After starting 13th for Round 3 of the 2004 AUTOBACS JGTC, the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA GT pulled off a brilliant win following an intense battle in blistering Malaysian heat at Sepang International Circuit.
The car had been quick throughout the weekend; driver Jeremie Dufour setting the fastest in time the first Official Qualifying session on Friday morning. The second session was a completely different story however, as their hard-compound tyres slowed the car to the seemingly unlucky number 13 spot in the warmer conditions of the afternoon session.
The team bounced back in the Saturday morning warm up session, the #39 machine again gracing the top of the time charts in conditions markedly hotter than the previous afternoon.

As the lights went out, Benoit Treluyer set a lightning-quick pace in the pole-sitting #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z, quickly building up a gap in the opening laps. For a moment it looked as if the #36 WOODONE TOM'S SUPRA would get the better of the charging French driver. But after a brief spell out in front, the Toyota was soon back to 2nd, maintaining the position until it made its routine pitstop on lap 25. The blue NISSAN pitted on the following tour with a 2 second gap. The advantage wasn't to last however, as a lengthy stop dropped the car to third.

In the initial stages, a number of Supras fell down the order; the #6 ESSO Ultraflo machine suffering from a slow puncture and falling to 15th, and a coming-together between the #37 DYNACITY TOM'S SUPRA and the similar #35 Yellow Hat YMS machine which saw both cars drop from 4th and 5th to 13th and 14th.

Meanwhile, the NISSAN entries were having a rather better time of it; the #3 G'ZOX SSR Hasemi Z machine running strongly in 4th in the hands of Erik Comas, and both factory NISMO cars also moving up in the early stages.
The most impressive jump clearly came from the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA GT, Andre Couto rocketing up 4 spots on the opening lap, and reaching 3rd by lap 9. After a brief fall to 4th, he was back in third until handing the car to partner Jeremie Dufour in lap 26.

On the same tour, leader Treluyer came in for the driver switch, Yuji Ide taking over driving duties in the CALSONIC machine. His out lap was slow however, and the #12 car was soon passed by the charging #35 Yellow Hat YMS Supra, piloted by Shigekazu Wakisaka. Unfortunately, Ide's day was soon to end as on lap 32, a collision with two GT300 machines resulted in damaged suspension and elimination from the race.

After the routine pitstops, the order stabilized with the #36 WOODONE TOM'S SUPRA leading the similar #39 DENSO SARD car, now with Jeremie Dufour at the wheel, trying valiantly to catch Italian Marco Apicella. Dufour eventually got the top spot when the Italian veteran spun on lap 45. It was a lead he was determined to keep to the checquered flag 10 laps later.
Following this pair was the #3 G'ZOX SSR Hasemi Z with Toshihiro Kaneishi battling hard to stay ahead of Richard Lyons in the #1 Xanavi NISMO Z. Their fight for position came to a resounding end as the factory driver heavily clouted the #3 machine on lap 42. Both cars continued, though in reverse order. Lyons grabbed the final spot on the podium with Kaneishi running to a lonely 4th at the flag, 15 seconds in arrears.

Behind all this action, Naoki Hattori took the Dunlop-shod #35 Yellow Hat YMS Supra up the order in a steady though defiant climb from 6th after the stops - to a very threatening 2nd place behind eventual race-winner Dufour at the flag. The gap to Jeremie was a mere 2 seconds in the closing stages, providing drama and a nail-biter of a finish for the spectators.

On the exotic side, the #15 Amprex Murcielago R-GT fared well in its first -ever outing. The Lamborghini qualifyed15th, and ran steadily all the way to the flag, classified 12th overall, three laps behind the leader. Pretty impressive considering the car had to make an unscheduled pit stop early on.
Contrastingly, the #88 Murcie RG-1 was plagued by the same woes that had afflicted the black supercar in the morning's warm up session. A broken left rear suspension stranded the car out on track after a smokeshow similar to that seen earlier in the day for exactly the same problem.

After winning last time out at SUGO, the #38 Ara/Tachikawa au CERUMO SUPRA had a relatively uneventful day, running in 8th for the entire race - though the car did finish 7th after passing the dying #36 Supra of Marco Apicella just two laps from the flag.

GT500 Winner

No.39 DENSO SARD SUPRA GT

Andre Couto : "It wasn't all that easy to move up in the first part of the race, but I was on a mission. I knew I had good tyres because I could feel it as I drove. I just had to concentrate on overtaking as many people as quickly as I could."

Jeremie Dufour: "Toward the end of my stint, there was a situation with a yellow flag. I didn't see the green flag after that so I had to wait for the next (flag) post to make sure. It wasn't worth risking a pass so late in the race where I might have been penalized. It was a bit dark and I couldn't see if they had shown the flag or not so I decided to play it safe. It was no problem really. I knew I had enough time over the #35 car to make it to the end first."

The pole-sitting #80 ENDLESS DAISHIN ADVAN Z didn't last at the front very long in the race, initially being overtaken by the fast-charging #63 Leyjun Dunlop 320R on lap 3; and then by the #16 M-TEC NSX 5 tours later. Another early stage serious contender was the eventual class-winner, the #7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX7, driven masterfully by Shinichi Yamaji. The #63 320R remained in the lead until it pitted on lap 20, after which the #7 car opened up a considerable gap over the following 7 laps before it too, went in for the mandatory driver switch. Once the order had settled down a few laps later, the RX7 was never headed as it romped to a decisive victory, waltzing across the line well ahead of its rivals.

The #80 car gradually fell down the order after running in 2nd until lap 36 when it was passed by the #16 M-TEC NSX. Intense heat had affected driver Kazuki Hoshino badly in the later stages, his slowing pace putting the car down in 6th in class. This was followed by a crash into the gravel bed when he passed out on the final lap!
The #16 M-TEC NSX finished second, with the late-charging Project u B-1 March-Go GT320R taking the last step on the podium after a steady climb from 7th on the grid.

GT300 Winner

No.7 AMEMIYA ASPARADRINK RX7

Shinichi Yamaji: "We started from 2nd position and I was hoping we'd be able to keep this place - and our pace - throughout the race. I noticed at the start that the cars running on Dunlop tyres were very fast; I wasn't holding back. I knew I had to push as hard as I could in order to make any difference. I was also aware that it was a long and hot race, just as difficult for the others as it was for us. By keeping a good rhythm and running a good number of laps, I feel I was able to contribute my part to our success today."

Hiroyuki Iiri: "When I took over, we were in the top position. I didn't know how well the others were doing, and I wasn't really asking the team what position I was in. I think that helped, as I was relaxed and never felt any pressure throughout my stint. I'm not fully used to working the tyres properly yet; but I think that this time I was able to do that very well and it helped in our success today. "