Tom's Supras on Michelin Tires
Take 1-2-3 Grid Positions

No.36 Castrol TOM'S SUPRA

Round 5 JAPAN SPECIAL GT CUP
Qualify Report / 8 Aug. '99

The Saturday qualifying sessions for the "JAPAN SPECIAL GT CUP" the 5th round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (GTC) Series, were held under changing weather throughout the day. A total of 41 cars took to the track to battle for the pole on the high-speed Fuji Speedway circuit. Following the usual format, both the morning and afternoon session were split into three 20-minute segments: the first 20 minutes ran by the GT500 class, second 20 minutes ran by the GT300 class and the third 20 minutes ran by both classes.

The green light for the morning session was given under a cloud-covered sky at 10:30, yet the sunlight broke through occasionally to shine on the wet track. The first car onto the track starting the session was the No.3 Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Tetsuya Tanaka. The track surface began drying in the first 20-minute segment, and driver times grew increasingly better with each passing lap. The No.18 Honda NSX driven by Jyuichi Wakisaka claimed the best lap before the GT300 class entered the course, followed by Erik Comas in the No.1 Skyline, Hideki Noda in the No.6 Toyota Supra and Kazuyoshi Hoshino in the No.12 Skyline. During the GT300 segment, the driving line on the track was nearly dried entirely. At 35 minutes into the overall session, a light shower dampened the track again. In the last 20-minute segment, the GT500 drivers pushed their cars hard and the car number on the best time monitor changed every few seconds. Then, with 10 minutes remaining in the session, it began to rain in earnest to end the morning challenges.

The fastest lap of the morning session went to Masanori Sekiya driving the No.36 Supra (1'28.271), followed by Katsumoto Kaneishi in the No.18 NSX (1'28.415). The fastest Nissan driver in the session was Kazuyoshi Hoshino at 1'28.960, putting him in a provisional fifth on the grid. In the GT300 class, Takeshi Tsuchiya drove the No.15 Silvia to a best lap of 1'35.258, finishing a spilt-second ahead of a new car, the Porsche 996 GT3. This was the debut of the new Porsche following the Le Man 24 Hours, where a works 996 GT3 won the Le Mans GT class. Driver Hideshi Matsuda put in a fine time in spite of sufficient time for the team to setup the car properly.

No.81 DAISHIN SILVIA

Blue sky set the stage for the afternoon session, and immediately after the green light, Hideki Noda claimed the fastest lap in the No.6 Supra. As the session moved on, three other Supras, driven by Kurosawa, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Toshio Suzuki (Nos. 36, 35, 37, respectively) overwhelmed the field. All cars of the Tom's Team, the battle for pole became a competition amongst teammates. The GT300 class witnessed leader changes as well, with Nobuyuki Oyagi putting in the fastest time behind the wheel of the No.81 Silvia. Although putting in the fastest lap in the morning session, the No.15 car failed to reclaim the pole, but still put in an excellent time in view of carrying a 80kg handicap weight. The sky began to cloud-up again as the session continued, and raindrops hit the track with 10 minutes remaining. A sudden downpour flooded the B Corner and then spread to cover the entire course. The track surface wet once again, there was no way to further improve lap times, and the session ended quietly.

At the end of the day, three Tom's Team Supras sat at the front of the field: the No.36 car of Sekiya/Kurosawa at the pole, the No.35 car of Raphanel/Yamaji second on the grid, and the No.37 car of Suzuki/Katayama third. An impressive day for Tom's Team Supras, all on Michelin tires. Kurosawa commented after the session, "I'm very happy to be on the pole. Sekiya claimed the fastest lap in the first session, and I clocked fastest in the second session. As we were able to claim the best lap regardless of weather conditions, it means the car is running perfectly. Such good results are accredited to the whole team." Sekiya commented, "We have some apprehensions about the race as we didn't run enough during pre-race testing. But I feel we can finish in first if no problems arise."

The driver pair of Fukuyama-Oyagi put their No.81 Silvia on the pole for the GT300 class. Oyagi commented, "We've resolved the problems we had last race, so I'm hoping that we run a precise race this time and come out with good results."