HONDA NSX DRIVERS WAKISAKA AND KANEISHI WIN SEASON OPENER

Round 1 SUZUKA GT300km
Race Report / 21 Mar. '99

The first race of the 1999 All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship Series was held on March 21, 1999 at Suzuka Circuit in front of a huge turnout of 39,000 fans (organizer announced figure), in spite of the falling rain.
The pole sitter, Wakisaka in the No.18 Honda NSX, held the lead at the start followed by Comas in the No.1 SKYLINE GT-R, Yamanishi in the No.64 NSX, Hoshino in the No.12 SKYLINE and Michigami in the No.16 NSX. The track was extremely slippery from the onset of the race, causing drivers to have problems controlling their cars. A number of them,including Takahashi in the No.100 NSX, Yamanishi, Michigami, Tajima in the No.55 Chrysler VIPER, found it difficult to keep their cars under control and suffered spins or slid straight off the course into the track-side gravel.
Hoshino gave spectators an impressive show driving the No.12 SKYLINE aggressively of the line, and moving up from 8th on the grid to 3rd by the end of lap 2. He then began closing on the second runner Comas, reducing the gap lap by lap. On lap 8, Wakisaka went off the track, and Hoshino caught up with the Frenchman and overtook him to claim the lead. But just when things were looking good, Hoshino slid off the track on lap 13. He was able to return to the race running in 3rd, but the differential's computer was damaged in the rough when the car left the track causing it to slowdown and gradually fallback in the field. Sekiya, another veteran driver, ran the No.36 SUPRA steadily and faster moving up to 3rd by lap 14.
After losing the lead with the stint on lap 8, Wakisaka had to drive hard to catch the front runners again. Showing excellent skill, he performed well and caught up with Comas in mid-race. He made his move on lap 25 and slipped past the No.1 SKYLINE to regain the lead.
Next came the routine pitting for driver changes. Wakisaka came in first and turned over the wheel of the No.18 NSX to Kaneishi, and then Comas pitted the No.1 SKYLINE and Motoyama took over. The 1998 Formula Nippon champion returned to the track just ahead of Kaneishi, giving the Nissan team the lead again and sparking another battle for the lead. Motoyama did his best to hold of Kaneishi, but the NSX was running well and easily overtook the SKYLINE . From there on, Kaneishi pushed on steadily widening the gap with each lap.
When all of the top runners had finished driver changes, former F1 driver Katayama, who took the wheel of the No.37 SUPRA from Toshio Suzuki, confirmed his competitiveness by skillfully maneuvering the car into 3rd. Krumm, driving the No.2 SKYLINE , set a rhythm and soon found himself close behind the No.36 car of Kurosawa running in 4th. The ensuing fight for 4th was one of the highlights midway through the race. Krumm tried everything to get by the SUPRA, but Kurosawa held off Krumm's charge and kept his position until the checkered flag. Another impressive effort was that by Tom Coronel after relieving Yamanishi at the wheel of the No.64 NSX. The Dutchman drove strong and hard lapping with the same times as the leaders, and moving up from 27th to finish the race in 12th.

The crowd also witnessed a thrilling slipstream battle for first in the GT300 class between the No.71 PORSCHE of Kawano, the No.910 PORSCHE of Tamamoto, the No.26 PORSCHE of Suga and the No.19 CELICA of Hara. In the latter stages of the race, Firman, driving a Mitsubishi FTO, showed that he'll be someone to contend with this season as he fought his way up to 3rd, overtaking the No.910 PORSCHE . Even though it was the first time behind the wheel of a touring car for the British driver, he ran steadily faster and quicker through the end of the race. Following car inspections at the end of the race, the winning No.71 PORSCHE was disqualified due to a technical violation, thus classifying the Mitsubishi driver pair of Nakaya/Firman in 2nd.

Post-race Comments


from left, J.Wakisaka&K.Kaneishi