00-10-22 Round7 Race Report No.64 Mobil 1 NSX The final round of the 2000 JGTC Series was held under cloudy skies at Suzuka Circuit, but there is little doubt that the brilliant battles that took place on the track will shine in the minds of the fans for some time. From the start, control of the race was dropped into the hands of Iida driving the No.100 Honda NSX and Ito in the No.64 NSX. The two shot out ahead of the rest of the field and never turned back, increasing the gap with each passing lap. None except Tsuchiya in the No.8 NSX could follow the quick pace they established. The No.16 NSX, driven by Mitsusada (a championship contender), was running smoothly in fourth, while his main competitor for the championship, Comas and the No.1 Skyline GT-R, struggled to push hard while being strategically blocked by Kaneishi in the No.18 NSX, the teammate of No.16. Comas tried everything to overtake Kaneishi, but the Honda driver skillfully held back the No.1 car allowing Mitsusada to increase his distance over the Nissan. The speed of top two cars never decreased, and Tsuchiya's aggressive driving received warm approval from the 39,000 fans. Comas, on the other hand, knew that struggling in ninth or tenth would not earn him the championship, and made his move. The ensuing battle between the No.1 Nissan and No.18 Honda was intense. Comas finally made his move but the cars got tangled in the "S" curves and went off. Fortunately both were able to rejoin the race, but Comas was now in front and he quickly left the No.18 car behind. In the GT300 class, it was Apicella in the No.24 Porsche Boxter hat held the lead from the pole. In pursuit behind him followed Nitta in the No.31 Toyota MR-S, Yamada in the No.55 Viper and Yogo in the NO.910 Porsche GT3R. No.31 SuperAUTOBACS A'PEX MRS After the teams completed their routine stops, Schwager and the No.64 NSX took the lead followed by Hattori in the No.100 NSX. Aguri Suzuki showed an impressive attack with the No.8 NSX and rapidly closed the gap between him and Hattori's NSX. Michigami kept the No.16 NSX safe, driving calmly and not taking any chances sitting fourth. His main competitor for the championship, Kageyama in the No.1 Skyline, was running in seventh and the time gap seemed sufficient. On the other hand, the battle for the driver's title in the GT300 class came to a boiling point as Matsuda closed in on the leader and Fukuyama gave an excellent performance in the second half of the race. In the last stage, Wada put the 910 Porsche through a spin giving Fukuyama some space and time to relax. An exciting push by the No.26 car brought on a scrap with Takagi in the No.31 MR-S, the two cars ran side-by-side and tail-to-nose for a number of laps. In the end, Takagi prevailed, but the GT 300 class Driver's Championship went to Hideo Fukuyama, and the good finish gave the team the Team's Championship as well. There was a brief battle for second between NSXs, Hattori in the No.100 car and Suzuki in the No.8 car. Suzuki prevailed and set out to catch the leader, but the attempt came too late, as Schwager kept the pace of the No.64 car high and the car out in front. The German driver took the checkered flag first, followed by Suzuki in the No.8 NSX second, Hattori in the No.100 NSX third and Michigami in the No.16 NSX fourth. As a result, the GT 500 Driver's Championship went to Ryo Michigami. Following the technical inspection after the race, the results were changed as the second and third place cars were disqualified due to regulation violations. Fourth place Michigami/Mitsusada moved to second and fifth place Hoshino/Motoyama in the No.12 Skyline moved to third, and so on for the remaining finishers. The disqualified teams have filed appeals, which will be heard and a decision as to the official results will be presented later. GT500 WINNER No.64 Mobil 1 NSX Daisuke Ito: " This was the first time for the role as the starting driver this season. I concentrated on follwing Iida in the No.100 car. I thought Dominik (Schwager) could pass in the second half of the race if I keep this position. " Dominik Schwager: " As I chose hard compound tires, I didn't worry about them. But when the No.8 car was catching up from behind, I felt some vibration. It was a little bit harder in the last part of the race. " GT300 WINNER No.31 SuperAUTOBACS A'PEX MRS Morio Nitta: " It was not a perfect race, but thanks to the team mechanics' hard work, the car ran very well. I think that it is because the car could run so well under the conditions today is the reason for the victory. " Hideo Fukuyama: " I thought I needed to put some pressure on the No.26 car in the last stage, so I did. Then, all of the sudden it lost the speed. But it was very hard race for me. " GT500 SERIES CHAMPION Ryo Michigami / No.16 Castrol MUGEN NSX GT300 SERIES CHAMPION Hideo Fukuyama / No.26 Shell TAISAN ADVAN GT3R (LEFT : H.FUKUYAMA)