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2001-05-26
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Qualify Review
NSXs Monopolize Front Row of Starting Grid for Round3
Round 3 of the JGTC got off to an exciting start at Spotsland SUGO on May 26th with Toyota Team Tom's impressing all with a sensational course record lap during the first qualifying session in the morning. Takeshi Tsuchiya drove the No.36 Supra around the circuit in 1'19.452" to claim the top position. "Slow cars made way for me during my quick lap, but I couldn't see the clipping points at the corners very well and could only draw 80 percent of the car's potential," said Tsuchiya after the sessions.
Teammate Shinichi Yamaji clocked a fine 1'19.832" as well, putting the No.37 Supra in a provisional third. Both Supras were running on Michelin tires, which have provided good results for the JGTC cars at SUGO.so far.
Katsutomo Kaneishi was the quickest Honda driver in the morning, clocking a 1'19.567" and squeezing in the second fastest lap behind the wheel of the No.8 NSX. "I found a clear course when I went for the quick lap. But I made a mistake and shifted up at the last corner. We were the best among the Bridgestone tire users, and we'll be giving it another go this afternoon," commented Kaneishi afterward.
Erik Comas, too, found the situation for No.23 Skyline GT-R looking well after the car was allowed to add larger air restrictors after the last race in accordance with JGTC regulations. The French driver made good use of the change lapping the circuit in 1'20.009" and settling into sixth after the morning session.
A new comer to the GT 500 is the young Frenchman, Romain Dumas, who has joined Toyota Team SARD to drive the No.39 Supra with Jeremie Dufour. "I have only driven a GT car once before, and that was for a French GT Championship race at Pau, in France, when I drove a Venturyi GT. This is pretty much a standard production vehicle, far from the Supra. So I can say that this really is the first actual GT race of my career. I've never driven a car with a right -hand steer before either, " said Dumas. Teammate Dufour finished with a best lap time of 1'20.480" for a tenth place in the session for the No.39 car.. Following Erik Comas, Sebastien Philippe and Jeremie Dufour, Dumas makes the fourth French driver in the JGTC this year.
Eiichi Tajima gave an inspiring performance in the GT 300 class, timing a 1'26.707" in the No.71 Toyota MR-S for the best lap of the class in the morning session. "The lap time was clocked in the early stage of the session, and I didn't think we would be able to be at the top of the class. We just changed the setup yesterday. " Following Tajima were Yuji Ide in the No.3 Nissan Silvia with a 1'27.250" and Tetsuya Yamano in the No.7 Mazda RX-7 (1'27.339"). The American Mosler MT900R GT worked its way into the top group on the timing monitor as well. The No.900 took fourth position on the timing monitor after a 1'27.366" lap by Takeshi Asami.
The temperature dropped slightly before the afternoon session, giving good conditions for many cars to improve their lap times. Akira Iida, showing excellent form, put the No.100 Honda NSX on the pole with a best lap time of 1'19.129". "Normally it is Daisuke who takes charge of qualifying. But his physical condition wasn't 100% today, so I had to do it. We used the morning session to setup the car for the time attack this afternoon," said Iida after the session. Kaneishi improved his lap time as well, finishing with a 1'19.320" to share the front row. Third place in the session went to Comas (1'19.535"), giving him the #4 grid position for the race. "Fourth place is the best position for the race because it is 'free of charge', with no weight penalty," laughed Comas.
In the GT300 class, Yuji Ide improved his time and claimed the best lap in the afternoon session (1'26.988"), but it was only fast enough to garner second place on the gird for the No.3 Silvia. The pole for the class went to the No.71 Toyota MR-S of Masaki Jonai/Eiichi Tajima. Sitting third is the No.7 Mazda RX-7 of Tetsuya Yamano/Haruhiko Matsumoto and fourth the No.900 MT900R driven by Dilantha Malagamuwa/Takeshi Asami.
Copyright 2001 JGTC.net. http://www.jgtc.net
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