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2001-09-15 |
Qualify Review
No.64 Mobil 1 NSX
The qualifying sessions for Round 5 of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) were held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture on September 15, a national holiday in Japan. Both morning and afternoon sessions were held under cloudy skies with rain falling suddenly toward the end of the afternoon session, partially wetting the track and fowling the time attack strategies of many teams. The attempt by driver pair of Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Satoshi Motoyama in the No.12 Skyline GT-R was a prime example. Motoyama claimed the fastest lap in the Friday free practice sessions but his try for the pole ended with a best time of 148'.327" to give the No.12 car fifth position on the grid. Erik Comas and Masami Kageyama had no better luck with the No.23 Skyline GT-R. After engine problems accompanied by a brief fire in the first qualifying session, Comas was looking for the opportunity to get in a quick lap in the second session but, "When we put on new tires for the qualifying lap, the rain dropped..."
The GT 500 class welcomed two newcomers this weekend, Formula 3 drivers Benoit Treluyer and Paolo Montin, who joined the Mugen-Dome Project and TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S teams. respectively. Treluyer is co-driving the No.18 Honda NSX and Montin the No.36 Supra. Both young, talented drivers ran well straightaway from their first stints and claimed strong lap times.
"I had never driven a GT car before. The feel of the Honda NSX is very good. Big move, big power. In a F3 car you be careful to drive smoothly, but with this kind of car you can brake very hard and attack with force. It's a very interesting drive," said 2001 All-Japan F3 Champion, Treluyer after the sessions. His co-driver, Sebastien Philippe, put in their quickest lap, clocking 1'48.584" for 10th on the grid.
Montin's analysis of the GT car came as follows. "We tried to make good set up for tomorrow. Takeshi drove first and then I drove with the same tires. I was quite a bit quicker, but I lost time when braking. I'm learning section by section. The biggest difference between F3 driving and GT is braking and I know that's where I lost the time. But accelerating from the middle of the corner when I pushed for power allowed me to be as quick as Takeshi. " Takeshi Tsuchiya, the first driver for the No.36 car, put in a best time of 1'49.071" to place them 14th on the grid.
Juichi Wakisaka, who has put the No.6 Supra on the pole clocking quick lap several times in the past, is running with the heaviest weight handicap of all 40 cars, 90kg. "It is very heavy, and it's especially felt during the braking," commented Wakisaka. His fastest lap was 1'48.563", putting the No.6 car at ninth on the grid.
The pole position went to the No.64 Honda NSX driven by Dominik Schwager and Tsugio Matsuda Schwager claimed the quickest alp of the day (1'47.575") in the morning session. "The car has run well since the Friday free practice sessions," said Schwager afterward. "But it began to rain just as I went out onto the track. Something that cannot be helped. I'm very happy to get my first JGTC pole position. I really appreciate the work of the team members and mechanics. Without their good job, we couldn't have obtained such a result." His co-driver, Tsugio Matsuda, commented, "We have been in good form since the GTA test sessions held on July 24th and 25th. Both the car and drivers are improving at the same time, little by little. I'm looking forward to getting good results from now on."
No.19 WedsSport MR-S
In the GT300 class, two Nissan Silvias filled the top ranks of the timing monitor in the morning session in spite of heavy handicap weights. The No.3 car, driven by Yuji Ide and Masataka Yanagida, claimed the fastest lap (1'58.570", Ide) carrying a weight of 70kg. Behind him was the No.81 Silvia of Nobuyuki Oyagi and Takayuki Aoki. Aoki clocked a 1'58.597" lap with an 80kg handicap weight.
But the situation changed in the afternoon second session. Minoru Tanaka and the No.19 Toyota MR-S clocked a fine 1'57.519" with a 30kg handicap weight and stole the pole. "I felt confident that we would get the pole position for this round," said Tanaka afterward. "We had some brake problems, but after fixing that we were able to draw out the car's real potential. I had a new racing suit made for pole position interview." (laughter)
"This is the first time to race here at Motegi," commented Goto. "But I have got accustomed to it. Mr. Bandoh, our team manager, made a detailed simulation for the race. And we should win it if we're able to run following the simulation." (laughter)
(from left) D.Schwager, T.Matsuda, M.Tanaka, S.Goto
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