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2002-04-14 |
Race Review
Honda NSX Driven by Firman/Matsuda Dominates First Round
- BF Goodrich Assists Nitta/Takagi and Toyota MR-S to Victory in JGTC Debut Race -
The 2002 AUTOBACS JGTC (Japan GT Championship) Series got off to an excellent start, race day being blessed with warmer than average springtime temperatures and sunny blue skies. The day was filled with tension and exciting battles throughout the field, but no one managed to challenge the lead for the GT500 class, giving the Honda NSX of Mobil 1 NAKAJIMA RACING a dominating Round 1 victory. Driver pair Ralf Firman/Tsugio Matsuda piloted the No.64 NSX from green light to checkered flag without dropping the lead. A nearly similar situation took place in the GT300 class, with the pole-sitting No.31 Toyota MR-S driven by Nitta and Takagi leading throughout the race, giving their tire supplier BF Goodrich a victory in its debut race in the JGTC.
Ralf Firman and the No.64 NSX started the race from pole position. A good start off the line allowed him to keep the lead into the first corner, and from there on the gap between the car and his nearest rivals, second running Philippe in the No.18 NSX and third running Ito in the No.18 NSX, with each passing lap. By the time Firman pitted to give the wheel to Matsuda at mid-race, he had built up a 30sec buffer. The young Matsuda did a superior job of maintaining the lead to the checkered flag.
"This my first victory in GT. It's a great feeling to win in any kind of race," said Firman after the race. "It was a strange feeling to see the excitement of our victory along the pit wall. I'm going to aim for titles in both Formula Nippon and JGTC." Matsuda commented. "Since I opted for hard compound tires, I was worried that the cars behind me would be able to close the gap. But they didn't advance as much as I expected. We will be carrying a heavy 70kg handicap weight at the next race, and it'll likely be impossible to win. So our plan is to finish the race somewhere in the points."
The main highlight in the first half of the race was the strong driving performance shown by Dufour in the No.39 Supra. Starting from sixth on the grid, the French driver cautiously moved up through the pack. By lap 5 he was in fifth, and then began his unceasing assault on the frontrunners, first overtaking for fourth and then rushing the Honda 1-2-3 formation. On lap 24 he slipped by the No.16 NSX and caught up with and passed Philippe in the No.18 NSX to move into second before the routine pit stop. An uneventful driver change allowed Orido to resume the race without losing position, but Lyons, driving the second stint in the No.18 Honda, challenged him on lap 67 and regained second place. The No.39 Supra finished in third place in the end. The No.16 NSX lost time in the pit, but Schwager did his best to make up for it once back on the track, at one time scrapping in a side-by-side battle with Iida in the No.6 Supra. The two cars touched and went into the gravel. Schwager recovered well and took the checkered flag in fifth, while Iida had to settle for a 10th place finish.
It was not a good weekend for the Nissan teams. NISMO chose to apply a conservative strategy, their No.22 Skyline GT-R running on soft compound tires and the No.23 car on hard compound. Krumm started the race in the No.22 car and kept sixth through the first half of the race. He pitted after 36 laps to give the wheel to Motoyama, but a problem with the air jack caused them to lose some 8sec. Motoyama rejoined the race in 11th place and finished the same, just in front of the No.23 Skyline.
The reigning Driver Champion pair, Takeuchi and Tachikawa, did well, maintaining a steady pace and finishing just off the podium. Takeuchi started the race from eighth on the grid and protected the position through mid-race. After taking over, Tachikawa aggressively worked No.1 car in field and moved the car up to finish fourth overall.
Nitta in the driver's seat, the No.31 Toyota MR-S shot off the line at the green and controlled the race throughout. The nearest competition was seconds behind when he stopped to turn the wheel over to Takagi, who had a trouble-free second half and drove the car over the finish line in the lead. The win gave BF Goodrich a victory in its JGTC debut race.
Thrills in the GT300 class were provided by Fukuyama/Kinoshita in the No.24 Porsche and the 2001 Driver Champion pair, Oyagi/Aoki, in the No.81 Silvia. Battling for second place, the two cars presented fantastic slipstream maneuvers and overtakes at the beginning and midway through the race.
"To tell you the truth, we found a crack in the transmission casing after the qualifying sessions," said Nitta afterward. "The mechanics made temporary repairs, but I was worried about it." Takagi continued. "Thanks to Nitta's exceptional drive, I had a margin of about 30 seconds when I joined the race, so I could drive smoothly and not have to push the car."
Charles Kwan failed to make it behind the wheel of the No.15 BMW in his first JGTC race. The car experienced differential problems just after finishing the first lap of the race, causing the decision to retire it.
Round 2 of the 2002 AUTOBACS JGTC Series will be held at Fuji International Speedway on May 3 and 4.
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