00-09-09 Round5 Qualify Report Comas Shows Good Form with the Skyline GT-R, But Tachikawa Puts His Supra on the Pole Again The qualifying sessions of the fifth round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) were held on September 9th at TI Aida Circuit. A total of 39 cars took to the track to claim the best lap and pole position on a wet track under cloudy skies. Erik Comas, having timed the fastest lap in the Friday free practice sessions, was again in good form for the day, setting a fastest lap of 1'29.592" some 20 minutes into the morning session. Krumm and Motoyama, drivers of the No.2 and No.12 Nissans, respectively, recorded quick times as well, putting the Skylines in a 1-2-3 formation at one time. Shortly before the end of the first 20-minute period reserved for the GT500 class, Tachikawa clocked a 1'29.441" lap to move the No.38 Supra to the top of the timing monitor. But when the last 20-minute period of the morning session (open to both classes) got underway, the track surface had already begun to dry and many of the teams improved their times. The No.1 car took to the track again, and Comas drove his GT-R back to the top with a time of 1'29.249", giving the LOCTITE ZEXEL Team first place in the first qualifying session. The No.910 Porsche driven by Yogo started out leading the GT300 class early on in the morning session, but Nitta in the No.31 Toyota MR-S and Aoki in the No.81 Nissan Silvia both set times worthy of challenging the pole. Aoki did an impressive lap in the second half of the session, beating out all other competitors in the class. With the track almost completely dry as the starting time for the afternoon qualifying grew near, everyone knew that the contest for the pole was far from over. The top time changed hands a number times in the GT500 class, Comas was not willing to give up his bid for the pole either, and he moved the No.1 car back to the top again mid-session, turning in a time of 1'28.324". Close behind him was the No.8 Honda NSX driven by Aguri Suzuki (1'28.532"). Tsuchiya, Okada and Michigami all improved their best-lap times as well. Then, right at the end of the 20-minute GT500 class period, Tachikawa once again flew into the lead and secured the pole with the day's best lap, 1'28.097". Only a few cars in the GT300 class improved their times from the earlier session, and the pole went to the No.81 Silvia with the fastest time recorded by Aoki. About 30 minutes into the afternoon qualifying session, the sky rumbled with thunder and the rain began to fall. The red flag came out at 42 minutes into the session, and although the organizers waited for the downpour to stop, the session was never restarted and the day came to an end. POLE POSITION GT500 POLE POSITION No.38 FK/Massimo CERUMO SUPRA Yuji Tachikawa: "Our car hasn't been changed since the last, and it's running perfect. We just went out and tried our best, and I was able to record my very best lap time. Thanks to that, I think we were able to gain the pole." Hironori Takeuchi: "We were able to keep the good form that we set during the August test sessions. And thanks to Tachikawa's good fight, we could take pole position. As the race set-up is also good, we're ready to run away from the start." GT300 POLE POSITION No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN SILVIA Takayuki Aoki: "We were able to set good lap times during the test session in August. Mr. Oyagi ordered me to aim for pole position, and I felt the pressure. But since I was able to get in a good lap, I became quite relieved. I chose to push the time trial in the second half of the first session when the track had dried." Nobuyuki Oyagi: "We worked in the test sessions in August with intention of aiming for the pole at the last round in Fuji and here at TI. Much thanks to Aoki. He was able to set the lap time as we planned, we are on the pole."