Qualifying Sessions Spirited
by Three-Sided Contest for Pole

No.6 ESSO TIGER SUPRA

Round 3 SUGO GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Qualify Report / 29 May. '99

The qualifying sessions of the 3rd round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (GTC) Series was held at Sportsland SUGO on May 29th. A total of 38 cars took to the track under cloudy skies to compete for the pole. A gap of less than 1sec separated 11 cars battling for pole position in the GT500 class, while the top six contenders in the GT300 class were all different models.

In the GT500 class, the driver pair of Yoji Yamada and Hideki Okada were quick to move their McLaren F1 GTR to the top listing on the timing monitor, with Okada putting in an impressive trial early on in the morning session. But a fine lap by the No.6 Toyota SUPRA under the control of Hideki Noda made the No.6 car the one to beat. Masanori Sekiya took a shot at the best time, clocking a time of 1'21.820 in the No.36 SUPRA to take the lead, but Noda responded with a 1'21.607 to get back on top for the morning session. Sekiya's time was good enough to hold second, with the No.18 Honda NSX of the Mugen Dome Project team, driven by Jyuichi Wakisaka and Katsutomo Kaneishi, claiming the third fastest lap (1'21.837) while the promising young driver Wakisaka was at the wheel.

The rivalry of the Nissan SKYLINE GT-Rs against the Toyotas and Hondas throughout both sessions was discouraging for the Nissan teams, the fastest time coming from the No.12 SKYLINE of Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Masami Kageyama. Hoshino slipped in with the 12th fastest lap at 1'22.774. The GT300 class showed promise, however, with Takeshi Tsuchiya in the No.15 Nissan SILVIA giving a strong performance in contention with the No.25 Toyota MR2 driven by Morio Nitta. Tsuchiya lapped at 1'27.315 to take first in the morning session and Nitta held second only .02sec off at 1'27.317.

Weather conditions remained unchanged for the afternoon session. Akira Iida drove the No.100 NSX with amazing skill and speed in spite of carrying the heaviest handicap weight of all contestants (70kg), even threatening to take the pole. But the SUPRAs of Noda (No.6) and Toshio Suzuki, driving the No.37 car, steadily fought to maintain supremacy for the day. In the end, the day's fastest lap of 1'21.398 sealed Noda's bid and set the No.6 SUPRA on the pole.

Noda commented afterwards, "As I am working as a TRD test driver for the Supra, I was certain that it was just a matter of time to get the pole. I am deeply appreciative to the team and Toyota."

The fastest Nissan driver in the afternoon session was Michael Krumm with a lap time of 1'22.337. Looking confident for the race, his later commented, "I think that for the race distance, we don't look so bad. We're promising for the race."

The McLaren F1 GTR came out at sixth place on the grid at the end of the day.

No.15 Xanavi ARTA SILVIA

The GT300 class started off the afternoon session with the No.7 Mazda RX7 driven by Haruhiko Matsumoto running well and moving into first. But when it came down to the final fight for the pole, it was again between Tsuchiya and Nitta. Tsuchiya broke the 1'27" barrier with a 1'26.999 to claim the pole and Nitta ended the day in second at 1'27.126.

Pole Position Driver

From Left
W.Gardner / H.Noda (No.6 ESSO Tiger Supra)
T.Tsuchiya / Y.Ide (No.15 Xanavi ARTA SILVIA)