2003-10-25

Tachikawa Takes No.38 Supra
to Fourth Pole of the Season
Amazing Effort by Tanaka Put Ferrari on Pole in GT300 Class

No.38 au CERUMO SUPRA

The seventh round of the 2003 AUTOBACS JGTC, the "JAPAN GT in KYUSHU 300km," got underway at the Autopolis in Kyushu this week to mark the holding of the first ever full-championship event on this southern island in Japan. Fine blue skies welcomed the participants and spectators for the qualifying Saturday, October 25th, setting the stage for a day of excitement as drivers impressed fans around the track with fantastic displays of skill and speed as they pushed their cars to the limit in the morning and afternoon sessions. Of the 38 cars entered for the event (GT500:17 and GT300:21), 37 took to the track vying for the top times in their respective class, while the No.76 McLaren F1GTR (GT500) of Hitotsuyama Racing opted to withdraw from the event since the car's suspension could not be fully repaired following an accident during the Thursday free practice session.

Schwager quickly jumped to the top of the timing monitor at the beginning of the morning qualifying, clocking a best lap time of 1'43,487" in the No.39 Supra, but the time wasn't good enough to hold the spot through the end of the session. The top teams came out with some 5 minutes remaining, and the battle for the best flying-lap began. Lyons drove the No.22 Nissan Skyline GT-R to a new course record with a time of 1'43.102", only to watch the record be taken away by Lotterer in the No.64 Honda NSX with a 1'42.785" moments later. Next, it was Tachikawa's turn as he burned around the track with a superb qualifying performance in the No.38 Supra, crossing the finish line in 1'42.688" while carrying 70kg of handicap weight.

The leaders in the Driver's Championship points standings, Wakisaka and Iida, seem to be in good form, Wakisaka piloting their No.1 Supra around the track in a credible 1'43.138" for a fourth place finish in the session in spite of carrying a heavy 90kg handicap. The closest rivals, driver pair Motoyama and Krumm, also carrying an extra 90kg in their No.23 Skyline GT-R, put in a best time of 1'43.581". Motoyama seemed unhappy with the lap time, even choosing to use both sets of tires in the morning session and thus virtually eliminating the opportunity to improve on the time in the afternoon. The best time for NISMO teammates Kageyama and Lyons was 1'43,102", Lyons giving a fine performance in the session. By the end of the morning session, four cars had broken the previous course record: No.38, No.64, No.22 and No.1.

Tachikawa, who sat as the provisional pole sitter following the morning session, made sure it would be difficult for rivals to challenge, improving his best lap in the afternoon session to 1'42.546". Mitsusada brought the No.100 NSX up closer to the front of the grid, clocking the fifth fastest time in the afternoon session (1'43.543"), placing the car sixth on the starting grid. Wakisaka tried hard to improve the time of the No.1 Supra at the end of the afternoon session. He managed a time of 1'43.140", slightly off the morning time in his first flying lap attempt, and then pushed a bit to hard going into the next lap and went off the track. Tachikawa's time was not further challenged, placing the No.38 car on the pole.

Yuji Tachikawa commented, "The set-up of the car was really good, and the balance of the car felt pretty good as well. So car performance was complete overall. I like this track, and the 2003 Supra version runs well on any kind of track. So everything's looking good."

Hironori Takeuchi said, "I'm going to take it easy tomorrow. This track is very hard on the tires and the set-up for the race configuration is not what I would say is perfect. We have to discuss this as a team later on in order to find a solution. We've started races from the pole four times this year, but we've never won yet. I'm going to drive as carefully as I can, avoiding spins and staying away from others that do."

No.11 JIM RodeoDrive Advan F360

The performances of cars in the GT300 class have shown drastic improvement since the All-Star race held at the circuit in 1999. A total of 10 cars broke the GT300 circuit record in the morning session. Kataoka claimed the best lap time behind the wheel of the No.71 Celica, clocking a time of 1'51.031". Second quickest in the field was the No.11 Ferrari F360. Tanaka showed excellent form with the Italian machine on the technical track. "Our Ferrari suits this track well," said Tanaka early on. Kobayashi and Tanigawa also shined, displaying the cornering performance of the No.77 Subaru Impreza and finishing with a best lap time of 1'51.715" (Tanigawa) for a provisional third on the grid. Driver's points standing leaders, Sasaki and Goto, clocked a best time of 1'52.515" (Sasaki) in the No.31 Toyota MR-S, for a provisional 6th grid position.

Tanaka gave an amazing effort in the No.11 Ferrari in the second session. The veteran driver found the line of the circuit well, maintaining a steady rhythm in the 1'51s" and then a surprising 1'50.990" on his last flying lap to steal the pole from the No.71 Celica. Aoki did his best to challenge with the No.19 Celica, and even though improving over the car's morning time (1'52.256") with a 1'51.430", managed only to cut off enough to place the second Celica third on the grid behind the No.71 Celica and the pole sitter Ferrari.

Tetsuya Tanaka commented, "This time the car has been running well since the first free practice. It is well suited for this track, and has surpassed our expectations. I like the track a lot as well. There have been a number of races that looked like we'd win this season, but then ended with less than desired results, so I want to win tomorrow."

Hideshi Matsuda added, "The set-up for the race configuration is fairly good. It is better than that in Sugo when I started from the pole and gave the wheel to Tanaka when running in the front. This track is very hard on the tires, so you must work hard to control wear in order save them. I have taken part in many races here at Autopolis since the circuit opened, including the World Sports Car Championship race in 1991."

Asian star driver Charles Kwan has been replaced by T. Yamano for this race as the Hong Kong driver is away participating in a Porsche Cup race in the Southeast Asia region. Kwan will be absent from the last round at Suzuka for the same reason. The car qualified in 20th with a lap time of 1'52.002".

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