Subaru, Toyota and Nissan. The Audi R8 LMS will have to adapt with this unique format and to slight modifications from its original Spec GT3. Maybe a difficult task, but still not impossible, as last year’s GT300 champions raced a GT3 Spec BMW Z4 GT3.

For the driver lineups, the first one announced is Cyndie Allemann and Akihiro Tsuzuki. Swiss female Cyndie Allemann with her first drive in the Audi R8 LMS. Still she isn't a rookie in GT racing. In 2010 she raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privateer Ford GT. Cyndie Alleman tested the R8 LMS on February 8th at Fuji Speedway and immediately got confidence with the Audi. Akihiro Tsuzuki isn't a rookie with the car either. Last year he raced with Hitotsuyama Racing in the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, the ILMC round in China, and Macau GT Cup. Akihiro Tsuzuki also did the Super GT, with a Porsche GT3 in the GT300 class. He is familiar to the series and will bring a lot of experience to the team. The second car’s lineup will be announced later.

Thanks to Eric Gilbert and www.motorsport.com for the photos.

Cyndie Alleman - Audi R8 LMS - Super GT

Audi R8 LMS - Japan Super GT GT300 - Fuji Speedway