I live in Japan and know the Mine circuit. I have decided not to run my GT40 in this race for a varity of reasons, but primarily because the Mine circuit is very narrow and i do not belive that it will be suitable to wide cars running flat out, more to the point, I do not think that a GT40 will get out of second or third gear on this circuit because it has very short straights. Frankly I am amazed they are using this track as opposed to Fuji, Suzuka, or Motegi, all of which are first class and very suitable to this event.
There was no way I was going to risk my GT40 on that track, I did consider entering my GT350R as I was not worried about the cost to repair damage caused from the inevitable door to door racing that will be necessary due to the width of the track and short length of the straights.
I guess we will see who is right, and for that reason, I decided to let somebody else take the risk and if I am right then I have saved myself a lot of money, on the other hand if I am wrong then I will have simply missed a good opportunity to run the car prior to next years Le Mans.
I absolutely agree that it will be great to see a lot of the Japanese collection cars on display, and no matter what happens on the track, it will be very rewarding to watch and catch up with people. I have not seen the entry list, are many overseas enterants coming?