Honda Civic GT500 car completes first laps in Okayama test

All three GT500 manufacturers have gathered for a two-day test with their 2024 machines, with Honda, Toyota and Nissan each running a single car each.

Honda officially unveiled the Civic Type R-GT test car on Monday ahead of the test, while Toyota and Nissan are running upgraded versions of their existing cars, the GR Supra and Z respectively.

Action began on Tuesday morning with a two-hour session, and it was Naoki Yamamoto who took out the Civic for its first laps.

Honda SUPER GT project leader Masahiro Saiki said upon the car's unveiling: "This time is only a shakedown, so the main thing will be to check the data to see if it matches our simulations, so I’m not worried about the laptimes.

"We’re seeing numbers [from simulations] with a different trend to the NSX, so it will be important to confirm those [on-track]."

Nissan's test car has also undergone significant aero revisions compared to the 2023 model, with a new nose that resembles the upcoming NISMO version of the Z road car that was revealed last year.

 

It is running on Bridgestone tyres, which could have significance as the marque evaluates a replacement tyre supplier for its two works NISMO-run cars after Michelin's departure at the end of the year. Impul regular Kazuki Hiramine was at the wheel for the first laps.

The morning session was briefly interrupted by a crash for the Supra, which appeared to have Toyota stalwart Yuji Tachikawa at the wheel, but the car returned to action for the afternoon session.

 

Action continues on Wednesday with four more hours of running planned.