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 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430
(Wakisaka-Lotterer) Clinch Season Opener ...followed in 2nd by the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z
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• GT 500 Class
The No.12 Calsonic IMPUL Z went off the course at the 1st Corner just after the start.
Hoshino (leadoff driver) was able to maintain control and return to the track, but
running last in the GT500 class. At the end of the opening lap, the field standing
was the pole sitter No.8 ARTA NSX driven by Ralph Firman in the lead, followed by
Lotterer in the No.36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430, Ryo Michigami in the No.18 TAKATA
Dome NSX, Satoshi Motoyama in the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z, Yuji Tachikawa in the No.1 ZENT
Cerumo SC and Sakon Yamamoto in the No.22 MOTUL AUTECH Z, making up the front pack.
On the second lap, the No.32 Honda went wide going into the 1st Corner and went wide out
into the course-side gravel. The machine was able to return to the track, but not before
loosing precious time. The gap between the No.8 ARTA NSX and second-running No.36 car
gradually closed, and by this time was down to a nose-to-tail fight for the lead. In the
8th lap, the No.23 Nissan running in 4th became cornered in by back runners and was passed
by the No.1 and No.22 cars.
Then on the 17th lap, the No.1 Lexus came dangerously close to the No.18 NSX in the Hairpin
Corner, cut across the running line of the NSX and finally overtaking and moving into 3rd
in the next corner. The No.22 Nissan also moved in on the No.18 car, and slipped past the
No.18 car going through a straight on lap 20.
After 20 laps, the top five runners were No.8, No.36, No.1, No.22 and No.18 in that order.
When the pit stops of the top runners were finally over, the top three on the course were
No.36 (Wakisaka), No.8 (Daisuke Ito) and No.23 (Tsugio Matsuda).
Ito lapped increasingly faster over the next 7-8 laps to close the gap on Wakisaka. Matsuda
(in No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z) too drove hard, inching up on the No.8 car little by little. On lap 42, he
caught Ito in the Chicane, and braking at the last possible second slipped by inside the
No.8 car to move into second. The overtake point was a bit risky and a daring move, but
a truly magnificent pass executed without incident.
With 10 laps left, Matsuda set his eyes on catching the No.36 car at the head of the field.
The gap between the two cars opened and closed as they came up on and passed back markers,
the difference between the two of them falling to as little as 0.3sec at times. But Wakisaka
did well to not let down his guard, and with only two laps to go, he built up a 1.5sec gap
and kept the lead to the checkered flag.
At the end of the 52 laps, the No.36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka/Andre Lotterer)
crossed the finish line first, followed in 2nd by the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Satoshi Motoyama/Tsugio
Matsuda) and 3rd the No.8 ARTA NSX (Daisuke Ito/Ralph Firman). The first three podium places of
the season going to three different car makes, Lexus SC430, Fairlady Z and Honda NSX.
• GT 300 Class
In the GT300 class, the pole position sitter, No.46 Kichouhouzan DIREZZA Z (leadoff driver
Kota Sasaki) slowly lost position from the onset, the lead being taken by two Lamborghinis,
the No.87 TRIKE Murcie RG-1 driven by Koji Yamanashi and the No.88 AKTIO Murcie RG-1 driven
by Marco Apicella.
Behind them, a fight for 3rd place developed between the No.13 ENDLESS
ADVAN CCI Z (Masami Kageyama) and No.7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX7 (Hiroyuki Iiri). But after
a driver change where Tomonobu Fujii took the wheel from Kageyama, the No.13 car went off
the course.
The GT300 class leaders, No.87 in front and No.88 running in 2nd, did their routine pit
stops one after another; the No.87 car pitting first and the No.88 car pitting one lap later.
At the checkered flag for the GT300 class it was the No.88 AKTIO Murcie RG-1 (Marco Apicella
/Yasutaka Hinoi) as the victor, the No.7 Amemiya Aspara Drink RX7 (Tetsuya Yamano/Hiroyuki Iiri)
in 2nd and No.110 TOTAL BENEFIT GREENTEC BOXSTER (Hideshi Matsuda/Ichijyo Suga) in 3rd. Even
though the No.87 TRIKE Murcie RG-1 (Koji Yamanashi/WADA-Q) did not finish after stopping on
the final lap, a 5th place finish was awarded.
Source: Super GT
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