Four Honda NSXs Dominate Starting Grid of GT 500 Class,
Toyota Celica Takes First Pole in GT 300 Class
Round 6 CP MINE GT RACE
Qualify Report / 10 Oct. '98
The Saturday qualifying sessions for the sixth round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (GTC) were held at Central Park Mine Circuit on November 10th under changing weather (fine to cloudy skies). The first morning sessions gave way to hot contests for the top grid positions in both GT classes. NISSAN drivers did well to post their names on the leader board early in the GT 500 session: Aguri Suzuki in the No.2 SKYLINE GT-R put in the fastest lap, coming out on top of Erik Comas and Kazuyoshi Hoshino in the No.23 and No.12 GT-Rs, respectively. Then a fantastic show of force was observed from the group of HONDA NSXs, with their drivers claiming record times one after another. Tom Coronel set the first fastest lap in the No.64 car, but was quickly knocked from the top by Ryo Michigami in the No.16 NSX. Katsutomo Kaneishi (No.18) and Akira Iida (No.100) also lapped consistently faster, heating up the battle for grid positions. It was only a matter of 15 minutes before the four HONDA machines monopolized the top four grid positions. At around 20 minutes into the session, Iida drove his No.100 NSX to a fantastic course record time of 1'23.796". Comas did well to keep the No.23 GT-R fastest of the NISSAN drivers in spite of a hefty 80kg handicap weight. It was the French driver, Pierre-Henri Raphanel, in the No.6 SUPRA that ran best of the TOYOTA teams even though the 1997 model lacks the ABS system equipped in the other SUPRAs.
A tough fight for the pole was also witnessed in the GT 300 class, with the championship points leading pair of Keiichi Suzuki / Shingo Tachi putting their No.25 TOYOTA MR2 in the No.1 position at the start of the session. The names on the leader board proceeded to change a number of times, including Hideo Fukuyama / Nobuyki Ohyagi (NISSAN SILVIA), Shinichi Yamaji / Haruhiko Matsumoto (MAZDA RX-7), and Masahiro Matsunaga / Yasushi Fujiwara (TOYOTA CELICA). However, it was Massimiliano Angelelli in a TOYOTA CELICA that came out on top with a new record time for the circuit in the GT 300 class, 1'30.029".
Under the assumption that the temperature would be higher in the afternoon, many of the teams opted to make their qualifying time trials in the morning, and then set up their machines for racing conditions with full tanks for running in the second session. Even so, Keiichi Tsuchiya improved on his morning session time with a 1'24.641" lap,securing a fifth position start on the grid for his No.39 SUPRA. Regardless of the effort, no one could touch the set by Iida in the morning session, giving the driver team of Kunimistu Takahashi / Akira Iida the pole. After the session, Iida commented: "Not having any handicap weight was of some help to us, and I think I could have lapped even faster. I'm not fully satisfied with the time."
There wasn't anyone in the GT 300 class capable of breaking the new record set by Angelelli, thus setting the TOYOTA CELICA of Manabu Orido / Massimiliano Angelelli in the pole slot. Angelelli commented: "This is the first time for me to drive here, and only the third time to race in a front-wheel-drive car. In spite of that, I could get the pole position, so I am very happy."
Qualify Certifications (Weather : Fine / Course : Dry )
| Po |
No |
C-Po |
Machine |
Driver |
Time |
Tire |
WH |
| 1 |
100 |
500-1 |
RAYBRIG NSX |
K.TAKAHASHI |
A.IIDA |
R 1'23.796 |
BS |
|
| 2 |
64 |
500-2 |
Mobil 1 NSX |
K.YAMANISHI |
T.CORONEL |
R 1'24.134 |
BS |
60 |
| 3 |
16 |
500-3 |
Castrol MUGEN NSX |
O.NAKAKO |
R.MICHIGAMI |
R 1'24.279 |
BS |
50 |
| 4 |
18 |
500-4 |
TAKATA DOME MUGEN NSX |
K.KANEISHI |
J.WAKISAKA |
R 1'24.293 |
BS |
|
| 5 |
39 |
500-5 |
DENSO SARD SUPRA GT |
K.TSUCHIYA |
T.TANIGAWA |
1'24.641 |
YH |
|
| 6 |
23 |
500-6 |
PENNZOIL NISMO GTR |
E.COMAS |
M.KAGEYAMA |
1'24.732 |
BS |
80 |
| 7 |
6 |
500-7 |
ESSO Tiger SUPRA |
P-H.RAPHANEL |
S.TAKAGI |
1'24.904 |
BS |
|
| 8 |
38 |
500-8 |
FK/MASSIMO CERUMO SUPRA |
H.TAKEUCHI |
H.NODA |
1'25.040 |
BS |
|
| 9 |
2 |
500-9 |
ZEXEL SKYLINE |
A.SUZUKI |
M.KAGEYAMA |
1'25.149 |
BS |
10 |
| 10 |
12 |
500-10 |
CALSONIC SKYLINE |
K.HOSHINO |
T.KUROSAWA |
1'25.182 |
BS |
50 |
| 11 |
36 |
500-11 |
Castrol TOM'S SUPRA |
M.SEKIYA |
N.FONTANA |
1'25.267 |
DL |
30 |
| 12 |
3 |
500-12 |
UNISIA JECS SKYLINE |
M.HASEMI |
T.TANAKA |
1'25.301 |
BS |
20 |
| 13 |
50 |
500-13 |
ARTA SKYLINE |
S.MOTOYAMA |
T.TSUCHIYA |
1'25.442 |
BS |
|
| 14 |
37 |
500-14 |
Castrol TOM'S SUPRA |
T.SUZUKI |
K.BURT |
1'25.475 |
DL |
|
| 15 |
8 |
500-15 |
FET SPORTS SUPRA |
W.GARDNER |
M.TANAKA |
1'25.550 |
BS |
|
| 16 |
5 |
500-16 |
5ZIGEN SUPRA |
M.GOOSSENS |
E.TAJIMA |
1'25.895 |
DL |
|
| 17 |
13 |
500-17 |
ENDLESS ADVAN GTR |
M.KINOSHITA |
M.FUJIMURA |
1'26.783 |
YH |
|
| 18 |
88 |
500-18 |
WEDDING DIABLO GT1 |
H.WADA |
N.FURUYA |
1'26.915 |
DL |
|
| 19 |
30 |
500-19 |
SOK PORSCHE |
Y.YAMADA |
H.OKADA |
1'27.792 |
BS |
|
| 20 |
19 |
300-1 |
WEDDS SPORTS CELICA |
M.ORIDO |
M.ANGELELLI |
R 1'30.029 |
YH |
20 |
| 21 |
25 |
300-2 |
TSUCHIYA MR2 |
K.SUZUKI |
S.TACHI |
R 1'30.067 |
YH |
70 |
| 22 |
44 |
300-3 |
APEX DL MOMO CORSE MR2 |
M.NITTA |
P.DUMBRECK |
R 1'30.188 |
DL |
10 |
| 23 |
81 |
300-4 |
DAISHIN SILVIA |
H.FUKUYAMA |
N.OHYAGI |
R 1'30.934 |
DL |
|
| 24 |
91 |
300-5 |
KOSEI & BUDDYCLUB MR2 |
M.MATSUNAGA |
Y.FUJIWARA |
R 1'31.134 |
YH |
|
| 25 |
7 |
300-6 |
RE AMEMIYA RX7 |
S.YAMAJI |
H.MATSUMOTO |
R 1'31.338 |
DL |
|
| 26 |
61 |
300-7 |
TAEIVON TRAMPIO FTO |
A.NAKAYA |
T.HARA |
R 1'31.506 |
TY |
|
| 27 |
15 |
300-8 |
XANAVI SILVIA |
M.KONDOH |
T.AOKI |
R 1'31.564 |
BS |
|
| 28 |
910 |
300-9 |
NINE-TEN PORSCHE |
A.YOGOH |
T.KINOSHITA |
1'31.863 |
DL |
10 |
| 29 |
21 |
300-10 |
DUNLOP-BP-BMW |
Y.HITOTSUYAMA |
H.KATOH |
1'32.263 |
DL |
|
| 30 |
77 |
300-11 |
CUSCO SUBARU IMPREZZA |
K.KOBAYASHI |
H.TAMAI |
1'32.283 |
YH |
30 |
| 31 |
72 |
300-12 |
OKURA RX7 |
M.PORTER |
I.HIRANO |
1'32.525 |
YH |
|
| 32 |
99 |
300-13 |
PCJ DAIKOKUYA PORSCHE |
T.HIOKI |
A.YOSHITOMI |
1'32.973 |
DL |
|
| 33 |
10 |
300-14 |
ABILITY PORSCHE 993GT2 |
H.ASOH |
A.ISHIKAWA |
1'33.009 |
DL |
|
| 34 |
60 |
300-15 |
TOYOTA CAVALIER |
K.SATOH |
M.NAGASHIMA |
1'33.186 |
DL |
|
| 35 |
51 |
300-16 |
COBRA PORSCHE |
K.IKETANI |
OSAMU |
1'33.425 |
YH |
|
| 36 |
70 |
300-17 |
GAIKOKUYA DUNLOP PORSCHE |
Y.ISHIBASHI |
P.VAN SCHOOTE |
1'35.325 |
DL |
|
R : Corse Record
Tire: BS=BRIDGESTONE / YH=YOKOHAMA / DL=DUNLOP / TY=TOYO
WH:Weight Handicap
|
