2009 Round9>Qualifying

2009 SUPER GT Round9

Qualifying

2009-11-07

ARTA NSX Takes Pole Position
GT300 class pole goes to the DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari

On November 7, the official qualifying for the "MOTEGI GT 250km RACE," Round 9 of the 2009 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at Twin Ring Motegi (Tochigi Prefecture). In this round the qualifying was run in a "Knock Out" format and in the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA NSX driven by Ralph Firman captured pole position, while the GT300 class pole went to the No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari driven by Takayuki Aoki.

ARTA NSX and PETRONAS SC430 stage breath-taking time battle

The qualifying for this round was run on a "Knock Out" format. The first qualifying session lasted 45 minutes with the GT500 and GT300 classes running their laps together. Both drivers on each team were required to run a time that cleared the qualifying standard in this session. The second qualifying session began the Knock Out process of three successive sessions, with only the cars with the fastest times moving on to next session. The time order of the teams knocked out by the end of the second session becomes their grid order, while the teams remaining in the third session compete once again for the top grid positions and the fastest team taking the pole position.
In the first session the No. 35 KRAFT SC430 developed propeller shaft trouble. With the time lost in replacing the shaft, driver Kazuya Oshima was unable to get in a qualifying lap time before the final 2-minute limit. His teammate Hiroaki Ishiura had been able to run a time that cleared the standard, but Oshima fell just short. Thus the team was unable to move on to the Knock Out sessions.
In session one of the GT500 class Knock Out, the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (Andre Lotterer) was the first to post a leading time. No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) and No. 6 ENEOS SC430 (Daisuke Ito) followed close behind. Among those unable to move on to session two was the No. 32 EPSON NSX (Loic Duval). Duval's lap time was a frustrating 0.001 sec. slower than the last qualifier for session two, the No. 3 HASEMI TOMICA EBBRO GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli). In session two, the No. 39 DUNLOP SARD SC430 (Andre Couto) posted the fastest time (1 min. 44.821 sec.). The No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Benoit Treluyer) and the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Takuya Izawa) followed next with times also in the 1 min. 44 sec. range. The teams knocked out in this session included the session No. 17 KEIHIN NSX, the No. 12 IMPUL CALSONIC GT-R, the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX and the No. 24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R.
The third and final Knock Out session was just seven minutes in length. That effectively meant that each team had time for only two "time attack" laps. In the desperate rush to get in the fastest time possible, it was Firman in car No. 8 who ran the fastest lap at 1 min. 44.390 sec. to claim pole position. The No. 8 pair of Firman/Izawa presently stands in third position in the season ranking for the driver title. Only a win in Sunday's race will keep their slim chances of a come-from-behind title win alive, but this pole position puts them in the best possible position for that miracle to happen. It has been announced that the Honda NSX will not be entered in next year's SUPER GT, so Sunday's race will be its last and today's pole position will help it bow out in style.
Qualifying second fastest was the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 (driven be Lotterer in session 3). Taking 3rd position on the grid will be the No. 6 ENEOS SC430 (driven by Ito in session 3), while 4th position goes to the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (driven by Yuji Tachikawa in session 3).
The ranking leader, the No. 1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama), takes 5th position on Sunday's grid. Between it and the second ranked No. 36 (Juichi Wakisaka/Lotterer) sit two SC430 cars. This gives the No. 36 and its drivers Wakisaka and Lotterer an advantage in the tomorrow's title race.

No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari

Excitement already building for the title slug-out!

In the GT300 class the No. 81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari posted the fastest time in all three of the Knock Out sessions, driven by Takayuki Aoki in session 1, Tomonobu Fujii in session 2 and Aoki again in session 3. As the only team to break the 1 min. 54 sec. barrier, their session 3 time of 1 min. 53.915 sec. was a full 0.7 sec. faster than the closest rival. That second fastest qualifier was the No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi > Morio Niita > Takagi), followed in 3rd position by the No. 19 WedsSport IS350 (Tatsuya Kataoka > Manabu Orido > Kataoka). These two teams also lead the season ranking with 74 points for No. 19 and 71 for No. 43 and will not be giving an inch in Sunday's race for the title. In the race it will the team that finishes in front of its rival that will win the title, so the battles are sure to be intense.
The 4th qualifier is the No. 7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi > Ryo Orime > Taniguchi). This team also stands 4th in the season ranking and will be going for the win as its only change to come from behind and grab the title.
Meanwhile, the 3rd ranked No. 11 JIMGAINER ADVAN F430 (Katsuyuki Hiranaka > Tetsuya Tanaka > Hiranaka) qualified 8th today and the 5th ranked No. 2 Apple•K-one•Shiden (Hiroki Yoshimoto > Hiroki Katoh) was unable to progress to session 3 in the Knock Out and will start the race from 11th position on the grid. The 7th ranked No. 46 S-Road MOLA Z (Kazuki Hoshino > Masataka Yanagida > Hoshino) also qualified 7th today and will be in a very difficult starting position to shoot for an upset title win.

Takuya Izawa / Ralph Firman , Takayuki Aoki / Tomonobu Fujii

GT500 Class | Pole Position

No. 8 ARTA NSX

Ralph Firman: The car’s condition was very good fro the morning practice, so I thought we could win the pole position. There have been some very tough times this season, but we are still in contention for the title in this last race and have now won the pole position. Although it is slim, we still have a chance to win the title, so I want us to make the most of this pole position and win tomorrow’s race. During the qualifying, I concentrated on the primary goal of getting this pole position. So, I haven’t really been thinking much about tomorrow’s race. This will be the NSX’s last race, so if we can win the race and the title tomorrow, it should get a good place in the Honda Museum (laughs).
Takuya Izawa: Since this was a Knock Out type qualifying, I had the chance to run time attacks too. My turn came in session two and I hadn’t run on new tires until then, so I was a bit uncertain. But I managed to clear that session. In session three, Ralph ran exceptionally well. I always learn a lot from him, but watching him deliver in an all-or-nothing situation like that shows me I still have more to learn. I believe that today’s was a great result for all the people who have run the NSX until now. Tomorrow I want to give it my best shot to win the race and the title.

GT300 Class | Pole Position

No.81 DAISHIN ADVAN Ferrari

Takayuki Aoki: A pole position always feels great, no matter how many times you win one. But I never expected us to win three this season (laughs). For my last timed lap of the third session, I think I did well in selecting a good position to run a fast lap. And there were no problems with my run during the lap. But there is a bit of a problem in the machine, and I ran it off the track during the first session. I want to see us make some improvement in it before tomorrow’s race. We have no chance to win the title, so we have nothing to lose and I just want to go out there and drive very hard in the race. This is the last race of the season and if we can win here we will be able to go into next season’s opener feeling good. So I really want to win.
Tomonobu Fujii: This time we brought very good settings here to Motegi, and the machine balance was very good right from the beginning. We ran the fastest times in both the morning and afternoon sessions. So, we have seen that the machine is running fast, not only for one lap but over the long haul as well. I think we are in a very good condition now. Motegi is a course where our machine does well, and I believe that is why we have gotten good times. Since it was a Knock Out qualifying this time, I drove one session too, and we were able to record the fastest lap in all three sessions. I think that puts us in good position to win tomorrow. I think most of the teams that are in contention for the title will be running on a no-refueling strategy. Our car doesn’t have good fuel economy, so we will have to make up for the added pit time by being fast out on the track. I intend to run all out to do that.

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