After dominating every session throughout Practice and Qualifying, a Honda win was expected at Twin Ring Motegi in Round 5 of SUPER GT over the September 3-4 weekend. Piloting the #100 Raybrig NSX, French driver pair Jeremie Dufour and Sebastien Philippe took a well-deserved Honda victory at the maker's home track north of Tokyo.

Starting third on the grid behind the two Honda Racing entries, the Team Kunimitsu car was never far behind the lead #8 ARTA NSX in the opening stages. Sebastien Philippe had moved up to 2nd by lap 10, and hounded the bright orange AUTOBACS-liveried car at the head of the field until the routine pitstops nearly 20 laps later. The blue and white Honda then inherited the top spot when Ralph Firman pitted early, a gear linkage problem bringing disaster to the team as the car sat in the pits for nearly four minutes undergoing repairs. The ARTA NSX's race over on the spot, it was a lonely drive to 16th place for Firman's driver partner Daisuke Ito - without a solitary point for the pair's efforts.

In the early stages, the four GT500-class NSXs held the top four positions, and it looked for a while like a Honda whitewash was on the cards. On lap 8, the quartet was separated by less than as many seconds, the group steadily pulling out a gap over the rest of the field.
As if to remind the other competitors of their prowess at home, Ryo Michigami set the fastest lap of the race in the sister Team Honda Racing machine on only the second tour of the 63-lap event. The car laden with fuel, it was a clear indication of the performance enhancement the NSXs have enjoyed since switching to the 3.5 liter N.A. powerplants.

On lap 11, the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi Z was punted out of 4th place at Bridge Corner, Toranosuke Takagi sending the car into the kitty litter and sustaining considerable front end damage to his #38 ZENT Cerumo SUPRA in the process. He received the first of a slew of drive-through penalties meted out today for a variety of driver infringements. The #3 G'ZOX machine recovered but had fallen to 18th after being extricated from the gravel. Driver Toshihiro Kaneishi recovered somewhat to finish his stint in 15th, handing over to veteran driver partner Erik Comas, who himself ran a lonely race to an eventual 13th position.

Meanwhile, Benoit Treluyer had taken the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z to fifth by lap 13 after starting seventh. By the pitstop sequence on lap 27, the blue machine was up to third - and it was there the car remained until the flag with some masterful driving by partner Yuji Ide after an excellently-executed pitstop and driver switch.

In terms of manufacturers, the early stages showed Honda's strength as their cars firmly held on to the lead positions. Fifth and sixth were occupied by a pair of NISSANs, while the next seven places were held by Toyota SUPRA entries.

One of those SUPRA entries, the #6 ESSO Ultraflo machine, fell from 9th to 14th shortly after an intense battle for position with the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA, Andre Couto at the wheel in his customary early-race climb up the order.

By lap 26, some of the front-runners were starting to come in for their stops; and on the following tour it was race-leader Ralph Firman who made his visit to the pits. All was not well however, and the car remained stationary for an agonizingly long time while mechanics tried to re-attach a faulty gear linkage.

In complete contrast, the #100 Raybrig car was in and had completed its driver switch in a mere 33.5 seconds, the team opting not to change the front tires, thus saving the squad what would later be a crucial amount of time. Jeremie Dufour now in the car, the French ace set about building a gap to the #18 TAKATA Dome machine looming in his mirrors. Throughout his entire 36-lap stint, the former Arrows F1 test driver maintained the gap, to take his first win since last year's equally exciting victory in Sepang.

On lap 29, Andre Lotterer was given a drive-through penalty for passing under yellows, just moments before Ronnie Quintarelli, on his out-lap in the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA, was pushed off at Bridge Corner by the similar #25 Eclipse ADVAN machine. The Italian would recover in a lowly fifteenth place, two laps down on the leaders and now with no real chance at any points for the pair's efforts.

In all the pitstop activity, the greatest gainer was clearly the #35 YMS Yellow Hat SUPRA. The car, featuring new recruit and DTM refugee Peter Dumbreck, made a flawless stop on lap 25, and was there to take advantage of other car's misfortune at just the right time. The yellow machine rose steadily, gaining six positions in as many laps, and ran cleanly in sixth throughout Naoki Hattori's stint. The team gained another spot in the dying moments of the race as incredibly, Tsugio Matsuda in the #32 EPSON NSX ran out of fuel within sight of the flag.
At the head of the field, the #100 Raybring controlled the race, maintaining a metronomic pace and gap to the #18 TAKATA Dome challenger in 2nd.

Further back, points leader and TEAM TOM'S driver James Courtney kept his lead in the driver's standings with 7th place after driver partner Takeshi Tsuchiya started in 14th. The pair now enjoy a five-point lead over the second-placed duo, defending champions Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons in the #1 Xanavi NISMO Z.

In the end, the Raybrig car had no trouble keeping its lead, winning by 5 seconds over the mechanically identical #18 NSX. Behind the TEAM IMPUL entry in third, the #22 MOTUL Pitwork Z was fourth, with the sister NISMO car two positions back in sixth.

GT300 saw its share of on-track battles, but it was the lights-to-flag victory for the #46 Dream Cube's ADVAN Z that illustrated not only the ability of the MOLA outfit to prepare a race-winning car; but also its drivers Kazuki Hoshino and Takayuki Aoki, to make the most of a good situation. The car crossed the line some 31 seconds ahead of its nearest rival, the #19 Weds Sports Celica of Nobuteru Taniguchi and veteran Hiroki Katoh.
The #43 ARTA Garaiya finished third, ahead of the #13 ENDLESS ADVAN Z, the #10 Mach-Go Ferrari, and the impressive #2 Privee Zurich Apple RD320R (Vemac).


Sebastien Philippe - 1st - #100 Raybrig NSX
"Yeah, I'm always happy to win. The car's been strong all weekend; in fact, for the last couple of races we've had a strong car. It's really satisfying to take the win here at Honda's home track.
We knew from yesterday that in the race we'd be very good because the car's so consistent. Also, Jeremie was extremely quick on a full tank. I knew we'd be fine so yeah, I'm very happy.
Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes not. Today everything went well, and we'll take it (a win) when it comes our way."

Benoit Treluyer - 3rd - #12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z
"It was a very difficult race today. We couldn't get the best out of the brakes, particularly the brake balance. Also, at the start I made a few mistakes. The front/rear brake balance was really bad at some points, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't successfully make the adjustments I needed to.
Also, the car suffered from a heavy case of understeer, and that didn't help. However, the biggest problem today was definitely the brake balance. Early on, I ran behind the #18 car and could have battled for the front if we hadn't been plagued by all those problems. Considering all that, I have to say I'm very happy with 3rd place today."

Round 6 of the 2005 AUTOBACS SUPER GT takes place in three weeks' time when the series visits the newly-reopened Fuji Speedway for the second time this year. The track is particularly well-suited to the Toyota SUPRA cars, so expect a different outcome from today's results.