Team & Driver Features
Interview With The JGTC's Michael Krumm
By Source: JGTC
Jul 15, 2004, 21:29

NISMO Team Driver, Defending Driver's Champion Talks About the Difference between European Races and JGTC

Two-time JGTC Driver's Champion, 1997 with Toyota and 2003 with Nissan. But Michael Krumm's racing career is expansive; in addition to championships for two different Japanese factory teams, he has experienced Touring Car and Endurance races in Europe. He has taken part in the German touring car race series and stood on the podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours with an Audi factory team. We asked him to describe differences between racing in Europe and the JGTC from a driver's point of view.

First of all, can you tell us what point is the most different between the European races you've done so so far and the JGTC?

MK: The biggest difference here is we have two drivers in one car; so the fact that there is a driver change involved. It is really very challenging and a lot of fun. Since there is a "team", we have to work together... We have to make the set-up together, and decide who will qualify and where. It's much more challenging. Apart from that, one of the biggest differences is that the cars are very, very nice to drive, very fast. There is a lot of down force and we have big tires also. It's surprising, the fantastic tires that Bridgestone makes. We have so much grip that it is much funner to drive, with the high-speed cornering and all.

Yes, the cars competing in the series are very sophisticated and very high performance even though the engine power output is limited compared to the GT cars running in other countries.

MK: Here's one example. In the test sessions at Suzuka, we measured the lateral G force, and it was something like 3G. That is much much higher than I had ever experienced in such type of car. It's like a formula car. The grip in corners... Very high, and it's because the cars are so good. Again, there's just so much more down force. That, combined with the power, it's very challenging to drive the car now. The lap times today are much closer to Formula Nippon than Formula 3. Ten years ago, when the JGTC started, all the lap times were close to those of the Formula 3 machine lap times. Now, we're basically closer to Formula 3000 times. This is a huge step in progress.

As he mentioned, the lap times in the JGTC events have improved dramatically in just a few short years. From the first year in 1994 to celebrating the 10th year anniversary in 2003, the pole position time dropped over 10 seconds at the 4.4km Fuji Speedway (now undergoing reconstruction).

What is the reason for the improvement in lap times from your point of view?

MK: We have a tire war going on between four makers, and we have the top three Japanese car manufacturers. So there is huge competition every year, and that's why the lap times go up. Even if more restrictions are added to slow down the cars.

On a contrary aspect, what are some of the difficulties you find as driver in the JGTC?

MK: The most difficult point now is that a lot of power is lost with the air restrictors. We actually have a lot of grip in the corners, but no power. That means we have to brake so late, but we can't brake so late to give a good lap time. That means it's getting very difficult to overtake because of braking performance. It's like Formula 1 braking points. We need more power and less grip.

But the battles seen in the races of the series are so exciting, keen and attractive...

MK: Actually, it is getting there, yes. The battles are very close every time. But overtaking is getting more difficult. So when you ask for a difficult point... It's clearly that overtaking is now very difficult and qualifying is more important. A couple years ago, it was still possible to overtake based on braking because we had a longer braking zone. But now we have less power, so...

It's just like he commented, the engine power output of JGTC cars is much less that of cars constructed based on Le Mans regulations or FIA GT Championship regulations.

Do you think you need more power than the current 500HP or so that is permitted?

MK: Yes, absolutely. We need more power, and little bit less grip. That means smaller tires or less down force. But another point I'd like to state that makes things difficult with power reduction is traffic, to overtake the GT300 cars. Our straight speed now is nearly the same in both categories.

You've taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours, competing in prototype cars, GT cars. Is There a much larger difference in the speeds among the cars compared to the JGTC...

MK: Yes, that's why it's easier to drive in the traffic. You can get by safely, passing on the straight. In the JGTC, we cannot pass on the straight, so we have to take big risks in the corners. That is because the speed difference between the GT500 and GT300 machines is very small.

They say that in race events in Europe, apart from some special races, not many spectators come out. But every race in the JGTC draws a huge crowd.

MK: It's fantastic that we have so many spectators coming out, and their enthusiasm and excitement really adds to the sport, creating such a nice atmosphere in the race. It's really great. For me it's the most fun race I have ever been in, and I want to continue as long as I can. It's much fun for the drivers. The cars are so nice to drive... Fast. And, so many spectators.

Thank you very much Michael.

© Copyright 2002 Speed Arena