Qualifying Session 1

The hot XANAVI NISMO Z powers to 1st in the morning qualifying
At the start of the morning qualifying session at 10:30 the skies were clear and the temperature was a comfortable 22 C. The first 20 minutes were for the GT300 class. Ten minutes into the session the No. 777 Ryozanpaku apr MR-S had the fastest time at 1 min. 50.519 sec., having been the only one to break the 1 min, 51 sec. barrier. The second fastest time was held by No. 101 TOY STORY Racing MR-S, giving the MR-S teams the top two positions. But with about seven minutes remaining in the GT300, the No.7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX7 ran a 1 min. 50.511 sec. to take the lead away. Then the No. 2 Privée Zurich Shiden also ran a time in the 1 min. 50sec. range and then took the lead with a time of 1 min. 50.475 sec. on its second run. With three minutes remaining in the session the intensity of the time attacks increased. It was Takuya Kurosawa in the No. 96 EBBRO BTEC MAZIORA 350R who grabbed the lead at this point with a course record-breaking lap of 1 min. 50.199 sec.

The next 20-minute session was for the GT500 machines. The No. 35 BANDAI DIREZZA SC430 and the No. 66 triple a SARD SUPRA GT took to the course first while the other cars remained in the pit areas. With seven minutes remaining in the session the No.100 RAYBRIG NSX ran a 1 min. 41.257 sec. lap to take the lead despite its 80 kg weight handicap. But, just after that the No. 8 ARTA NSX ran a 1 min. 41.164 sec. time to better that. With seven minutes remaining in the session, Satoshi Motoyama in the No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z became the first one to dip under 1 min. 41 sec. with a time of 1.40.867 sec. that gave him the lead. Then Takashi Kogure drove the No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX to a time of 1 min. 41.029 sec. to claim 2nd position before the GT500 session ended. The No. 36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430 had to settle for 14th position after spinning out on one of its timed laps, and the No. 32 EPSON NSX didn't make any runs in this session.

The third 20-minute session was for both classes and it is mainly spent in getting qualifying times for drivers that hadn't run timed laps in the earlier sessions. However, some of the teams that hadn't qualified in the top ten in the first two sessions tried to get a time that would qualify them for the Super Lap. No. 36 made a time attack but couldn't break into the top ten, qualifying 11th. No. 32 ran a qualifying time but didn't attempt a timed lap because it was already disqualified from the top ten because of an engine change just prior to the this race. The No. 62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R (driver: Haruki Kurosawa), which had finished 11th in the GT300 session, managed to improve on its time and move into 7th position in class.

Qualifying Session 2

Title rivals RX7 and Shinden stage heated battle!
The GT300 class Super Lap competition began at 15:05 in the afternoon. The first runner was the No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN CCI Z, which turned in a 1 min. 51.794 sec. time. Next, the No. 11 JIM CENTER FERRARI DUNLOP machine bettered that to take the lead. Then the fourth runner, No. 62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R, ran a time exactly the same as No. 1, and since No.62 had the better time in the morning qualifying, it will be in front of No. 13 on the grid for the final. The fifth runner, No. 101 TOY STORY Racing MR-S, moved into the lead with a time faster than No.11.

With three cars remaining to run, No.7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX7 driven by Tetsuya Yamano scored a time of 1 min. 51.026 sec, time. But when Hiroki Kato in the No. 2 Privée Zurich Shiden made his run, he was able to gain a margin of more than a second in the consecutive curves of the second and third sectors of the course after lagging slightly behind in the first sector with its repeated straight. He finished with an amazing record time of 1 min. 49.941 sec., even faster than his morning run. The last runner was the No. 96 EBBRO BTEC MAZIORA 350R driven by Takuya Kurosawa. In the first sector he was 0.15 sec. faster than No. 2 but lost ground in sectors two and three. His final time of 1 min. 50.584 sec. put him in 2nd position. As a result, the class pole position went to the No. 2 Privée Zurich Shiden, which presently stands in 3rd position in the drivers' season title race. It is the team's third PP of the season. The No. 7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX7, which presently stands 2nd in the season ranking, will start from the third position on the grid for the final, while the ranking leader, No. 61 enable ADVAN VEMAC320R will start from the 12th position based on the morning's result.

Next came the GT500 class Super Lap with the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Treluyer) as the first runner. Pushing hard and sometimes using a counter steer, Treluyer managed to score a 1 min. 42.230 sec. time. None of the next five cars (9th to 5th place qualifiers from the morning session) were able to beat Treluyer's time, which meant he was able to move up five positions.
With four machines left to run, the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX driven by Philippe was slower over sector 1 of the course compared to No. 12 but made up time on sectors 2 and 3 to finish with a 1 min. 40.980 sec. time and take the lead. The next runner, Firman in the No. 8 ARTA NSX, ran faster still over the first and second sectors to finish with 1 min. 40.720 sec. time and take the lead. Then Takashi Kogure in the No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX drove exceptionally fast over the second and third sectors of the course to bring in a 1 min. 40.638 sec. that bettered the fastest time of the morning session run by the No. 23 Z. The final runner was that No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z driven by Satoshi Motoyama. Although Motoyama was able to better his morning time, he only managed to finish with the third fastest time behind No. 18 and No. 8.

These results gave the No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX team its second pole position of the season and a starting position on the front row with last year's Autopolis winner, the No. 8 ARTA NSX. Of the Toyota cars, the highest qualifier was No. 1 ZENT CERUMO SC in 6th position. Meanwhile, the No. 25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SUPRA will be starting from very back of the grid due to a decision to change engines after the qualifying. The two teams presently in the top position in the drivers' ranking, No. 100 and the No. 36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430, will be starting in 4th and 10th positions respectively.

T.Kogure, R.Michigami, H.Kato, K.Takahashi

GT500 Class Pole Position

No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX

Takashi Kogure

With all our rivals running so fast, I have to thank our team for helping me win this pole position. Last time we started from the pole position, in round 2, we were able to win, but to tell you the truth, I don't think it is going to be that easy this time. Still, we are the closest one to the win at this point, so I want to use that position to the best of advantage in order to win the race tomorrow.

Ryo Michigami

Since the last Official test here at Autopolis things have gone well. This time I have been in charge of deciding the race settings and things look good. I want to go out tomorrow and run a pole-to-finish win like we did in Round 2.

GT300 Class Pole Position

No.2 Privée Zurich Shiden

Hiroki Kato

Since we are behind in the season title race, our strategy was to go after everything we could. But we did better than expected and I'm very happy with the result. If we are able to get a good start tomorrow, I think we should be able to run the race at our own pace and do well.

Kazuho Takahashi

Since I'm the one who drives at the start, Kato is always putting pressure on me (laughs). Thinking about the season title race, we want to finish ahead of cars No. 61 and No. 7 tomorrow. If we are lucky (laughs) we have a chance to get our first win.