Round 1 SUZUKA GT300km
20 Mar. '98
Practice Report
Rain falling from the morning completely submerged the track. The first session of the unofficial practice took place for 1.5 hours from 9:00 am under wet conditions. Not being discouraged by such nasty weather, Skylines including 23 PENNZOIL NISMO GTR made laps vigorously. So did 36 Castrol TOM'S SUPRA and 64 Mobil 1 NSX. The best time of the session was 2'20.22 scored by 23 PENNZOIL NISMO GTR, which was followed by 36 Castrol TOM'S SUPRA with 2'20.580 and 18 TAKATA DOME MUGEN NSX with 2'21.211. The second session was also 1.5-long and started at 12:30 pm, still under wet conditions. As the rain was slackened to a drizzle, most cars improved their times from the previous session, especially 23 and 36 seemed in good shape. The session saw 36 Castrol TOM'S SUPRA top with 2'19.965 ahead of 23 PENNZOIL NISMO GT-R with 2'20.017 and 18 TAKATA DOME MUGEN NSX with 2'20.535.
In GT300 class, the best time was set by 21 DUNLOP-BP-BMW both in the 1st and 2nd sessions. This proved No.21's merit in raining conditions again after its successful pole in the also raining Qualify at the 3rd round of GT Championship in Sendai last year.
Rain finally stopped before the beginning of the 3rd session which started at 4:30. This helped most cars to better their times and many scored the pace under 2'10 succeedingly. After 20 minutes from the beginning the one-hour-long session, 100 RAYBRIG NSX driven by Akira Iida and 23 PENNZOIL NISMO GTR both reached the 2'05 mark. And finally, despite unfavorable conditions, the last year's course record 2'05.426 was smashed by 100 RAYBRIG NSX (Akira Iida) with 2,05.034, then by 23 PENNZOIL NISMO GTR with 2'04.736 and 18 TAKATA DOME MUGEN NSX with 2'05.034.
In GT300 class, 44 APEX DL MOMO CORSE MR2 scored 2'13.810. Morio Nitta at the wheel of 44 was the GT300 class pole sitter in the first round of 1997 championship series which was held also in Suzuka. He was again the favorite of Suzuka, as he outpaced 51 Cobra Porche in 2nd by more than 2 seconds. The session saw 25 TSUCHIYA MR2 and 55 STP TAISAN VIPER crush both at the final corner.
Unofficial practice(Wether : Rain/Cloudy , Course : Wet/Dry)
| Po |
No |
C-Po |
Machine |
Type |
Time |
Delay |
| 1 |
100 |
500-1 |
RAYBRIG NSX |
HONDA NSX |
2'04.696 |
169.29Km/h |
| 2 |
23 |
500-2 |
PENNZOIL NISMO GT-R |
NISSAN SKYLINE GTR |
2'04.736 |
0.04 |
| 3 |
18 |
500-3 |
TAKATA DOME MUGEN NSX |
HONDA NSX |
2'05.034 |
0.338 |
| 4 |
39 |
500-4 |
DENSO SARD SUPRA GT |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'05.540 |
0.844 |
| 5 |
50 |
500-5 |
ARTA SKYLINE |
NISSAN SKYLINE GTR |
2'05.779 |
1.083 |
| 6 |
37 |
500-6 |
Castrol TOM'S SUPRA |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'06.106 |
1.41 |
| 7 |
64 |
500-7 |
Mobil 1 NSX |
HONDA NSX |
2'06.401 |
1.705 |
| 8 |
36 |
500-8 |
Castrol TOM'S SUPRA |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'06.430 |
1.734 |
| 9 |
38 |
500-9 |
FK/MASSIMO CERUMO SUPRA |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'06.570 |
1.874 |
| 10 |
16 |
500-10 |
Castrol MUGEN NSX |
HONDA NSX |
2'06.592 |
1.896 |
| 11 |
3 |
500-11 |
UNISIA JECS SKYLINE |
NISSAN SKYLINE GTR |
2'06.854 |
2.158 |
| 12 |
5 |
500-12 |
5ZIGEN SUPRA |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'08.717 |
4.021 |
| 13 |
6 |
500-13 |
ESSO Tiger Supra |
TOYOTA SUPRA |
2'09.257 |
4.561 |
| 14 |
88 |
500-14 |
DIABLO GT-1 |
LAMBORGHINI DIABLO |
2'11.606 |
6.91 |
| 15 |
30 |
500-15 |
SOK PORSCHE |
PORSCHE993/380LL |
2'12.064 |
7.368 |
| 16 |
44 |
300-1 |
APEX DL MomoCorse MR2 |
TOYOTA MR2 |
2'14.810 |
10.114 |
| 17 |
51 |
300-2 |
COBRA PORSCHE |
PORSCHE 993RSR |
2'16.185 |
11.489 |
| 18 |
777 |
500-16 |
Rain-X DIABLO DL |
LAMBORGHINI DIABLO |
2'17.098 |
12.402 |
| 19 |
910 |
300-3 |
910 PORSCHE |
PORSCHE 993RSR |
2'17.673 |
12.977 |
| 20 |
81 |
300-4 |
DAISHIN SILVIA |
NISSAN SILVIA |
2'17.681 |
12.985 |
| 21 |
91 |
300-5 |
KOSEI&Buddy Club MR2 |
TOYOTA MR2 |
2'17.806 |
13.11 |
| 22 |
61 |
300-6 |
TAEIBON TRAMPIO FTO |
MITSUBISHI FTO |
2'18.638 |
13.942 |
| 23 |
77 |
300-7 |
CUSCO SUBARU IMPREZA |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
2'19.218 |
14.522 |
| 24 |
7 |
300-8 |
RE Amemiya Matsumoto Kiyoshi RX7 |
MAZDA RX-7 |
2'19.333 |
14.637 |
| 25 |
15 |
300-9 |
XANAVI SILVIA |
NISSAN SILVIA |
2'19.343 |
14.647 |
| 26 |
9 |
300-10 |
PCJ DAIKOKUYA PORSCHE RSR |
PORSCHE 993RSR |
2'19.350 |
14.654 |
| 27 |
21 |
300-11 |
DUNLOP-BP-BMW |
BMW E36 |
2'19.815 |
15.119 |
| 28 |
911 |
300-12 |
910 PCJ PORSCHE |
PORSCHE 993RSR |
2'21.572 |
16.876 |
| 29 |
10 |
300-13 |
ABILITY PORSCHE 993GT2 |
PORSCHE 993 |
2'21.917 |
17.221 |
| 30 |
70 |
300-14 |
Gaikokuya DUNLOP PORSCHE |
PORSCHE 993 GT2 |
2'28.451 |
23.755 |
| 31 |
17 |
300-15 |
KAGEISEN RE ROADSTER |
MAZDA ROADSTER |
2'29.485 |
24.789 |
| 32 |
60 |
300-16 |
TOYOTA CAVALIER |
TOYOTA CAVALIER |
2'36.445 |
31.749 |
*Unofficial Timed
presented by SUZUKA Circuit Land
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