Mugen can be "proud" of Super GT results in tough year

In the first year of the team’s tie-up with Red Bull, Mugen pair Sasahara and Hideki Mutoh ended up 12th out of 15 GT500 crews in the standings, six points shy of the next-worst Honda NSX-GT pairing, Nakajima Racing’s Takuya Izawa and Hiroki Otsu.

However, a third place in the first Motegi race in September and two other top-six finishes left Sasahara and Mutoh well ahead of the other two Yokohama-shod cars in the top class, the Bandoh Toyota GR Supra and the Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R.

GT500 rookie Sasahara said Mugen ending up as the best Yokohama runner was a strong achievement for a team that had finished bottom of the rankings in two of the previous three seasons, but said the tyre’s limitations placed a ceiling on what it could achieve.

#16 Team Mugen Honda NSX-GT: Hideki Mutoh, Ukyo Sasahara

Masahide Kamio