The penultimate round of the GSI Endurance Series in the 2022/23 season is coming up this weekend with another 1500km race, this time at Motegi. Last time out, it was Urano Esports who took wins in GTP and GT3 Pro for the second time this season, bringing their tally in GT3 Pro to 4 consecutive wins.
It’s more than just another race, though. Championships are on the line at the race this Saturday, not so much in the top category but both GT3 divisions could well have champions before we even visit Fuji for the 12 hour finale.
Motegi is set out to be one of the more difficult races when it comes to traffic. Things were pretty clean when the HyperX Clubsport Series visited here for last seasons’ opener, but nearly 18 months have passed and the slowest category racing on Saturday will still be quicker than the fastest category from that race.
The drivers are still learning the new GTP cars as well. The BMW has become a lot more to the drivers’ liking over the last few months after a shaky start at Daytona, but mistakes are still easy to make, GT3 drivers will still be getting used to them too which won’t be aided by the narrow nature of this circuit in places.
Damage is very easy to pick up in those top-level prototypes, so the teams can’t afford contact or they’ll be spending a long time in the pits. This could also dramatically reduce the amount of cars that finish on the lead lap, for example, we were down to just 6 cars at the halfway mark of the 12 Hours of Daytona.
The winners that day were SRC Mivano Corse, but the championship lead they gained as a result didn’t last long. They trail by 31 points, as do reigning overall champions Puresims Esports behind Maniti Racing, who haven’t had much luck defending their titles this season, but they are on the search for more.
Race winners from Monza, Urano Esports, are a distant 75 points back but with still 300 points remaining, they are in contention. Some teams are eliminated from the title race mathematically now though, 14 teams can still win.
That number goes down to just 4 teams in GT3 Pro, where leaders Urano Esports will need to gain some more points on their rivals, but can be champions by the end. The 4-time race winners have 100 points on Impulse Racing, with Phoenix Racing eSport and Asetek Simsports Visceral both probably needing 2 wins in the final 2 races to take the championship.
Finally in GT3, Maniti Racing can also take the title on Saturday. With 135 points on Satellite Racing in 2nd, it won’t even take a world-beating day for them to manage it.
There is a lot on the line at the first of two races in Japan for this GSI Endurance Series season. Once again, the usual IVRA excitement will come as Safety Cars and other variables come into play at a championship that has seen high drama throughout. It’ll be another great race, and possibly a championship winning one for some teams on Saturday.