Miku Z4 at Super GT

Many of you probably know that there is an itasha team named Studie GLAD Racing at Japanese Super GT who has designed the their car to match Miku image. If you didn't know that and want to find out more about it then search the internet for phrases like "Miku Z4" or "Studie Glad Racing". Later on I'll write down some sources I use for keeping you up to date with their progress.

Why I write about it? This is because I find it extremely interesting that two separate worlds, Vocaloids and motor sports, have merged together. Also I haven't really found any good non Japanese source to track progress of that team. Picking out info from Japanese sites is quite tedious, but I'll try to keep myself and You informed. But before I'll jump into their current progress, let me make a little introduction for those who are not familiar with Super GT and this team. To start off, this is what I am talking about:



This is specially modified BMW Z4 to fit into GT300 class. Notice the decals, these are PIAPURO design meaning that they are a collective creation of internet users on piapro.jp. Originally the the ones who designed it didn't know where their design will be used. They thought that their work would end up at Comiket itasha show or on some lower level local racing events. But no, their designs were used by Studie Glad team on probably the biggest Japanese motor sports event Super GT.

The Studie Glad entered the championship with their Hatsune Miku Studie Glad BMW Z4 car on 2008 (an awfully long name, so I like to use Miku Z4 instead). Crypton Future Media (who owns the rights on Vocaloid software and Hatsune Miku voice) fully supported the initiative. The Miku Z4 received warm welcome among itasha community despite the fact that the team itself wasn't very successful. On this picture you can see the drivers (Yasushi Kikuchi and Shozo Tagahara), team manager (Akira Yasushi Suzuki) and their racing queens. :)



On this year (2009) the same team entered the Super GT series with same drivers and manager, but with improved vehicle. It wasn't only decals that were upgraded, but now they have new mechanics and a lot of experience from last year. On the beginning of 2009 season they introduced a personal sponsor program. During a limited period of time between April 17 and May 11 people could buy merchandise and at the same time support the team. They got 693 personal sponsors. Unfortunately I didn't know about that program back then. I would have loved to get one of these:



This year their performance hasn't been as they have expected. They are not happy with the result either, but they still are my favorite team in Super GT. Actually unless Miku Z4 participation I wouldn't care much about Super GT. But since they do, they have my support.

I believe their result will get better over time because of Super GT rules that give more advantage to those cars that haven't been that fast. After all it is mostly about public entertainment and tight competition is favored. To achieve this, they have strict regulations for cars and special weight handicap system. The last one means basically that the more points you get, the more dead weight is put on your car on upcoming races. The system is designed so that towards the end of season, this extra weight is lightened and finally removed for the last race.

Here is a random pick of the last racing event Miku Z4 actually drove. It was on May 3 on Fuji Speedway. They finished 17th in GT300 class while in start there were 21 GT300 cars. Drivers weren't very pleased with that, but what can you do.



If you see some cars passing Miku Z4 like wind, then don't worry, these are probably GT500 class cars. These more powerful GT500 cars are on the track at the same time as GT300 class cars. These can be distinguished by large sticker on top of windscreen. If that is yellow then the car is in GT300 class. White stickers mark GT500 class.

The last Super GT event was Sepang race, but disaster stroke. The Miku Z4's engine didn't start and they were unable to participate even on qualification round. Hope they get that fixed soon and start collecting points on next event at Sugo held on 25 and 26 July. Studie GLAD Racing team has currently exactly 2 points and is 58 points behind from first team.

Now this has been a long post with lots of links, but I just wanted to write it down. I hope that I didn't mess up names and the sources I used were reliable. Before giving some official links, I'd also point out that Studie Glad has some their own official Miku songs on their web page. My favourite one is this one: Blue Max Warrior ～撃墜王～ (mp3 link). I recommend watching this slideshow while listening this song :)

Some links I keep track of:
Super GT official site (in English) - good place for results and schedule.
Studie Glad Racing site (in Japanese) - direct source for team related info.

I would be happy if I could watch the race live here in Estonia, but no channel is broadcasting it here. The situation is even more sad, since no TV station is broadcasting it in whole Europe. Motors TV used to do it last year, but not any more :(. If you know a way how to watch it here, give me a hint. I'd really appreciate that.