April “fired” to show the true potential of the LC500h – Sportscar365

The Apr team is “burned in” to show the full potential of the Lexus LC500h in the final part of the SUPER GT season, with favorable tracks lined up for the only hybrid car in the field, says team director Hiroto Kaneso.

The hybrid-powered LC500h is now in its second season of competition in the Japanese series and has proven to be a consistent frontrunner in the GT300 field, but has only managed one podium finish, at last year’s Autopolis race.

The drivers of the No. 31 machine, Kazuto Kotaka and Jin Nakamura, are ninth in the standings and achieved their best result of the season when they finished fourth at Suzuka in June.

Speaking to Sportscar365 ahead of the sixth round of the season at Autopolis, Kaneso believes April should be able to aim for a maiden win with the LC500h both this weekend and at the postponed season finale at Suzuka in December.

“As far as the performance of the car itself, we didn’t have any major problems, it was just the races themselves that didn’t go in our favor,” said Kaneso. “We scored points consistently in the races, but we just didn’t have a chance to really show ourselves.

“But of these last three races, Autopolis and the final round at Suzuka should be particularly well suited for the LC. The downforce will be even more pronounced [at Suzuka] in cold conditions, and that’s really the strength of the LC.

“I think we will finally have the chance to really show ourselves. So we’re really excited to do well both here and in the final round.”

The No. 31 Lexus enters this weekend’s Autopolis round as the heaviest car in the GT300 field at 1380kg, three kilograms more than the previous round at Sugo, according to the Balance of Performance bulletin released ahead of the event.

Conversely, the weight of the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, which was the heaviest car up to that point, was reduced by 10 kg to 1,372 kg.

Making things even more difficult for April is the fact that since the Sugo round, all GTA-GT300 (“JAF”) vehicles have been forced to use an 18mm spacer on the skid plate mount instead of a 15mm one. Spacer to drive, which effectively increases the performance of the car ride height.

With this in mind, Kaneso believes that making full use of the No. 31 car’s hybrid system will become even more important to maintaining its competitiveness.

“All JAF cars are slower in the corners, which makes things more difficult, but at least with the hybrid system we get more push out of the corner,” said Kaneso. “The straights here and in Suzuka are relatively long, that will be important for us.

“We are also going heavier, we have the heaviest weight for this race, which makes braking and cornering more difficult, so we really have to make the most of our power on corner exit.”

While Kotaka is in his second season as a full-time member of the Apr stable, Nakamura is in his rookie season after quitting Japanese Formula 4 last year and combining his GT300 duties with a season in Super Formula Lights.

Rikuto Kobayashi finds himself in a similar situation in the No. 30 April Toyota GR86 GT, which he shares with gentleman racer Hiroaki Nagai.

“Both drivers were excellent,” said Kaneso. “Nakamura still needs to expand his experience. His one-lap speed is good, but he still needs to get a little tougher in the fight. The same goes for Kobayashi.

“There is a feeling that the young drivers can be a bit reserved these days, although Kotaka is an exception. He’s a real fighter, so I’d like to see the other two go in that direction.”

Apr entered the 2024 season with a stable car lineup, having introduced the GR86 GT (also used by the Inging and Shade Racing teams) in 2022 and the LC500h the following year as the successor to the fan-favorite Prius PHV.

When asked about the team’s plans for 2025, Kaneso replied: “The plan is to continue with both cars [the LC500h and GR86] Next year. That will probably be the case until Toyota comes out with a new sports car, and then things could change again.”

Kaneso was less certain about whether the driver line-up for his two GT300 entries would change, with Kotaka, Nakamura and Kobayashi all part of Toyota’s junior program.

“The drivers are not our choice: it just depends on which drivers Toyota wants us to look after,” he explained.

Jamie Klein is the Asian editor of Sportscar365. Japan-based Klein, who previously worked for Motorsport Network on the Motorsport.com and Autosport titles, covers the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship and SUPER GT, among others.