Dunlop no longer has "massive" one-lap pace, says Sasahara

Following the team's switch from Yokohama to Dunlop tyres, Mugen's #16 Honda NSX-GT had the best qualifying average of any GT500 team last year, taking pole at Autopolis and two other front row starts.

However, the team struggled to convert its qualifying prowess into race results, with Sasahara and Toshiki Oyu managing a best finish of fourth at Motegi en route to 14th out of 15 crews in the drivers' standings.

Mugen topped the combined timesheets during last year's Okayama pre-season test, but last weekend was a low-key 11th-fastest across the two days, around four tenths off the pace set by the TOM'S Toyota team.

Sasahara believes this may be because Dunlop has shifted its focus towards creating a tyre with stronger race pace.

"This time I didn’t feel any massive one-lap pace," Sasahara told Motorsport.com. "So I am a bit worried about the one-lap pace.

"Of course our weak point is the race distance, so maybe we’ll have a bit less one-lap pace than last year, but hopefully the race pace is improving.

"To be honest, I don’t really care about qualifying this year. As long as we can be on the second or third row at least, in the race we want to aim to go forwards.

"Last year we were strong in qualifying, but I strongly believe that Oyu and I are one of the fastest combinations, so that's not a surprise. But the race is the most important, so we are sacrificing some qualifying pace and focusing on the race pace."

#16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Mugen heads into the 2022 campaign still searching for a first victory since its return to SUPER GT in 2017, with Dunlop also looking for a first victory as a tyre supplier since that year's Suzuka 1000km.

Sasahara hopes he and Oyu can put to an end to that winless streak this season.

"Everyone else is developing quite quickly, and especially Bridgestone is for sure still the strongest, so it’s a difficult challenge," he said. "We don’t have much time left. We can’t do much testing during the season, which is another difficult thing.

"But the target for the season is to try to win at least one race. Whatever the situation, we just want to win!"