The fourth round of the Super GT series was held at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia.
　
Although last year's race in Sepang was welcomed by unusually cool weather, the weather this year was true Malaysian hot throughout the weekend. The Sepang Circuit was resurfaced prior to this Super GT event, and while it improved the grip level, it was found to be very abrasive for the tires. Therefore, it was said in the paddock that the drivers would have to preserve the tires in the race, and some pessimistic people said that the tires might even not last ten laps. Anyway, it seemed that the total performance of the tires was to be the key factor and would have a significant influence on the results.
　
Two ADVAN shod cars in the GT500 class qualified in thirteenth and fourteenth, with car no.25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430 taking precedence of car no.24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion Z.
　
The race started at four p.m. on Sunday. Despite such a late start, the atmospheric temperature was as high as 35℃ with the surface temperature at 51℃, and combined with the abrasiveness of the surface, it was obvious that the race was to be very demanding on the tires.
　
In the GT500 class, the majority of teams chose the two stops / three stints strategy, but the two ADVAN shod cars took the one stop strategy instead. The starting driver of car no.24, Joao Paulo De Oliveira, pushed hard from the early stages and passed his rivals one after another. In Lap 19, he finally took the lead after passing as many as twelve cars and ran away from all rivals who struggled with their tire problems due to the high surface temperature.
　
While most of the GT500 teams made pit stops before Lap 20, Oliveira went on much longer than his rivals did and came in the pit after 33 laps. Until their only pit stop, the pace of car no.24 had never fallen off, which proved the overwhelming performance of their tires.
　
After the driver change to Seiji Ara and other routine work including refueling and tire change were all finished faultlessly, WOODONE ADVAN Clarion Z resumed the race in the fourth position. But the three cars in front of it were all 2 stoppers. Consequently, Ara moved up to the lead position after a few laps.
　
Ara drove the second part of the race brilliantly with no one threatening his position, and took the checkered flag in front of Team Manager, Masahiko Kondo. It was the first ever win for the team in their second season competing in the Super GT series.
　
Car no.25, ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430 also finished in fifth with the one stop strategy. This was their best result of the season.
　
In the GT300 class, WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R, which started the race from the third grid, dropped out because of damage from an accident, and ENDLESS ADVAN Senzai-Kakumei Z, who qualified in fourth, also struggled to keep up with leaders. On the other hand, car no.4, EBBRO 350R, starting from seventh, jumped up to third in the opening lap.
　
Most of the teams in the GT300 class chose the one stop strategy. Car no.4 started with veteran driver Tetsuya Tanaka on board and, after moving up to third in the class, he calmly watched the fierce battle of the top two cars and kept his position. Sure enough, one of those two did a course off during the battle and damaged the car, which meant Tanaka inherited the second position. He then took the top slot in Lap 14.
　
With 25 laps completed, Tanaka visited his pit to change over to a rookie, Sinsuke Yamazaki. But a MR-S that made a pit stop earlier pushed very hard after rejoining the race and took over the lead position from car no.4 during the latter's pit stop. Although Yamazaki pursued the leader, it wasn't enough to reverse their positions. Nonetheless, he finished in second and got on the podium for the first time in only his fourth start in the Super GT race.

　[GT500 class and overall winner]
"Because of the high temperatures, it was a tough race. In particular, the surface temperature was much higher than anticipated, which was demanding for both cars and tires.
As we had already decided to take the one stop (strategy) at the time of the practice session on Friday, JP (Oliveira) and I drove all the sessions keeping tire management in mind.
The strategy hit the bull's-eye. But there were no mistakes not only in our driving but in our pit work and, of course, the ADVAN tires were of much help for us.
I am so happy that I could keep a good pace until the finish and hand the team's first win to our boss, Masahiko Kondo."