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2002-11-17 |
Race Review
Third and Final Victory for Firman and Matsuda in Honda NSX
GT500 Driver's Championship Goes to Wakisaka and Iida
Oyagi and Aoki Win First and Last Season Victory in Nissan Silvia
Nitta and Takagi Take GT300 Driver's Championship
Suzuka Circuit was the site of the final race of the 2002 AUTOBACS Japan GT Championship (JGTC). The 52-lap event was full of challenges and tension, with the championships for both classes on the line. It was truly an exciting end to a most eventful season, and fine weather greeted the 32,000 fans who came out to witness the final showdown for the championships. The contest between the Toyota and Honda drivers for the GT500 Driver's Championship was especially close, ensuring that teams in both camps had devised special strategies in an attempt to gain some advantage.
A great surprise awaited any Mercedes fans that made their way out for the day, as the Steward of the Meeting chose to allow the No.87 Mercedes to participate even though it had been disqualified following the Saturday qualifying sessions.
Pole sitter Iida got the No.6 Supra off the line without difficulty and lead the field into the first corner, followed by Lyons in the No.18 Honda NSX, Firman in the No.64 NSX and Kurosawa in the No.37 Supra. The thrills started on the opening lap as Lyons, preferring the lead, made a forceful move across the inside at the Spoon Curve to overtake Iida. Kurosawa executed a similarly forward move, slipping the No.37 Supra passed Iida as they went through the Chicane. With one championship point being awarded to the three cars that put in the fastest lap during the race, the top runners were keen on maintaining a high-speed pace.
As the race progressed, Firman tucked in behind Lyons and the frontrunners slowly began increasing the gap between them and the No.37 car running in third. But the Toyota seemed to be losing speed and fell to sixth by lap 7. On lap 10, Kurosawa took the car into the pit to change tires and then rejoined the race again in 18th place.Lyons put the pressure on Firman and the No.64 NSX on lap 13, moving into the leader's slipstream and looking for the opportunity to get by. But Firman held the charge off gallantly, and when the No.18 Honda attempted to overtake at the Spoon Curve, Firman held his line, the No.18 car lost its balance and slid off into the gravel. At about this same time, Treluyer experienced steering problems in the No.12 Skyline GT-R and ended up going off the track as well. The Frenchman managed to maintain control of the car and get it back to the garage, but repairs were extensive and cost the team precious time.
The leading group began making their routine stops around lap 20. Takeuchi turned the wheel of the No.1 Supra over to Tachikawa, and then Kato pitted the No.100 NSX, passing the drive to Mitsusada. Comas passed the wheel of the No.23 Skyline to Kageyama lying in 6th, but the car was imposed a 10sec Stop-&-Go penalty as Comas overtook under a yellow flag. Teammate Motoyama, in the No.22 GT-R, was running just behind Comas during the first half of the race, but the car began losing power after Krumm started his stint and they had to retire from the race (cause: engine or power-train problem). Noda ran steadily in the No.37 car after replacing Kurosawa, but he had to stop trackside and abandon the car on lap 47 due to engine problems.
The No.8 Honda, driven by Tsuchiya, sold the show in the second half of the race. Finding a good rhythm, he gradually increased the pace and was soon within striking distance of the leader, Matsuda in the No.64 NSX. Other battles that ensued around the track included Wakisaka pushing the No.6 Supra hard to catch and overtake the No.39 Supra (Orido). A third place finish was sufficient for the driver pair of the No.6 car to win the Driver's Championship, but it depended on who would get the fastest lap points. Knowing this, after getting new tires mounted on the No.16 NSX, Michigami set out to clock the fastest lap in the second half of the race in an effort to support the No.64 NSX drivers in their vie for the title.
The gap between the top three cars continued to shorten in the final stage, and on the last lap it was down to less than 1sec, bringing the spectators to their feet. Yet, there was no change in position, and the cars finished in the order of No.64 NSX (Matsuda), No.8 NSX (Tsuchiya) and No.6 Supra (Wakisaka).
The Driver's Championship went to the driver pair of Wakisaka and Iida, and the Engine Tuner's Championship to Mugen.
"It was disappointing to lose the title by just only one point. But the team did a great job and Honda prepared a good car for us. We won three races this season, but lost the title. There isn't anything anyone can do about it."
Tsugio Matsuda (No.64 Honda NSX: GT500 Race winner)
"I wasn't able to tell if we were going to win the title or not during the drive. So I knew that, no matter what I did, a mistake was out of the question. This was the first time I had such a terrible race."
Yanagida kept the No.3 Nissan Silvia in at the head of the GT300 class through the first corner, followed by Mifune in the No.5 Mosler and Jonai in the No.71 Toyota MR-S. Behind them were Aoki in the No.81 Silvia and Mitsuyama in the No.62 Vemac. Much like the GT500 class, Mifune caught up with the No.3 Silvia and set in behind Yanagida as the two cars increased the gap over the remainder of the pack with each passing lap. Not long after Mifune started putting on the pressure and looking for an opportunity to get by Yanagida, the No.3 car suddenly slowed down, giving the lead to the No.5 Mosler. Yanagida went into the pit on lap 18 and the car never returned; the team giving up the race and a chance at the championship (sitting second before the race) due to engine problems.
The second half of the race in the GT300 class was surely an emotional one for many of the title contenders, with frequent position changes and some season-ending incidents. One championship candidate, Nishizawa and the No.26 Porsche, suffered a spin and went off into the gravel. Next, Tamanaka lost control of the No.5 Mosler and went off the track while leading the GT300 field. Takagi drove the No.31 car off from the track on the very same lap, but was able to maintain forward motion and rejoin the race. When things settled down a bit the leader was Goto in the No.19 Toyota, followed by Oyagi in the No.81 Silvia and Shimizu in the No.55 Viper.
In the last stage of the race, Oyagi (No.81 Silvia) was lying in second place and Fukuyama (No.24 Porsche) overtook the No.7 Mazda driven by Kinoshita, who was lying in fourth at that time. The final incident of the day, again, happened to the leader; Goto left the track, giving the win to Oyagi and the No.81 Silvia, with Fukuyama and Kinoshita following him over the finish line for second and third place, respectively.
The Driver's Championship went to Nitta and Takagi, drivers of the No.31 Toyota, who finished the race in fourth. The Team Championship went to TEAM TAISAN ADVAN, and the Engine Tuner's Championship to TODA Racing.
"I was driving at the limit in the last stage. Sorry about the contact with the No.19 car, but I was trying hard at the end."
Takayuki Aoki (No.81 Nissan Silvia: GT300 Race winner)
"We were experiencing engine problems from Friday free practices all the way through to the Warm-Up this morning. In addition to that, the car was not in top condition during the race. But the problems were fixed and Mr.. Oyagi ran very well in the second half."
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"Thanks to Akira, who saved fuel in the first half of the race, I was able to push very hard in the second half. We fought this way all through the season. I'm very happy that we were able to win the title with a difference of only one point."
Akira Iida (No.6 Toyota Supra: GT500 Driver's Champion)
"This is the first All-Japan title for me, so I was determined to get it no matter what we had to do. It was for this reason that I changed teams this season. In the first round this year, when I raced in a Supra for the first time, the tires lost grip and I burned my foot.. It was really hard for me."
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"I feel safe saying it now, we broke the drive shaft in both the test sessions and qualifying sessions. We didn't have parts to troubleshoot, so I had to make sure that I drove so as not to break anything during the race. I came close to going off the track several times. It was a very hard race. In view of the hard conditions we faced, I'm very happy to get the title. "
Shinichi Takagi (No.31 Toyota MR-S: GT300 Driver's Champion)
"I didn't know about the title until after the race because the radio was broken. I knew my position by the pit sign, but I didn't know the positions of our rivals. When I saw Mr. Nitta jump off the pit wall into the track, I realized 'Maybe...'."
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