The second round of SUPER GT was held on April 3-4, surrounded by many cherry blossoms in full bloom at Okayama International Circuit. On the 3rd, the day of qualifying, there was alternating cloudy and sunny weather and temperatures dropped down to 10 degrees. The Nissan GT-R opened the season with victory and it was hoped the car would win again at Okayama.

The 6kg handicap weight given to the #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer), for taking eighth place in the opening round, had little effect. This time with a new shape of rear fender and revised suspension specifications to match their Michelin tyres, it was a race to beat their opening round result.

The #12 Calsonic GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda /Ronnie Quintarelli) had no handicap weight. The team had to forfeit the opener due to mechanical trouble, so this time they wanted to score by all means. For this round they appeared with the same rear fender as the #23.

Feeling the effects of a 40kg handicap weight given for winning the opening round, the #24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira/Hironobu Yasuda), improved its time in the practice session on the morning of the 3rd and a close race was expected.

Following the system used in the opening round, a knockout-style format was adopted for qualifying. In the S1 session, Quintarelli was 2nd, with Matsuda taking the top spot in S2 before Quintarelli scored the third-quickest time in S3, the best among the GT-R entries. "Unfortunately the tyres locked at the first corner so I wasn't able to get the perfect lap," commented Quintarelli.

As for the #23 GT-R, Terluyer spun on his in-lap in S1, but recovered to 6th. Motoyama then went 3rd-fastest in S2, before Treluyer spun again on his in-lap in S3. With tyres to win bolted onto the car, they secured 7th.

Qualifying for the #24 GT-R was entrusted to Yasuda, but locking the tyres at the first corner, the car ended up in the foam barriers. Fortunately there was no damage to the car, but the incident brought out the red flags and the session was halted. With a qualifying result of 12th, the car did not advance to S2. "It's all my fault," shrugged a disappointed Yasuda afterwards.

Weather from the morning of the 4th was glorious, with some 16,000 fans packed into the grandstands. The ambient temperature went up as high as 16 degrees Celsius, and sunburns were a real possibility. Conditions made it a perfect day or racing, without the cool wind that had prevailed the preceding day.

Starting at 14:00, the Nissan GT-Rs fell into rank for the formation lap. The race would be 82 laps around the compact Okayama International Circuit. Already a narrow course, the continuous tight corners make it an accident-prone circuit, and it is essential that drivers be able to make it until the end.

The #23 GT-R started with Motoyama in the driver's seat. After taking 6th position during the opening lap, he was unable to maintain pace and fell to 9th place, eventually spinning out and crashing after contact from another car while on the back straight of the 16th lap. Motoyama ended his car's race here.

The #12 GT-R was started by Quintarelli. While blocking advances from the #1 SC430, he was able to hold onto 3rd place. After passing the tipping point on lap 42, it was into the pit where Matsuda jumped behind the wheel.

Oliveira was the starting driver for the #24 GT-R. However, the road surface temperature failed to rise and the 40kg weight handicap also failed to meet expectations, leading to disappointing grip levels. Yasuda was put in the car earlier than expected with a pit stop on lap 36.

On this occasion, a multitude of NISSAN cheer group fans were on hand to wave the red and blue NISSAN flags, boosting spirits in the camp. The #23 GT-R finished its race unhappily in the opening stages, but especially in the latter half, the power of support leant itself to success for the remaining GT-R entries, and unintentionally for the Z cars in GT300 also.

Matsuda took charge of the #12 GT-R in the latter half after changing only 2 tyres in the pit stop, resulting in a fierce battle for 2nd place with the #1 SC430 and #38 SC430. However, Okayama's few passing points meant no opportunities could be seized and the podium was missed by a mere 0.5 seconds. "It's very frustrating," commented Matsuda, who also showed his appreciation for Team Director Hoshino's leadership.

Putting the regret of the preceding day behind him, Yasuda in the #24 GT-R ran on his own in 11th in the race, unable to break into the top 10. On the final lap however, a fuel pick-up problem saw the car drop one position to 12th. It was in complete contrast to the opening round.