While the #36 TOM’S machine of Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata is in the thick of the title fight, the same can’t be said of the sister #37 car crewed by Ukyo Sasahara and Giuliano Alesi, who have mustered a mere nine points in the first six races of the season.
In most years, that would be enough to avoid finishing last among the 15 GT500 crews, but such has been the improvement in particular of the Dunlop- and Yokohama-shod in recent seasons that TOM’S, the powerhouse outfit of the Toyota stable, is in real danger of ending up at the bottom of the pile when the dust settles on 2023.
There are still two rounds left for Sasahara and Alesi to spare themselves this fate, but right now they risk becoming the first ever TOM’S pairing to finish at the foot of the standings. That would be the worst championship position for the team since Seiji Ara and Toshio Suzuki in 2000, who were placed 17th in a field of 20 full-season cars, also in car #37.
What’s more, the teams that have monopolised last place in recent years - namely Nakajima Racing, Kondo Racing and Team Mugen - have been able to point the finger at their tyre suppliers, Dunlop in the case of Nakajima and Yokohama in the case of the other two. But the last time a Bridgestone squad ended up last was ARTA way back in 2012.
It’s probably fair to say that nobody was expecting miracles from Sasahara and Alesi, especially after the latter’s uncompetitive rookie season paired with Tsuboi in the #36 car. But that season, in which Tsuboi and Alesi at least scored one podium and finished every race in the points, looks like a picnic compared to the #37 squad’s current campaign.
Last month’s Sugo race appeared to offer a good chance for Sasahara and Alesi to stop the rot, as they made it into Q2 for only the second time all season (and the first time since the opening round back in April), qualifying a respectable sixth.
And yet, somehow, the #37 duo contrived to end up 11th on the road, only picking up a single point when the winning Real Racing Honda was disqualified. So what went wrong?
Team boss Jun Yamada admitted that the #37 squad went wrong with its tyre choice owing to the cooler-than-anticipated temperatures at Sugo, and said Sasahara’s struggles to get on top of the GR Supra in his first year as part of the Toyota stable have also been a factor.
“In the race, the temperature was too low for us and we suffered with pick-up,” Yamada told Motorsport.com. “Giuliano struggled a lot with pick-up in his stint, and so did Ukyo.
“It’s still Ukyo’s first year with Bridgestone tyres, so he still needs to learn how to deal with pick-up properly. Also, it’s his first year with the GR Supra, so he is still not driving perfectly. The feeling with the GR Supra is very different to the Honda.
“We’re in a difficult situation. Ukyo’s performance has been higher than Giuliano, who is still performing at the same level as last year, but still he is struggling in every race. If we keep the same drivers next year, I’m confident the results will be better.”
It’s fair to say that the #37 crew has had some bad luck this year, notably with Sasahara’s penalty in the opening round at Okayama and Alesi being hit by Toshiki Oyu’s ARTA Honda while running in the points at Suzuka in August. But then again, the same can be said for Kondo Racing and Cerumo, the two next-lowest placed cars in the standings.
The fact of the matter is that Sasahara and Alesi haven’t shown the pace to be really challenging at the front of the field, at least since the first round at Okayama.
This month’s penultimate round of the season at Autopolis is the last chance for Sasahara and Alesi to take advantage of their low success handicap. Although the ballast is halved, with 9kg on board they will still be carrying a full 40kg less than their counterparts in the #36 car, so the pressure is on to convert this helping hand into a solid result.
Alesi in particular needs to ensure he ends the year strongly at Autopolis and Motegi to put himself in the best possible position to stay with TOM’S in 2024, particularly with the team known to be fielding interest from a number drivers currently racing in Europe.
“At Autopolis the #37 car will still be relatively light,” Yamada said. “So we have to push and target being on the podium. The tyre choice is always difficult for Autopolis, but I think all [Bridgestone] GR Supra crews will be using more or less the same.”
Title-contending #36 crew faces critical Autopolis round
Meanwhile, the #36 TOM’S crew faces what will be a crucial race in its hopes to win this year’s championship. The disqualification of the Real Racing Honda at Sugo did Tsuboi and Miyata a big favour, not only by awarding them an extra point but also putting the #3 NDDP Racing Nissan just over the threshold to have a stage one fuel flow restrictor.
After an in-season tyre test at Motegi in early September, prior to the Sugo round, where the Michelin-shod #3 car was flying and the #36 car was somewhat more subdued, Yamada knows that TOM’S has to pick up every point possible at Autopolis to take a cushion into the final race, which also proved a difficult event for the team last year.
“It was a difficult test for the #36 car at Motegi,” admitted Yamada. “The Michelin runners were very fast and our drivers said they didn’t feel much improvement with the tyres. But at Autopolis, the #36 will not have a fuel flow restrictor, and the #3 car will have a stage one restrictor, so it’s a big chance for us to make up ground.”
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