NICOS Cup GT Allstar
16 No.v. '97
Race Report

The green light of the first race sparked an immediate battle, with Comas coming out on top to lead the pack into the first corner followed by the No.38 SUPRA of Katsutomo Kaneishi and No.37 SUPRA of Toshio Suzuki. While the gaps separating the top three runners remained fairly even, the battle for fourth place between Takuya Kurosawa (No.18 NSX), Eiichi Tajima (No.5 SUPRA), Akira Iida (No.100 NSX) and Masahiko Kageyama (No.556 SKYLINE) created a true spectacle for the huge crowd of race fans.

Then, at the first chicane on lap 6, all four cars were involved in a series of bumping incidents. In the end, the SKYLINE of Kageyama was the heaviest victim. Damage sustained to the front fender was too severe to continue the race, and the car was forced to retire before teammate Masahiko Kondoh had the opportunity to get behind the wheel.

A special addition to this event was the fact that two Japanese drivers from 1997 series world-class formula racing categories participated: F-1 driver Ukyo Katayama, who shared the wheel with Masanori Sekiya in the No.36 SUPRA, and USA CART series driver Hiroyuki Matsushita, who shared the wheel of the No.5 SUPRA with Eiichi Tajima.

Katayama began behind the wheel at the start, but his SUPRA developed an oil leak and he was forced to retire before handing the wheel over to Sekiya. The No.5 SUPRA team of Matsushita/Tajima crossed the finish line in 7th place. While the top three cars finished in their aforementioned order, the No.3 SKYLINE GT-R of Masahiro Hasemi/Tetsuya Tanaka made a fantastic charge from ninth to finish fourth in the field.

In the GT300 class, the No.910 PORSCHE was in control for the greater part of the race, but a pylon touch resulted in a penalty that caused a loss in position. The FERRARI team of Tetsuya Ohta/Anders Olofsson received the benefits of infraction and crossed the


In the second race, Comas once again took the lead, this time starting from the pole. Following behind (in order) were Kaneishi in the No.38 SUPRA, Suzuki in the No.37 SUPRA and Tanaka in the No.3 SKYLINE. Tanaka performed well, moving up through the field to third place before passing the wheel over to Hasemi. On lap 10, the Safety Car moved onto the track when the No.39 SUPRA contacted a Lamborghini Diablo. The Diablo stopped in the first chicane and the No.39 SUPRA suffered extensive damage to the left-front side. Driver Tetsuya Tanigawa was forced to give up the race. During pitting for driver change and fuel, the No.2 car driver switched from Comas to Suzuki, and Suzuki rejoined the race leading the field. He maintained his lead until the checkered flag.

The Suzuki/Comas team scored a perfect victory for the weekend; taking firsts in qualifying and both races. The young 20-year-old driver Shingo Tachi, who copiloted the No.37 SUPRA with Toshio Suzuki, performed his job superbly and scored a

In the GT300 class, the FERRARI F355 demonstrated its ability in keen competition with the No.910 and 71 PORSCHEs as well as the No.81 SILVIA. The SILVIA led into the second half of the race after routine pit stops, but Olofsson showed the superior overtaking ability of the FERRARI, putting his car into first place and holding onto the position until the checkered flag.

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No.2 ZEXEL SKYLINE
Aguri Suzuki & Eric Comas

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No.27 TEAM FCJ FERRARI
Tetsuya Ohta & Anders Olofsson