00-05-04 Round2 Qualify Report Honda NSX No.18 Takes Reserved Position at Pole! The qualifying sessions of the second round of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) were held at the Fuji International Speedway on May 3rd under fine blue skies, with the majestic Mt. Fuji in full view towering over the circuit. A high-speed contest for pole position started in the morning qualifying session and continued on through the afternoon session with improving times being put in by the Toyota Supra, Honda NSX and Nissan Skyline GT-R. Takeshi Tsuchiya in the No.36 Supra was the first car at the top of the timing monitor when the morning session started, but the No.21 McLaren F1 GTR driven by Akihiko Nakaya was the first to break the 1'26" barrier. Hideki Noda in the No.6 Supra then claimed the fastest lap with a quick 1'25.627". The name of the fastest driver began to change at a dizzying speed, and then Juichi Wakisaka put in a superb lap time of 1'25.554" to move the No.18 Honda NSX into first place on the monitor. The 1998 and 1999 Driver's Champion and winner of Round 1 held at Twin Ring Motegi, Erik Comas, was slowed due to a heavy handicap weight of 50kg. He recorded a 1'26.862" lap to take 12th place in the session. Atsushi Yogo in the No.910 Porsche 911 GT3R, Tatsuya Tanigawa in the No.77 Subaru Impreza and Haruhiko Matsumoto in the No.7 Mazda RX-7 fought the pole position battle in the GT 300 class. The battle for pole position intensified during the afternoon session. Several drivers improved on their best lap times established in the morning session: Wakisaka claimed a 1'25.017" in the No.18 NSX, Noda turned a 1'25.136" in the No.6 Supra, and Michael Krumm broke the 1'26" barrier with a 1'25.508" in the No.2 Skyline GT-R. Teammate Comas improved his best lap as well, recording a 1'26.632" to take 10th place in the afternoon session (13th overall for the day). In the GT 300 class, Hideshi Matsuda put in the fastest time of the day in the No.26 Porsche GT3, circling the circuit in 1'33.589", followed by Atsushi Yogo in the No.910 Porsche at 1'33.654". At the end of the day, it was Juichi Wakisaka/Katsutomo Kaneishi in the No.18 Honda NSX at the pole in the GT500 class and Hideshi Matsuda/Hideo Fukuyama taking the pole of the GT300 class in the No.26 Porsche. POLE POSITION Hideo Fukuyama, Hideshi Matsuda, Juichi Wakisaka, Katsutomo Kaneishi (from left) Juichi Wakisaka (No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX) : "I'm very glad to take pole position. But the team was wanting to break the circuit record. I'm sorry that we couldn't materialize it. I hope to run without having problems and win tomorrow." Hideshi Matsuda (No.26 Shell TAISAN ADVAN GT3R) : "I'm very happy to take pole position. As we are loaded with 50kg of handicap weight, we will have to drive carefully and watch the braking."