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2003-03-29 |
at "GT CHAMPIONSHIP in TI" Following Long Dry Spell
No.23 Xanavi NISMO GT-R
The curtain rose for the long-awaited 2003 AUTOBACS JGTC Season as Round 1 got underway at TI Circuit Aida in Okayama Prefecture on March 29. Being the first race of the season, none of the cars were carrying handicap weight for the qualifying sessions. All 82 drivers focused on pushing the 41 cars to the limit, giving impressive displays of potential throughout the day.
Satoshi Motoyama gave an incredible performance in the No.23 Skyline GT-R in the morning session, flying around the circuit with amazing speed and setting a new course record of 1'24.670". The lap time kept him at the top of the time monitors all day, and placed his Nissan in pole position for the first race of the season. Being absent from the official JGTC test sessions at Fuji Speedway two weeks ago, left many curious of the 2003 Skyline's potential coming into the first event, but all know now that the car has proven to be as quick as the reputation that has been built about it. Only Motoyama broke the 1'25" barrier in the morning session.
"The car is very quick. I just drove as well as we had planned and clocked the time we estimated. We knew the car is quick, but we didn't know the detailed situation as compared to other entries, so we were a little worried of the outcome. I'm very happy to get pole position. The is my first pole in the GT500, and it comes after a long dry spell for the Skyline, " said Motoyama after the sessions.
The last official championship race the Skyline GT-R claimed the pole position in was the final round of the 1995 season.
Following behind with times in the 1'25s" were Tachikawa in the No.38 Supra (1'25.250"), Ito in the No.16 Honda NSX (1'25.342") and Michigami in the No.18 NSX (1'25.673"). Behind the No.23 Skyline, there are four Supras and four NSXs filling the top ten places, showing that there is little separating the performance of the Supras and NSXs this year.
The afternoon session was plagued by higher track temperatures, making conditions more difficult. Even so, several teams managed to improve on the best lap times they'd clocked in the morning session. Among them, Tachikawa improved his time to a 1'24.944"(quickest in the session) and Juichi Wakisaka put in a swift 1'25.372" in the No.1 Supra, quick enough to qualify fourth overall (second in the session). Takeshi Tsuchiya improved the time of the No.36 Supra as well, clocking a fine 1'26.102" and setting the car seventh in the starting grid.
No.24 Endless TAISAN ADVAN GT3R
The excitement of the GT500 qualifying battle spilled over into the GT300 class, where fans witnessed equally thrilling qualifying performances. The fastest car in the morning session was the No.31 Toyota MR-S with Kouta Sasaki behind the wheel, who claimed a fine 1'32.450". Nitta and Takagi won the 2002 Driver's Championship in this car, which had to undergo modifications to meet the 2003 technical regulations. The tires are also same as last year (BF Goodrich). Sasaki is followed close behind by Yogo in the No.24 Porsche GT3R (1'32.808), and a newcomer, the No.3 Fairlady Z driven by Yanagida, who finished the session third with a 1'32.944". But Yanagida was not satisfied with the performance, stating, "The car hasn't been in very good condition since yesterday's free practice sessions. We haven't found a good set-up for it."
The real eye-catcher of the day in the class was Yogo, who put in an excellent time of 1'32.431" in his Porsche GT3R during the second session, snatching the GT300 pole position from the MR-S. The last time a Porsche sat on the pole in the JGTC was the last round of the 2001 season. "We have 10hp more and 15kg less. The engine the 2003 season is being tuned by Freisinger Motorsport. We've witnessed an improvement in top speed of 15km/h," commented Yasutsune Chiba, team owner.
Another highlight in the GT300 class is the debut of the Garaiya GT300R. The reigning Driver's Championship pair, Nitta and Takagi, are piloting the new car, which finished qualifying with a best lap time of 1'33.073"(Nitta), placing the stylish car fifth on the grid.
The Vemac, after creating such a great sensation in its debut last year, should have raised the minimum weight of the car to that stipulated by the JAF (1285kg). As it is, the car is the heaviest of all cars entered in Round 1, and Mifune could only manage to clock a time of 1'35.871"(19th in the class).
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