Veteran JGTC driver Erik Comas took his first Pole Position since Round 2 of the 1995 Championship at Fuji (and in the 1997 All-Star race at Motegi) with a 1'14.136 in Saturday's second Official Qualifying session for Round 4 of the 2004 AUTOBACS JGTC at Tokachi International Speedway.
The #3 NISSAN Fairlady Z (350 Z) will be joined on the front row by the similar #12 machine after compatriot Benoit Treluyer laid down a 1'14.190 toward the close of the session. Treluyer's time, a mere six hundredths of a second in arrears of the leader, shows just how tight the competition is at this, the half-way point of the season. Further proof of NISSAN's strength lies in third spot on the grid, occupied by the #22 NISMO Z driven by Michael Krumm, himself less than a tenth behind the 2nd-placed car.

Three Toyota Supras follow, filling positions 4 to 6 on the grid. The #36 car, with qualifying specialist Takeshi Tsuchiya at the wheel, again came out ahead of the 6 other identical machines in the series. He is followed closely by the #6 car, where a hard-working Juichi Wakisaka pushed to the limits; going off and whacking the barriers in the dying moments of the afternoon session in his quest for a better starting position. James Courtney lines up beside him in the #37 TOM'S machine.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon came from Ryo Michigami, who put in a brave performance to get the #18 NSX up to 7th overall - the best qualifying result so far this year among any of the mid-engined Honda supercars. Equally thrilling is the fact that the #32 Nakajima NSX lines up right behind the green machine in 9th.

At the back of the GT500 grid are the three exotic European supercars: the #15 Lamborghini Murcielago followed by the #21 Ferrari 550 GT Maranello, with the #88 JLOC Lamborghini Diablo bringing up the rear.

As in Sepang, it is a NISSAN 350 Z that occupies the top position in the GT300 class. This time however, the #81 Team Daishin car is in front - the sister machine to the top qualifier in Round 3. Driver Masataka Yanagida had commented after Friday's practice session that the team were considering their strategy for Saturday, and that it might involve their using two sets of tires; one in each session, in order to get the most out of the car when it really mattered. After posting the 4th fastest time on Saturday morning, the team showed its hand in the afternoon, firmly asserting their confidence as they bettered their nearest rival by three tenths of a second. The second-placed car, #63 Vemac 320R, is by no means to be discounted. It's race pace cannot be underestimated, and with the right strategy, could well be there at the top late on Sunday afternoon.

Following on their strong qualifying result in Sepang, the #30 and #31 Toyota MR-Ss line up 4th and 5th. They are just ahead of the #11 Ferrari 360 GT, qualified by Hideshi Matsuda in 6th. The team's sister car, the #10 Ferrari with Tetsuya Tanaka at the wheel, starts 9th. Of the three Toyota Celicas competing in the GT300 class, it's the #19 car that heads the field, lining up in 10th, one position ahead of the #52 Project ƒÊ machine. The #16 M-TEC NSX, so strong in the early stages in Sepang, is 8th in class this time out, though within a second of poletime.
After winning so convincingly in Malaysia, the #7 Amemiya RX7 is back in 14th on the grid - a clear indication the effect 55kgs success ballast makes.

(from left) T.Kaneishi, E.Comas, M.Yanagida, N.Omoto

GT500 Pole Position

No.3 G'ZOX SSR HASEMI Z

Erik Comas "I was quite confident after our test here in May where we were among the top runners. Since then, the team has made a number of developments on the car, though these didn't match the characteristics of the track so we were struggling down in 9th position this morning. At lunchtime I decided to switch back to the set-up we ran at the test in May and when I went out this afternoon we were back in front right away, so that was a good move. I'm really looking forward to starting from the front; it will be interesting to see how things turn out tomorrow."

GT300 Pole Position

No.81 C-WEST DAISHIN ADVAN Z

Masataka Yanagida "We were running without any problems throughout Friday and in the morning session today. Choosing to use our second set of new tires in the afternoon session really paid off, I was able to set a quick time on my first lap. As for the race tomorrow, I'm a little worried about the traffic, particularly among the GT300 cars. How we deal with the faster GT500 machines is very important and can really affect the outcome of the race. Getting pole position is one thing; turning it into a top result in the race quite another. I asked Erik Comas how he plans to deal with the same situation in GT500, he said: Just follow me!"

A total of 43 cars will take the start at 14:00 on Sunday in what promises to be an action-packed 89-lap sprint over the 3.405kilometer Tokachi circuit. Fans can expect lots of ducking and dicing as the more powerful GT500 machines try to weave their way past the slower GT 300 cars on the short-course layout of this, Japan's northernmost international-level racetrack.