2009 SUPER GT Round5

Qualifying #1 Weather:Fine | Course:Dry | Air Temp. 30°C | Track Temp. 40°C
SUPER LAP Weather:Fine | Course:Dry | Air Temp. 29°C | Track Temp. 37°C

A stunning time-attach leaves rivals 0.5 behind

The No. 3 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R GT500 driven by Ronnie Quintarelli that won the GT500 class pole position had also run fastest in the first qualifying session. Then, running last in the order in the Super Lap, Quintarelli recorded again a fast time of 1 min. 16.248 sec. This put him 0.537 sec. ahead of the 2nd fastest rival. For Quintarelli, this is his first pole position in SUPER GT competition. In the previous round at Sepang this team qualify 2nd and raced to victory. This time they will be starting from the pole position and going for a second straight victory. So attention will focus on what kind of start they can get in tomorrow's race.
The second place qualifier was the No. 6 ENEOS SC430 (Daisuke Ito). Although No. 6's time of 1 min. 16.785 sec. left it well behind Quintarelli's time in car No. 3, these were the only two machines to crack the 1 min. 17 sec. barrier and Ito was 0.447 sec. ahead of the 3rd place qualifier. This season, the ENEOS SC430 has done well in practice runs but has not been able to come through with good qualifying times. Now the team looks as if it is finally able to turn its true strength into results.
The 3rd place qualifier was the No. 24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira), which presently stands atop the series ranking and is carrying 74kg in handicap weights. But de Oliveira seemed to overcome that disadvantage with his impressive lap time. And the ADVAN tires proved up to the challenge too.
Qualifying 4th was the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama), followed by the No. 18 ROCKSTAR DOME NSX (Takashi Kogure) in 5th as the fastest of the NSX teams. And this was the only NSX team to qualify for the Super Lap. Many will be watching to see if the NSX camp can come back in the race on Sunday and mount a challenge.
The GT300 class pole went to No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari (Takayuki Aoki), which had finished the first qualifying session in 2nd position. In the Super Lap, however, Aoki came back to better his first time by 0.9 sec. and be the only one in the class to break the 1 min. 24 sec. barrier with a time of 1 min. 23.435 sec.
The 2nd fastest qualifier was the No. 33 HANKOOK PORSCHE (Masami Kageyama), which had been the top qualifier in the first session. But, despite improving on that time in the Super Lap with a 1 min. 24.150 sec. lap, Kageyama still fell 0.715 sec. behind Aoki in car No. 81.
Qualifying 3rd was the No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi). Considering the total machine weight of 1,354kg with its 84kg in handicap weights, this result is surely a testament to the overall strength of this team, its drivers and the tire maker. It will be interesting to see if they can bring that strength to bear in the race tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in the first appearance of the No. 808 HATSUNE MIKU Studie GLAD BMW Z4 since round 3, its driver Shozo Tagahara failed to get a time clearing the qualifying standard and, as a result, its right to participate in Sunday's race will be decided after tomorrow's morning practice.

No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari

Quintarelli fastest in the first qualifying session

In the first qualifying session that started at 13:35, the fastest qualifier in the GT500 class was No. 3 (Quintarelli), followed by No. 6 (Ito) with the No. 35 KRAFT SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura) in 3rd place with a time of 1 min. 17.261 sec. The No. 12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R, which had recorded the fastest time in the morning practice session was only able to qualify 10th in the first qualifying session and failed to reach the Super Lap.
In the GT300 class, Kageyama in car No. 33 was the top qualifier with a time of 1 min. 24.292 sec. No. 81 (Aoki) came second with a time of 1 min. 24.383 sec. and No. 43 (Takagi) was third fastest with a time of 1 min. 24.701 sec.
In the morning practice session that ran from 9:45 to 11:30, the No. 12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda) recorded a time of 1 min. 18.397 sec. on only its fourth lap after the start of timing. After that, none of the other cars were able to beat that time, making it the top time for the GT500 class. The second fastest time was the 1 min. 18.662 sec. lap recorded by the No. 6 ENEOS SC430 (Daisuke Ito) with just under 30 minutes remaining in the session. The No. 35 KRAFT SC430 rose to 3rd position near the end of the session and, after the 4th fastest qualifying No. 3 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R, the No. 32 EPSON NSX (Loic Duval) produced the 5th fastest time, which turned out to be the fastest among the NSX teams.
In the GT300 class No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari (Takayuki Aoki) recorded a time of 1 min. 25.824 sec. early in the session. In the previous round in Sepang this team had been unable to compete because of engine trouble, but in this round it ran with a new engine. It seems like the car is back in the kind of condition that won the team second spot on the podium at Fuji Speedway in round three.
The 2nd fastest qualifier was the No. 2 APPLE•K-one•Shiden (Hiroki Katoh) with a time of 1 min. 25.946 sec. With the momentum from its victory in the last round, this team will again be competing for a spot among the top finishers in tomorrow's race.