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2001-04-09 |
Race Preview
On April 15th at TI Aida Circuit, the first race of the millennium for the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship will be held; the start of a seven-round season that will take the powerful GT cars and drivers to seven circuits in Japan and a special event in Malaysia. Interest in the series and preparations for the 2001 season continued to grow over the winter months and throughout the pre-season testing. With the first race coming up, the list of entrants now includes 10 different makes and 14 different models, giving a total of some 38 machines (18 GT500 and 20 GT300) preparing for the opening round. Honda NSX Presses On
 No.1 LOCTITE MUGEN NSX |
The JGTC champion in 2000, Mugen Dome Project, will bring a new Honda NSX to the series, with reigning GT Driver Champion Ryo Michigami teaming up with Hidetoshi Mitsusada to drive the 2001 version NSX. Hiroki Kato and Sebastien Philippe will drive the team's second NSX (No.18). Michigami is obviously aiming for a second consecutive victory. The defending champion recently commented, " I spent time in physical training during the off-season, and I'm in very good form now. The combination with Mitsusada is very good because his driving style is similar to mine. We intend to win the opening race."
Kato raced as a Panoz works driver in the American Le Mans Series last year, and Philippe won the All-Japan F3 Championship in 2000 driving for the same team. The French driver gave a talented performance in the GTA tests held at TI Aida Circuit on March 20-21 and Fuji Speedway on April 4-5. " My only experiences in GT and touring car races are the Suzuka 1000km last year, where I drove a Ferrari. But that was only for some 20 laps... And then I drove a Toyota Celica in a race in the Super Endurance Series two years ago," said Philippe. " I think the JGTC is the best GT race series in the world, because all of the big Japanese constructors are involved in the championship and the competition is very keen. The GT car and Formula car are different, especially in braking points and handling. However, I think the Honda NSX is closer to a single seater than other GT cars. I'm very lucky because I could get a good drive in spite of no experience in GT racing." 2001 Version Supra Fastest at TI and Fuji
 No.33 TEAM UKYO CERUMO SUPRA / No.38 au CERUMO SUPRA |
The fastest car during testing at TI in March was the No.38 Toyota Supra driven by Hironori Takeuchi/Yuji Tachikawa. TRD (Toyota Racing Development) worked hard for the successful development of the 2001 version of the car. One of the Toyota teams is bringing in a new Supra driver. Jelemie Dufour will be racing for Toyota Team SARD (No.39) in the 2001 season, sharing the wheel with Masahiko Kageyama. The French driver started his career in Japan in the F3 Series, which he will continue to participate in parallel to the JGTC Series.
" I have no experience in GT nor touring cars at all. But I think that the JGTC is a very professional category," said the French driver. " I think the Toyota Supra is a very good carc But there are still many things to do, like working on setting up the car. The team is very professional and everybody is very kind to me. Although I'll take part in both JGTC and F3 on the same day for several events, like round 2 of the championship, it'll be okay once I'm accustomed to doing it."Among the seven Supras entered, two will use Yokohama tires, two will be equipped with Michelin tires and three will run with Bridgestone tires. The tire war is one of the more interesting parts of the series.
Three New Skyline GT-Rs for 2001 Season
 No.23 PENNZOIL ZEXEL GT-R |
For Nissan, three 2001 version Skyline GT-Rs will be introduced by NISMO and TEAM IMPUL. The NISMO team has entered two cars to be piloted by driver pairs Erik Comas/Masami Kageyama (No.23) and Michael Krumm/Tetsuya Tanaka (No.22). The Comas/Kageyama duo took the Driver's Championship in the 1998 season. The third Skyline will be driven by Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Satoshi Motoyama (No.12). Hoshino, well known as "Japan's fastest driver", will be absent for few rounds following the opening round, and Naoki Hattori will sub for him during his absence.
Andre Couto, a young driver from Portugal, has a seat in a McLaren F1GTR (No.30). He won the Macao Grand Prix in 2000, and is in top condition.
" I have never taken part in touring or GT car races, but I think that the JGTC is a very interesting series. Since constructors like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are all involved, the competition is very hot. Even though participating in the JGTC is a completely new experience for me, and there are some difficult points, I think this is also a good chance for me. The McLaren F1 GTR is a completely different car compared to the single seater and the way it handles is very interesting. Even though I don't have much experience at several of the Japanese circuits, my partner and the team do. I think I can learn a lot."TAISAN Enters Two Porsche GT3R
 No.26 SHELL TAISAN ADVAN GT3R |
TEAM TAISAN ADVAN, the GT300 champion in 2000, has entered two Porsche 996 GT3Rs this year, the drivers for 2001 being Hideo Fukuyama/Atsushi Yogo (No.26) and Hideshi Matsuda/Kazuyuki Nishizawa (No.24). Defending champion Hideo Fukuyama is very excited about the new season, but commented in his usual modest character, " It was very nice to win the JGTC title as it is a main event in the Japanese national championships. But the title was won not only by my ability, but the abilities of the team and sponsors. I think the factors for winning the championship are good teamwork and mature adults. (laughter)"Hasemi Back at the Circuits
 No.31 ARTA A'PEX MR-S |
One of the most powerful rivals for Fukuyama is the drivers pair of Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi (No.31), who won the last round of the 2000 season. The team struggled with development of the car, which was introduced last year. But they won the last round, proving the car's excellent potential.
Masahiro Hasemi, who retired from GT racing at the end of last season, will be back at the circuits, but in the pits rather than in the driver's seat. " I prefer driving to being director of a team," said Hasemi. Two young drivers, Yuji Ide and Masataka Yanagida have been teamed up to drive a Nissan Silvia (No.3).  No.900 MT900R |
Another highlight in the GT300 class is the debut of a Mosler MT900R (No.900). Dilantha Malagamuwa and Takeshi Asami will be the first to introduce the car to racing in Japan. The MT900R showed its high potential at the Daytona 24 Hours in February. The car also ran very well during the official GT test session at Fuji, where it timed the second fastest lap in the class.
So ready yourself of an exciting season. The green light of the 2001 JGTC series will be given on April 15th at TI Circuit Aida in Okayama Prefecture. |
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