The is a race car produced by the
Vemac Car Company that raced in the Japanese
Super GT
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...
GT300 and GT500 classes. It competed between 2003 and 2012.
Specifications
The RD350R is essentially a version of the
RD320R introduced the previous year, but fitted with a
Zytek Engineering (now Gibson Technology) ZV348 3.4 L V8. It was tuned by Sierra Sports and was bored and stroked to 4.0 L as of the final season in 2012. Although the RD350R features a similar appearance to the RD320R, it was changed significantly, mainly in terms of aerodynamics. The Zytek engine was selected to increase the car's power.
At least one road car, the RD350, was built. It was given the registration plate of EU03 CWP.
Racing record
The car was introduced with
R&D Sport
R&D Sport is a Japanese racing team currently competing in the Super GT series.
Racing history
R&D Sport was created in 1991 as a race car management, maintenance, and manufacturing company and expanded to JGTC, racing under the company's own n ...
for their foray into the GT500 class in 2003;
the team performed poorly, finishing 20th in the standings with no points. It never competed for a full GT500 season again.
Other teams such as R'Qs Motorsports and Team Nova also used the RD350R in competition. In later seasons, the RD350R ran with reduced power in the GT300 class through the use of air intake restrictors because the engine was too powerful.
After the Super GT rule changes in 2012 that prohibited low-volume production cars from entering races, the RD350R (and likewise all other Vemacs) was no longer able to race in the series. The last team to use the RD350R, R'Qs Motorsports, replaced their RD350R with a
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for the 2013 season. The RD350R is the only one of the Vemacs that not win a race in Super GT.
References
{{reflist
Cars introduced in 2003
Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Grand tourer racing cars