2001-11-5 Race Preview After a dramatic round at Suzuka, the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship moves on to the season's final race at CP MINE Circuit in Yamaguchi Prefecture on November 10-11. The circuit's technical 3330.839m track will play a major role in deciding the Driver and Team Championship titles for both GT500 and 300 classes as the points standings remain tight going into the last event of the season. The Suzuka race was in the hands of the driver duo from AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI. Keiichi Tsuchiya and Katsutomo Kaneishi worked the course well in the No. 8 Honda NSX, with Kaneishi starting from pole position and turning over the wheel to Tsuchiya while running in first with a marginal gap over the rest of the field. Tsuchiya continued the pace and increased their lead to a comfortable level before cruising on to victory. The first place finish moved Tsuchiya and Kaneishi into a tie for second in the points standings, which they now share with last year's defending champions, Ryo Michigami and Hidetoshi Mitsusada in the No.1 Honda NSX of Mugen Dome Project. Michigami and Mitsusada maintained their fight for a second consecutive championship with their second place finish at Suzuka. Hironori Takeuchi/Yuji Tachikawa and the No.38 Toyota Supra of TOYOTA TEAM CERUMO managed to hold onto their championship points lead with a sixth place finish at Suzuka. The two drove a steady race while loaded down with a heavy 100kg handicap weight and finished high enough in the standings to maintain the top position in the championship fight, although by a mere two-point advantage going into the final race of the year. On a positive note, their handicap weight will drop to 80kg for CP MINE Circuit, while the weights required of the No.8 and No.1 Honda NSXs will rise to 80 and 70kg, respectively. These three cars are deemed the principal candidates for the 2001 Driver's title. But the bid for the championship doesn't stop there. No one can take lightly the threat of the Nissan teams; especially team NISMO, estimated to be one of the strongest teams in the championship owing to their accumulated experience. The race configuration of the Nissan Skyline GT-R is known for its reliability and speed, and it has a long history of strong performances at CP MINE including successive victories in the past two years (Hoshino/Motoyama in 2000 and Comas/Kageyama in 1999). An accident where the No.22 car of Michael Krumm and Tetsuya Tanaka was hit from behind in the chicane at Suzuka hindered the pair from placing better than eighth, but they still sit in fourth place in the championship point standings and are within grasp of the title as well. Additional advantages are a light 40kg handicap weight and teammates Erik Comas and Masami Kageyama in the No.23 GT-R of NISMO, who themselves are within reach of the championship after their strong third place finish at Suzuka, looking to support the No.22 car. The two NISMO cars are definitely dark horses with potential. Other driver pairs/teams still vying for the title are Juichi Wakisaka/Hideki Noda in the ESSO TOYOTA Team LeMans No.6 Supra (the winners of Round 2), Shinichi Yamaji/Wayne Gardner in the TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S No.37 Supra (winners of Round 3 at Sugo), and Dominik Schwager/Tsugio Matsuda in the Mobile 1 NAKAJIMA RACING No.64 Honda NSX (winners of Round 5). The TEAM DAISHIN driver duo of Nobuyuki Oyagi/Takayuki Aoki had a rather frustrating time at Suzuka. Their No.81 Nissan Silvia was struck from behind early on in the race, forcing them to retire after only 15 laps. Even so, they held onto their first place position in the championship point standings with an advantage of six points over second place contenders Tetsuya Yamano/Haruhiko Matsumoto in the No.7 Mazda RX-7 of RE AMEMIYA Racing, who also had an unfortunate day at Suzuka. However, maybe the most unlucky of all in the GT300 class are the HASEMI MOTORSPORTS drivers Yuji Ide and Masataka Yanagida. The two have been close to victory in three races so far this year, but have yet to score a first place victory. Although their No.3 Silvia will be carrying a heavy 90kg weight at MINE, the No.81 Silvia will carry 80kg and the No.7 Mazda 40kg, giving the young pair the opportunity to avenge their losses in previous races. Title contention from the Porsches and a Toyota MR-S cannot be overlooked either. Hideo Fukuyama/Atsushi Yogo in the No.26 Porsche of TEAM TAISAN ADVAN and Hisashi Wada/Jukucho Sunako in the No. 910 car of 910 RACING finished third and fourth, respectively, at Suzuka. Fukuyama/Yogo now have a total of 41 points, putting them in fifth place in the standings just behind Wada/Sunako (46points). The No.31 Toyota MR-S of ARTA with A'PEX driven by Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi is currently sixth in the points standings, but is still capable of creating an exciting upset finish. The green light for the last round of the 2001 JGTC will be given on November 11 at CP MINE Circuit. BACK HOME Copyright 2001 JGTC.net. http://www.jgtc.net