Team Kunimitsu Honda man Yamamoto was left with serious neck and spinal cord injuries following the contact with the Kondo Racing Nissan GT300 car of Teppei Natori that pitched him hard into the barriers during last month’s sixth round of the season.
Natori was held responsible and penalised for causing the collision, triggered by his late lunge into the pits after being passed on the right by the Rookie Racing Toyota of Kenta Yamashita, with the Nissan driver apparently not noticing that Yamamoto was tucked in close behind.
The situation was complicated by the presence of the #10 Gainer Nissan that stuck to the left-hand side of the track, prompting Yamashita to pass Natori on the right.
In a special media briefing at last weekend’s Autopolis round, journalists were shown CCTV and on-board footage of the clash between Yamamoto and Natori, which was never shown on the official TV broadcast of the race.
During this briefing, GTA race division executive manager Taku Sawame revealed that moves are afoot to revise the sporting and technical regulations to improve safety in 2024, with a particular focus on cornering speeds.
“We are that ‘too fast is dangerous’, as many people have pointed out,” said Sawame. “Now we are discussing what we can do to reduce cornering speeds with the sporting and technical regulation sub-committees, with safety as the top priority.
“We are constantly discussing what we can implement immediately, and what we need to look at for the medium- and long-term. The first stage is to work out what safety-orientated items we can add to next year’s sporting regulations.”
Source: Autosport