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2002-10-27 |
Race Review
First Victory of the Season for Michigami & Ito in Mugen NSX
Vemac Takes Advantage of Other Misfortune to Gain Third GT300 Victory
A crowd of 44,800 fans made their way to CP MINE Circuit for the 76-lap Round 7 race. The day was filled with spins and crashes as teams fought hard for championship points as the season end nears. Pole sitter Firman held the lead off the line, but by the time he'd reached the second corner, the No.36 Supra driven by Tsuchiya slipped passed him to take the lead. Another group of cars, No.8 Honda NSX (Kaneishi), No.30 McLaren (Kurosawa), No.18 NSX(Lyons), No.39 Supra(Orido) and No.6 Supra (Iida) nearing the second corner got to into a near multi-car disaster going into the second corner after the leaders. Kaneishi put his car through a spin, resulting in a chain-reaction accident between the other cars. Unfortunate for the McLaren it was as Kurosawa gave up the race without completing even the first lap. Lyons, winner of the last race, was forced to pit and get repairs to damaged bodywork. With all the other cars finishing the opening lap, the standing of the pack leading the field was Tsuchiya holding the lead, Firman working to stay close with him in second, Ito in the No.16 NSX and Wakisaka in the No.35 Supra. Congestion caused by the accident in first lap gave Tsuchiya and Firman the opportunity to move out in front bit, and there was a 3sec gap between Firman and Ito. Ito did well to whittle down the gap separating him from Firman. The No.22 Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Motoyama, had caught up with Wakisaka. Aware that Motoyama was on his tail, Wakisaka did everything he could to hold the Skyline back.
Another accident occurred on lap 7. Treluyer, running in ninth in the No.12 Skyline, bumped the No.23 GT-R driven by Comas, sending both cars off the track. Comas was forced to retire from the race, while Treluyer managed to rejoin the race after losing a few laps. The battle between the three leading drivers was intense throughout the first and intermediate stages of the race, Ito pushing hard on Firman in a tail-to-nose slipstream battle with.
Tsuchiya kept the lead until his routine stop, which was made on lap 34. Around about the time the top runners chose to make their routine stops, a second batch of incidents through even more turmoil into the race. Because of the low temperature (starting time, 13; track temperature, 16), tires gave grip problems to the new drivers, many of which suffered spins in their initial laps coming out of the pits. Gardner and the No.36 Supra was one case in fact, dropping his position to 12th. Because of this, Firman, who had not yet made the driver's switch, moved into the lead on lap 40. But Matsuda was also a victim of the low temperature, going off the track and being passed by Krumm in the No.22 GT-R. who also went off the track in his initial lap. Next, Matsuda lost balance and touched the No.100 NSX, which stopped on the track and subsequently got hit by the No.7 Mazda RX7. Kageyama, too, spun out on the second lap of his stint in the No.35 Supra.
After the leading drivers had completed routine stops, the top three comprised Michigami and the No.16 Honda in first, followed by Krumm and the No.22 Skyline and Matsuda in the No.64 Honda. Michigami ran very steadily while many drivers around him ended up with a spin or a crash. It was the No.16 Honda that crossed the finish line on top, claiming its first victory this season.
In the final stage of the race, Matsuda was running in third, but he suddenly slowed his pace. The team's aim was to finish fifth so that they could unload handicap weight. TOYOTA TEAM LEMANS also gave orders to Junichi Wakisaka who was in fourth in the No.6 Supra. With this, Gardner overtook both cars and finished the No.36 Supra in third place. Ara in the No.25 Supra overtook Matsuda for a fifth place finish.Ryo Michigami: "We thought the tire temperature would be important during the race so we took the time to break in the front tires previously, which proved effective in the race. We made the routine stop earlier than the others, and that also proved successful. I'm very happy because this is the season's first podium for me."
Daisuke Ito: "I fought with the NSX and Supra and had some difficulty overtaking the NSX because of having the same braking and acceleration points. That led to us making the routine stop earlier. I was determined t o win at all costs today, so I'm very happy."
Watanabe started from the pole position and kept the lead from the green light, the No.62 Vemac driven by Shibahara, No.24 Porsche GT3R with Kinoshita, and No.71 Toyota MR-S with Jyonai making up the front runners behind him. But by lap 12, an impressive attack by Matsuda in the No.86 Toyota brought the other MR-S into the lead. Midway through the race, the No.86 and No.71 MR-S contested in a thrilling side-by-side battle. Then, Matsuda suddenly went off the track on lap 47, throttle linkage problems ending the teams drive for the victory. There were a number of spins and accidents in the GT300 class as well. Hashimoto had to return the No.15 BMW M3GT to the pit on lap 22 for repairs following a bumping stint with another car. Unfortunately the damage was too great, and the team retired the car before Kwan had a chance to drive.
Sawa also had a turn with the No.71 MR-S out in front, but suspension problems forced him to retire. What is misfortune for one is fortune to others, and the N.62 Vemac took advantage of the situation at CP MINE. There was a good charge by Wilcox in the No.910 Porsche towards the end of the race, but he started to late as there weren't enough laps left to close the gap and challenge. Mitsuyama crossed the finish line first in the GT300 class, and wrapped up their third victory for 2002.Shinsuke Shibahara: "I was concentrating on the championship while out there driving with and watching the others. This is our third win this year, and the victory means we carry more weight in the last round at Suzuka. Even so, we'll be looking for another win there. If that's not possible, we'll be racing for the championship, guaranteed!."
Syogo Mitsuyama: "The No.910 Porsche was catching up to me rather rapidly in the last stage, so I pushed hard and didn't look back. I hope that we claim the championship with another victory at Suzuka."
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