NICOS CUP GT ALLSTAR RACE '99 in AUTOPOLIS
 No.64 Mobil 1 NSX
NICOS CUP GT ALLSTAR RACE '99 
The 1999 GT all-star race, Japan's last big event of the season, is underway at the Autopolis racecourse in Ohita Prefecture. A total of 25 machines and 50 drivers were invited to take part by the organizer. Invitation to the event was decided by the following means: Winners of the series races were given right to participate automatically, and the remaining entrants were decided by vote of popularity by GTC fans.
Differ slightly from championship races, only one 1-hour qualifying session is held for the all-star event, during which the three 20-minute segments run in reverse order; that is, both GT500 and 300 on the track together, GT300 only and then GT 500 only. This year, the session took place Saturday afternoon under extremely cold conditions (4-7 degrees Celsius).
An intense contest for the pole broke out immediately between three drivers, Hideki Noda (No.6 Toyota Supra), Jyuichi Wakisaka (No.18 Honda NSX) and Akira Iida (No.100 NSX), with fast times also being clocked Hironori Takeuchi (No.38 Supra) and Erik Comas (No.1 Nissan Skyline GT-R). Then, with qualifying time running out, Tom Coronel flew around the track lapping a superb 1'43.789 in the No.64 NSX to claim top position on the timing monitor. But the Dutch driver wasn't done impressing as he improved the day's best time to 1'43.235 to take pole position, claiming the GT All-Star Race pole for the second consecutive year. The other NSX drivers gave fantastic performances as well: Michigami lapped at 1'43.573 and Wakisaka 1'43.592, giving Honda cars a 1-2-3 standing going into Sunday's race. The next fastest car was the No.6 Supra driven by Hideki Noda. The quickest Skyline GT-R of the day was the No.1 car, piloted by the driver team of Erik Comas (1999 GT500 Driver's Champion) and Satoshi Motoyama. No.19 WedsSport CELICA
In the GT300 class, Manabu Orido claimed the pole position in a Toyota Celica following a very close battle with Tatsuya Tanigawa (No.77 Subaru) and Tetsuya Yamano (No.7 Mazda RX-7). There was only a slim 0.256 seconds difference between the top three cars.GT500 POLE POSITION No.64 Mobil 1 NSX Tom Coronel: "This is the best track I have driven on so far. There are both slow and high-speed corners. As today's temperature was very low, I tried to warm up the tires for the first three laps. I think the situation will be the same tomorrow, making it difficult after the start. I hope to make an enjoyable race suitable for the all-star event, and would really like to win this being the last race of the season." Hidetoshi Mitsusada: "This is the second time for me to run on this circuit. But last time I drove here was on Friday. So, in essence, this is like the first time. It's a relatively nice course. I want to win this one special event to show fans 'just how good the Honda NSX really is.'" GT300 POLE POSITION No.19 WedsSport CELICA Manabu Orido: "I aimed to clear a time under 1'53, but the tire temperature cooled too much when the red flag was presented, Even though I couldn't reach my target, I'm happy to get the pole. I was a bit shockedc The balance of the car was excellent, even with full tank of fuel onboard." Takahiko Hara: "My role was just qualifying for the race. I've won on this track before. I like the circuit. As the temperature will be cold, I don't think there will any problem with the tires. I'm looking for us to win." |
