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2003-11-15 |
to First Pole in JGTC
Surprising Lap Time by Kinoshita Gives Fairlady Z First Pole in GT300 Class
No.25 ADVAN Supra
The "SUZUKA GT 300km," the eighth and final round of the 2003 AUTOBACS JGTC, is underway at Suzuka Circuit (Mie Prefecture) this weekend, the qualifying sessions being held on Saturday, November 15. A total of 43 cars entered the event (GT500:18 and GT300:25), thrilling the fans who have gathered for the last race of the season.
Dufour took the initiative, starting out the morning session with a course recording-breaking lap time of 1'55,340" in the No.25 Supra. Lotterer, too, put in an impressive lap time, claiming a fine 1'56.170" in the No.64 Honda NSX during the first stage of the session. But just as the battle for the pole got into full swing, the No.62 Vemac went off the track at the end of the S Curve, brining out the red flag midway through the GT500 time slot in the session. Some 8 minutes after the session resumed, Tachikawa clocked a superb lap (1'55.737") in the No.38 Supra in spite of carrying a heavy 100kg handicap weight, placing him second on the timing monitor.
One point is given to each of the three fastest cars in the combined qualifying sessions, and Motoyama-currently second in the Driver's Championship points standings with Krumm-drove aggressively, apparently aiming at securing one of them. His efforts paid off as he brought the No.23 Skyline GT-R over the finish line in 1'55.865", setting the third fastest lap. Direct rival and Driver's points standing leader Wakisaka (pair-driver Iida) was fifth in the session with a lap time of 1'55.989" for the No.1 Supra. It seems as though the 90kg handicap weight assigned to the No.1 car was taking its toll on the leaders. Commented Wakisaka after the morning session, "I think I will be able to reverse the position in the afternoon if the weather holds. We will be changing the set-up for the second session."
Fourth in the morning session went to the No.18 Honda NSX with Michigami behind the wheel (1'55.889").
The second session in the afternoon brought with it disappointment for the teams, the track conditions having worsened from the morning. Of the top runners in the class, only Lyons in the No.22 Skyline GT-R and Treluyer in the No.12 Skyline managed to improve on their best lap times. Lyons moved up to fifth on the starting grid (1'55.899") and Treluyer, sixth (1'56.037"). The quickest driver in the afternoon was again Dufour, who claimed a time of 1'55.745". Having outperformed the field in both sessions, driver pair Dufour and Ara were rightly rewarded with their first ever pole position in the JGTC. (In the end, 12 cars broke the previous circuit record of 1'56.609".)
Jeremie Dufour: "Everything is going very well for us so far this week. This morning the car was just perfect, and the Yokohama tires were working very well. I made a small mistake, and think I could have been even quicker. I think this afternoon the track conditions were a little bit worse. This was a really up-and-down season for us, and we have yet to win a race, although I feel we could have won at TI. We'll be trying our best to win the race tomorrow. That was our target this season, so we'll be going for it. We have been working hard since yesterday, and this course is quite severe on tires. I just set up for the race, and I'm quite confident that we'll do well if the weather is dry."Seiji Ara: "As this is the very last round of the championship, our absolute goal is to win the race. We worked on setting up the car more for the race than for qualifying since the beginning of the free practice sessions. Of course, it depends on the conditions, but we will do a good race tomorrow."
No.3 HASEMISPORTS ENDLESS Z
During the morning session, Kinoshita presented an excellent qualifying performance in the No.3 Fairlady Z on his first flying lap, setting a superb best lap of 2'05.452"-breaking the GT300 circuit record (2'07.678") by more than 2 seconds-while carrying a 60kg handicap. The time did not hold though, as Aoki came onto the course in the No.19 Celica and claimed the best lap with a time of 2'05.214" packing 70kg of weight. Kinoshita returned to the track on his second set of tires later on in the session and impressed again, flying around the circuit with surprising speed and taking back the provisional pole with a time of 2'04.878". Yamada placed the No.55 Viper (10kg handicap) in third during the morning session with a time of 2'05.938", and Tanaka and the No.11 Ferrari were fourth, timing 2'05.938".
Driver's Championship points standing leader pair, Yamaji-Nishizawa in the No.26 Porsche, finished the morning in seventh. Yamaji, carrying a 55kg handicap, clocked a lap time of 2'07.269".
Jostling for better grid position continued into the afternoon session, Tanaka in the No.11 Ferrari working hard to improve on his best time from the morning. He improved over a tenth of a second (2'05.816"), but then almost went off the track on the ensuing lap and ended the session with the second fastest time. The quickest driver in the afternoon was Aoki in the No.19 Celica with a best lap of 2'05.615". Consequently, the pole position in the GT300 class went to the driver pair of Mitsuhiro Kinoshita and Masataka Yanagida, giving the No.3 Fairlady Z its first pole in the JGTC. (A total of 14 cars broke the previous GT300 class course record during the day.)
Mitsuhiro Kinoshita: "In preparing for this last round, the team and engineers have done an excellent job-much more than us drivers-on the car, engine and tires. Everything. They have created a situation where we can focus our efforts with amazingly good conditions. We just went out and did our best, and the results reflect that. So I'm very happy. I'm a little worried about the weather. But again, we'll just try our best, and I think the results will follow it."Masataka Yanagida: "Our car is quick on the straight, and it's said that the car is quick on circuits with long straights, like Fuji Speedway. But getting the pole position here at Suzuka, which is known as a technical track, means that improvements have been made to the car. The feeling of the car has been very good since the beginning of the free practice sessions, and I felt even better again this morning. I was quite surprised with it. I started from pole position last year too, but lost the race due to problems with the car. I don't have any anxieties about the car this year, so I think we will get a good result if we do our job properly."
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