The practice sessions for the combined DTM and SuperGT race weekend at Fuji Speedway, Japan, saw Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast fastest in the second session. but it was Nissan Kondo Racing’s Jann Mardenborough who would be fastest on Friday.
Two-time DTM champion Rast would top FP2 with a time of 1 minute 50.385 seconds, less than half a second ahead of Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Loïc Duval.
Both sessions were affected by inclement weather, with first practice being delayed in the hope mist and fog might clear from the 4.5km circuit. However, with poor visibility repeatedly returning, running was punctuated by red flags.
Once the session got underway, Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller would find himself leading the timesheets before a monumental accident for Honda Team Mugen’s Hideki Utoh necessitated a lengthy red flag interruption.
The green flag waved with 15 minutes remaining, and Mardenborough would go fastest with a time of 1 minute 47.733 seconds, with Rockenfeller fourth quickest and best placed of the DTM competitors.
Second practice saw heavy rain fall on the circuit and laptimes slow by around two seconds, but featured every driver setting a representative time.
Both DTM and SuperGT competitors shared the top time in the final ten minutes, before Rast went quickest on his final flyer beating Duval by 0.493 seconds.
Audi Sport Team WRT Hitotsuyama driver Benoît Tréluyer was ninth fastest with a time of 1 minute 53.646 seconds, Rockenfeller was eleventh fastest, nearly three and a half seconds slower than Rast.
Two-time series champion BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann was 14th, nearly three and a half seconds slower than Rast.
BMW Team RBM driver Kamui Kobayashi was 16th, with a time of 1 minute 54.232 seconds, with Team RBM teammate Alex Zanardi completing the order in 21st with a fastest time of 1 minute 59.700 seconds.
The wet conditions proved to level the playing field between the two series, as Thursday’s dry test session left the European teams with a deficit of half a second. Results also show that the SuperGT teams that competed in the DTM finale at Hockenheim last month have developed their understanding of the Hankook control tyre.
Qualifying for the first race at Fuji gets underway at 0925 local time, 0125 CET (0025 GMT).
First practice result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 24 | Jann MARDENBOROUGH |  |
KONDO RACING | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 6 | 1:47.733 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 37 | Nick CASSIDY |  |
LEXUS TEAM KeePer TOM’S | Lexus LC500 | 7 | 1:48.670 | 0.937 |
| 3 | 17 | Koudai TSUKAKOSHI |  |
KEIHIN REAL RACING | Honda NSX-GT | 4 | 1:48.936 | 1.203 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:49.114 | 1.381 |
| 5 | 12 | Daiki SASAKI | |
TEAM IMPUL | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 6 | 1:49.391 | 1.658 |
| 6 | 23 | Ronnie QUINTARELLI |  |
NISMO | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 9 | 1:49.567 | 1.834 |
| 7 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:49.572 | 1.839 |
| 8 | 64 | Narain KARTHIKEYAN |  |
Modulo Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 10 | 1:49.586 | 1.853 |
| 9 | 8 | Tomoki NOJIRI | |
ARTA | Honda NSX-GT | 6 | 1:50.156 | 2.423 |
| 10 | 39 | Yuichi NAKAYAMA | |
LEXUS TEAM SARD | Lexus LC500 | 11 | 1:50.368 | 2.635 |
| 11 | 19 | Yuji KUNIMOTO | |
LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus LC500 | 10 | 1:50.533 | 2.800 |
| 12 | 21 | Benoït TRÉLUYER | |
WRT Hitotsuyama Team Audi Sport | Audi RS5 DTM | 11 | 1:50.568 | 2.835 |
| 13 | 36 | Kazuki NAKAJIMA | |
LEXUS TEAM au TOM’S | Lexus LC500 | 12 | 1:51.215 | 3.482 |
| 14 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 6 | 1:51.534 | 3.801 |
| 15 | 1 | Naoki YAMAMOTO | |
TEAM KUNIMITSU | Honda NSX-GT | 5 | 1:51.568 | 3.835 |
| 16 | 3 | Kohei HIRATE | |
NDDP RACING with B-MAX | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 8 | 1:51.751 | 4.018 |
| 17 | 0 | Kamui KOBAYASHI | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:53.025 | 5.292 |
| 18 | 38 | Hiroaki ISHIURA | |
LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO | Lexus LC500 | 10 | 1:54.156 | 6.423 |
| 19 | 16 | Hideki MUTOH | |
TEAM MUGEN | Honda NSX-GT | 5 | 1:59.411 | 11.678 |
| 20 | 4 | Alessandro ZANARDI | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 2:01.030 | 13.297 |
| 21 | 6 | Kazuya OSHIMA | |
LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO’S | Lexus LC500 | 6 | 2:01.639 | 13.906 |
| 22 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 2 | 3:08.236 | 20.503 |
Second practice result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:50.385 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:50.878 | 0.493 |
| 3 | 64 | Tadasuke MAKINO | |
Modulo Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | 15 | 1:51.332 | 0.947 |
| 4 | 37 | Nick CASSIDY | |
LEXUS TEAM KeePer TOM’S | Lexus LC500 | 15 | 1:51.831 | 1.446 |
| 5 | 12 | James ROSSITER | |
TEAM IMPUL | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 16 | 1:52.276 | 1.891 |
| 6 | 8 | Tomoki NOJIRI | |
ARTA | Honda NSX-GT | 15 | 1:52.771 | 2.386 |
| 7 | 36 | Yuhi SEKIGUCHI | |
LEXUS TEAM au TOM’S | Lexus LC500 | 7 | 1:53.036 | 2.651 |
| 8 | 23 | Ronnie QUINTARELLI | |
NISMO | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 14 | 1:53.620 | 3.235 |
| 9 | 21 | Benoït TRÉLUYER | |
WRT Hitotsuyama Team Audi Sport | Audi RS5 DTM | 15 | 1:53.646 | 3.261 |
| 10 | 39 | Yuichi NAKAYAMA | |
LEXUS TEAM SARD | Lexus LC500 | 13 | 1:53.675 | 3.290 |
| 11 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 13 | 1:53.709 | 3.324 |
| 12 | 3 | Frederic MAKOWIECKI | |
NDDP RACING with B-MAX | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 15 | 1:53.730 | 3.345 |
| 13 | 24 | Mitsunori TAKABOSHI | |
KONDO RACING | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 | 15 | 1:53.821 | 3.436 |
| 14 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 15 | 1:53.829 | 3.444 |
| 15 | 6 | Kenta YAMASHITA | |
LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO’S | Lexus LC500 | 15 | 1:54.064 | 3.679 |
| 16 | 0 | Kamui KOBAYASHI | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 14 | 1:54.232 | 3.847 |
| 17 | 17 | Koudai TSUKAKOSHI | |
KEIHIN REAL RACING | Honda NSX-GT | 8 | 1:54.746 | 4.361 |
| 18 | 19 | Yuji KUNIMOTO | |
LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus LC500 | 15 | 1:55.879 | 5.494 |
| 19 | 38 | Yuji TACHIKAWA | |
LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO | Lexus LC500 | 12 | 1:56.963 | 6.578 |
| 20 | 1 | Naoki YAMAMOTO | |
TEAM KUNIMITSU | Honda NSX-GT | 12 | 1:57.207 | 6.822 |
| 21 | 4 | Alessandro ZANARDI | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 13 | 1:59.700 | 9.315 |
| 22 | 16 | Hideki MUTOH | |
TEAM MUGEN | Honda NSX-GT | 0 | No time | N/A |