00-09-10 Round5 Race Report Comas Dominates Half the Race, But Victory Goes to Takeuchi & Tachikawa No.38 FK/Massimo CERUMO SUPRA The skies were clear and temperature hot (32°C) during pre-race activities for Round 5 of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC). The beautiful weather summoned the GT fans, with a total of 49,200 (official announcement) enthusiasts making the trip to TI Circuit Aida for the 82-lap race. Pole sitter Takeuchi in the No.38 Supra took held the lead through the first corner but soon found himself in second as Comas in the No.1 Skyline charged to the front of the field. Hidetoshi Mitsusada, who returns to the JGTC series from this race, reaffirmed his abilities to all running in third in the No.16 HONDA NSX. Close behind were Krumm (No.2 Skyline), Okada (No.30 McLaren) and Aguri Suzuki (No.8 NSX). The No.81 Silvia driven by Aoki led from the pole in the GT 300 class, with Nitta in the No.31 Toyota MR-S and Yogo in the No.910 Porsche GT3R in hot pursuit. Comas quickly found his rhythm, and with no one to challenge the No.1 Skyline, began pulling away from the field lapping consistently faster, spreading the gap between first and second with each passing lap. By lap 17 he was running with more than a 10-second advantage over Takeuchi his nearest competition. Meanwhile, a bit further back in the field, Krumm, Suzuki and Iida put on an exciting side-by side 3-way battle for fourth place. The day was full of mishaps all around the track: Matsunaga put the No.20 MR-S through a spin on lap 10, Hoshino in the No.12 Skyline went off the track a bit later, and Matsuda took his turn at spinning in the No.26 Porsche on lap 20. The contest between Krumm and Suzuki peaked on lap 25 as the two cars bumped in a corner, sending Suzuki of the course and retiring the No.8 NSX. Krumm managed to return to the track and had to pit repair damage to the left door, but could continue. And that was only the beginning... Masahiko Kageyama ran off the track on lap 28 when attempting to pass Krumm. Yamano lost the rear left wheel of the No.7 Mazda sending him out of the race, and the No.18 NSX driven by Kaneishi went off the course on lap 31... No.39 Supra went out from the track on lap 28 when he tried overtake Krumm, Yamano in the No.7 Mazda lost rear left wheel. Kaneishi in the No.18 Honda went out from the track on lap 31... No.910 NINETEN WEDDING ADVAN GT3R Contrary to this, Comas continued his steady routine with virtually no pressure having built a substantial lead over the No.38 car of Takeuchi. The Frenchman pitted for the routine driver and tire change just at the mid-race point, but suddenly there was scurrying and excitement in the NISMO pit. The engine refused to restart! After much commotion, the engine took again and Kageyama was able to re-enter the race, but the 40-second pit stop put him back in third place behind Takeuchi in the No.38 Supra running first and Michigami in the No.16 NSX in second. Following the pit stops, there was a large gap of about 10 seconds between each of these cars, suggesting difficulty in challenging for position. The remainder of the field was close in, however, giving the fans some fantastic action in the last stage of the race. A newcomer to the series, Tsugio Matsuda, showed his skill behind the wheel of the No.30 McLaren, catching up to and piling the pressure on the No.12 Skyline of Motoyama, running in fifth place behind Gardner in the No.6 Supra. Matsuda worked hard to overtake Motoyama, looking for a hole at every corner, and the veteran driver had to keep keen to hold him off. The two cars passed Gardner, who began suffering from loss of tire grip and had to slowdown. Then, Matsuda's perseverance paid off, a hole opened on lap 77 and he slipped by Motoyama and into fourth place. Aoki held the lead of the CT300 class until mid-race, but then feeling something strange on the tires, put the No.81 Silvia into a half-spin at the first corner. Thinking that tire had picked up something from the track, he pitted early. Yogo took the lead in the No.910 Porsche and co-driver Wada secured the victory. GT500 WINNER No.38 FK/Massimo CERUMO SUPRA Hironori Takeuchi: "The road to a victory was a long one. We were on our way in the last round, running in first place with a large advantage, but then we were forced to retire from the race. Today we were in second with a big gap separating us from the lead, but we won the race. I guess those are good results if you add them up and then divide by two. I have to admit, though, it was tough for me to drive the car using Tachikawa's setup." Yuji Tachikawa: "There weren't any problems with the car, but my cool suit quit working. So it was hot... Since there was a good gap over second place, I could drive without the pressure. I want to thank TRD, the team staff, and our sponsors." GT300 WINNER No.910 NINETEN WEDDING ADVAN PORSCHE Atsushi Yogo: "I was afraid of the weather and problems with the car. But everything went well and there were no mistakes. I'm very pleased with this result." Hisashi Wada: "First of all, I want to express my appreciation to the entire team. As Yogo was able to create a big advantage, I could race very easily. It's great to be co-driving with him!"