Qualifying Session 1

TAKATA DOME NSX won the morning's tentative pole position
The skies were cloudy at the start of the first qualifying session at 10:00 a.m. but no rain would fall during the session and the track remained dry. The first 20 minutes were for the GT300 class. The first fast time was a 2 min. 8.417 sec. lap by No.5 ProμMACH GOGOGO SHAKEN 320R KYUSYU. With 10 minutes left in the GT300 class session the teams began serious time attacks, but due perhaps to the heat, the times didn't improve much. With five minutes remaining the No.13 ENDLESS ADVAN CCI Z beat the No.5 car's time with a 2 min. 08.384 sec. lap. After that, the other teams tried but failed to beat these two times. The third fastest time belonged to the No.777 Ryozanpaku apr MR-S, followed by the No.19 WedsSport Celica and the No.52 Proμ TAIYO OIL KUMHO CELICA, giving the Toyota machines command of the top places.

The next 20-minute session was for the GT500 class. With ten minutes remaining in this session the No.6 Mobil 1 SC machine recorded a 1 min. 58.146 sec. lap to take the lead and then widen the gap with a 1 min. 57.953 sec. time on its next lap. After that, the No.24 WOODONE ADVAN KONDO Z and No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX made their attacks. No.24 moved into 2nd place and then No.18 ran a 1 min. 57.750 time to take the lead. With just minutes remaining in the session, the No.25 ECLIPSE ADVAN ran a 1 min. 57.219 to claim the fastest lap. The No.32 machine then moved into third position. Immediately after that, No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Treluyer) grabbed the lead with a 1 min. 57.006 sec. lap. He was beaten soon after that, however, when Michigami in the No.18 machine became the first driver of the day to dip under the 1 min. 56 sec. mark with a 1 min. 56.950 sec. lap. Meanwhile, the No.32 machine started to run out of gas on its next lap and pulled to a stop by the side of the track. At this point, Hideki Mutoh was not out on the track and was forced to finish the session without a time and lose his chance to compete in the Super lap.

The final 20-minute session that began at 10:40 a.m. was for both classes, and the teams that were borderline for the Super Lap cut-off made their final attempts to break the top ten. With ten minutes remaining in the session the No.777 Ryozanpaku apr MR-S came to a stop on the track before the spoon curve. Because the machine was close to the driving line the session had to be stopped temporarily. For this reason, No.777's best time was cancelled out and thus the team lost its chance to compete in the Super Lap. The session was restarted about seven minutes later. After that, the GT300 class' No.7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX7 improved its time in the checkered lap to qualify for the Super Lap.

Qualifying Session 2

Nice performances by Takeuchi, KUMHO and Celica!
The second qualifying session began at 3:00 p.m. The first 20 minutes were for the GT300 class and the next 20 for the GT500 class. Most of the time in these sessions were used for getting a qualifying time for the teams' third drivers. The rules require that two of the each teams drivers get a qualifying time in the day's first qualifying session in order to qualify for the Super Lap. And, it is OK if the team's third driver for this race get his qualifying time in the second session. This gave the No.32 EPSON NSX team's Mutoh a chance to get a qualifying time to compete in the final race.

Next came the GT300 class' Super Lap. The first runner was the No.46 Kiccho Houzan DIREZZA Z but it suffered a time loss when it ran wide on the Degner Curve. Next was the No.7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX7, which ran well to score a 2 min. 08.772 sec. lap. The fourth runner was the No.62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R(Shinsuke Shibahara) that bettered that time slightly. Then the sixth runner, the No.52 Proμ TAIYO OIL KUMHO CELICA driven by Hironori Takeuchi, cut a full second and a half off the best time thus far with a 2 min. 07.126 sec. lap. After that, the No.47 Kiccho Houzan DIREZZA Z, No.19 WedsSport Celica, No.5 ProμMACH GOGOGO SHAKEN 320R KYUSYU and No.13 ENDLESS ADVAN CCI Z were unable to match No.52's time. This gave the class pole position to No.52, which also meant the first pole position ever for KUMHO Tires in Super GT and JGTC competition. For Hironori Takeuchi, this was his first GT500 class pole position since the 1999 Round Two race at Fuji Speedway. As for the No.27 direxiv ADVAN 320R and No.101 TOY STORY Racing MR-S, neither team was able to make time trials because of electric system trouble.

After a break to check the course, the GT500 class Super Lap began with the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z. Driver Motoyama made a big improvement on his morning qualifying time by running a time in the low 1 min. 57 sec. range. But he was bettered by the 1 min. 56.979 time of No.24 WOODONE ADVAN KONDO Z. This indicated that the machines to come would be battling in the 1 min. 56 sec. range. The fifth runner, No.6 Mobil 1 SC, ran a 1 min. 56.936 to take the lead, but that time was bettered when the No.25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SUPRA ran a 1 min. 56.546 sec. lap.

No.25 ran extremely fast on the section from the hairpin to the spoon curve and all the way to 130R curve. He next runner, No.8 ARTA NSX, ran exactly the same time as No. 25 through the first and second sections (up to the overpass) but failed to match it on the top-speed section of the west end of the course and eventually finished its lap in second position with a time of 1 min. 56.633 sec. The ninth runner was the No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z. It ran with incredible speed through the technical sections of the east end of the course but was slightly slower than No. 25 through the high-speed section. Still it was able to make up time in the final section from the 130R curve to the finish line and scored the top time with a 1 min. 56.426 sec. lap. The last runner was Ryu Michigami in the No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX. After running the east sections just slightly behind No.12's time, he lost time on the final sections. As a result, No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z won its first pole position of the season.

K.Hoshino, J.Dufour, B.Treluyer, H.Takeuchi, K.Saga, K.Sawa

GT500 Class Pole Position

No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z

Benoit Treluyer

I'm very happy! The Super Lap wasn't really perfect. The tires didn't warm up in time and there was some uncertainty while I was driving. But, I feel like we have finally gotten a good result. I am grateful for the Nissan that have been working on the machine development and all the fans who have cheered for us. Tomorrow will be a long-distance race, so we will have to keep a lot of things in mind while we drive, like the condition of the tires and not running off the course. Anyway, I want to work hard all the way through the long drive.

GT300 Class Pole Position

No.52 Proμ TAIYO OIL KUMHO CELICA

Hironori Takeuchi

I think the last time I won a pole position was at the Fuji Speedway back in 1997, but I can't even remember for sure (laughs). (In fact it was Round 2 of the 1999 series at Fuji)The year before last I started my own team and from last year we have been working with KUMHO as our tire maker, and now I feel that all of our efforts have started to pay off. Our performance started to improve in our tests at Motegi at the end of July, and I was hoping to give it our best shot here at Suzuka. The biggest worry I have for tomorrow's race is my own physical endurance (laughs). The Celica is hot. I am counting on our two young drivers to help us get through the day.