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• Qualifying sessions:
In what was aptly called 'the Spa of Japan' by one of the track announcers during
the morning's opening session, wet and foggy weather was the deciding factor in proceedings
throughout today's action at Autopolis.
The rain was already coming down hard and fast when the cars took to the track at 10:30 for
the first of the day's two Official Qualifying sessions. With fog enveloping the circuit and
its environs, visibility had been less than optimal before action even got underway; and it
steadily deteriorated throughout the day.
• Pulling larger margin over the chasing pack
The morning warm-up session was a good precursor to the afternoon's action, the bright
orange AUTOBACS-backed car taking the top spot - as it had done on both Friday and Saturday.
Under blazing sunshine and temperatures of 28 degrees Celsius, the GT500 pack took the start
in front of 49,700 fans gathered at this circuit in the northern part of the island of Kyushu.
Ralph Firman immediately built up a gap over the chasing pack, and was running with a cushion
of some 3.7 seconds over the second-placed #22 Motul Pitwork machine with Masataka Yanagida
at the wheel after only two laps.
The start was unkind to the #100 Raybrig NSX, punted off at the first corner by the #38 ZENT
Supra - for which the Toyota would later pay with a drive-through penalty.
The lead pair were chased by the #25 Eclipse ADVAN Supra; while the #18 Takata Dome NSX fell
behind the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi Z and the #12 Calsonic Impul Z to run sixth by the end of the second
tour of the 4.674-km track.
• Tail-to-nose affair in GT300
Meanwhile in GT300, the battle at the head of the field was a tail-to-nose affair, the #43
ARTA Garaiya fighting to keep the pursuing #46 Dream Cube's ADVAN Z at bay. It was a battle
that would last nearly the entire two hours of the race. Third in the category was the
#11 Jim Gainer Ferrari Dunlop, with the #30 Reckless MR-S hot on the heels of the Italian
machine. In sixth place behind the #10 Mach-Go Dunlop Ferrari, the reigning champions wrestled
with the #0 EBBRO NSX, its 100-kg weight handicap clearly slowing its otherwise brisk pace.
• Zeds are charging up
Back in GT500, James Courtney had taken the #36 Open Interface TOM'S Supra from 15th to 12th
in the opening half dozen laps. He would move up another five positions before handing the car
over to partner Takeshi Tsuchiya twenty laps later.
The other TOM'S Supra had a violent shunt on lap 7 after over-cooking it at Turn Three, the
car spearing off track and into the tire barriers at considerable speed. Luckily for driver
Tatsuya Kataoka, the only injury was to his pride.
Andre Couto was moving steadily up the order in the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA GT from his starting
position of 13th, battling with Andre Lotterer in the #32 EPSON NSX for seventh place by
lap 8. Toward the head of the field, another battle raged between the #25 Eclipse ADVAN
Supra, the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi Z and the #12 Calsonic Impul Z as the trio fought for third place.
The #8 ARTA NSX was clearly controlling the race, running 1-minute, 45-second laps - quicker
than many drivers manage in qualifying under the same track conditions! By lap 18, Firman was
13.3 seconds up the road and showing no signs of slowing his pace. Erik Comas had moved the
#3 GZOX Hasemi Z up to third on the same lap, and was chasing hard.
• Pit stop strategy
The first of the mandatory driver switches happened when veteran Akira Iida brought the
#6 ESSO Ultraflo Supra in on lap 22. Next was James Courtney in the #36 TOM'S Supra, four
laps later. The Australian driver caught a severe bout of food poisoning earlier in the week,
and was visibly fatigued when he stepped out of the car.
There was soon a flurry of activity in the pitlane as the bulk of cars made their stops
within the next handful of laps. When the leading #8 NSX made its stop, Erik Comas was
promoted to the top spot, albeit over 18 seconds behind the Honda - such was the pace of
the ARTA machine.
When the order had once again settled down a few tours later, it was the #8 ARTA NSX leading
the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi Z car, now with Toshihiro Kaneishi at the wheel, followed by the #12 Calsonic
Impul Z and the #6 ESSO Ulraflo Supra, the Toyota's early pit strategy seeming to have paid off
after a starting position of 14th.
• The order in GT300 hadn't changed
The order in GT300 hadn't changed throughout the first half of the race - but the battle was
as fierce as any in recent memory. The top four cars were separated by a matter of millimeters
as they jostled for position around the twisty and technical track. On lap 34, the #30 Reckless
MR-S got by the hitherto leading car, the #43 ARTA Garaiya, while the #46 Dream Cube's ADVAN Z
continued to hound the pair from only a few inches away. Next up, the #0 EBBRO NSX similarly
wasn't giving any quarter, holding off the very quick #7 Re: Amemiya Aspara Drink RX-7, itself
only a hair's breadth ahead of the #19 WedsSports Celica in sixth.
GT300 continued to be an intense fight at the front of the pack, the #43 Garaiya having taken
back the lead from the #30 machine on lap 35. It wouldn't last however, and the top six cars
sliced and diced around the track lap after lap, creating some of the most exciting scenes
of the day.
• ARTA NSX blitzes the field
While the ARTA NSX maintained is iron grip on proceedings, it wasn't so smooth for a couple
of the other Honda machines: The #100 Raybrig NSX lost its steering and headed into retirement
after earlier contact meant an upright failed, sending Jeremie Dufour into the gravel only two
laps into his stint. The #32 EPSON machine meanwile spent an inordinate amount of time in the
pits with an unscheduled stop on lap 37, the pitcrew frantically trying to locate the exact
cause of an electrical problem that sidelined the car for over two laps, the machine plummeting
down to 29th place by the time it ventured back out on track.
With 20 laps to go, the #39 DENSO SARD SUPRA GT tapped the identical #36 TOM'S Supra from
behind, causing both cars to wobble slightly and the TOM'S car to lose two places; though
both machines continued unabated. The incident resulted in a drive-through penalty for Ronnie
Quintarelli in the #39 machine, ruining his chances of points this afternoon after a very
strong run by he and partner Andre Couto.
• Change in the driver's points' standings
As the last laps wound down, the ARTA set quicker and quicker times. When the chasing Nissans
upped their pace, the Honda simply blasted an even faster time than had previously been set
throughout the day. The race clearly belonged to the dayglo orange NSX this afternoon and
the car would cross the line over 33 seconds ahead of its nearest rival, the #22 Motul Pitwork
Z car from the factory Nissan squad. The NISMO machine also picked up a couple of very valuable
positions in the final two laps of the event - no doubt pleasing the Nissan bosses as we head
into the final round at Suzuka Circuit in mid-November.
Behind this lead pair, the final order saw another couple of Nissan Z cars; the #3 G'ZOX Hasemi
Z in third, ahead of the #12 Calsonic Impul Z which took fourth. The #18 Takata Dome NSX, sister
machine to the winning car, took fifth, while sixth place went to the other factory Nissan, the
#1 machine with Richard Lyons.
These race results mean a fundamental change in the driver's points' standings. The #36 TOM'S machine
falls to an equal second place on 54 points (with the #22 Motul Pitwork NISMO machine), while
today's winners move up to first from fifth place. In fourth place, the #3 ZENT Cerumo Supra has
47 points.
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Honda leads pack of 3 Nissan Z cars
while Toyotas struggle 
