SUPPLEMENTAL NISSAN NEWS From: Corporate Communications Dept.
A30-SN-8055 Date: August 18, 1998
Two Nissan Skyline GT-R Teams Finish on the Podium
Round 4 of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was held at the high-speed 4.470km Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture on August 9th. At the end of an eventful day, the Nissan GT-R driver pairs of Masahiro Hasemi/Tetsuya Tanaka and Kazuyoshi Hoshino/Takuya Kurosawa stood on the podium in second and third, respectively.
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The spectators poured into Fuji Speedway on Sunday (65,000 according to figures announced by the organizer) to eyewitness the always- thrilling battles of GT car racing. When the green signal lit under cloudy skies, all 45 cars made a dash for positioning as they went into the first corner. Akira Iida in a Honda NSX set out in front early on, followed by Michigami and Coronel also both piloting Hondas. Hoshino, who qualified sixth as the fastest GT-R, kept his grid position and set the pace for the other GT-R drivers. He drove well throughout the first half of the race, lapping consistently quicker and working his way up to fifth in the field. The other Nissan drivers were making progress as well, driving steadily and searching for opportunities to overtake. By mid-race, Masahiko Kageyama was in eighth, Hasemi in 10th and Masami Kageyama, who had won the previous two consecutive races with teammate Erik Comas, was performing well in spite of a huge 100kg handicap weight. On lap 18, front runner Iida hit some oil on the track and went into a spin, sending him off the track at the first corner and out of the race. The Safety Car was introduced for five laps to allow time to clean off the oil. Several teams brought their cars into the pits to make their routine stops while other teams took on yet other strategies. It was this moment that had a strong influence on race at the end of the day. Masahiko Kageyama and Masami Kageyama remained on the track, moving up to take first and second when the Safety Car moved off the field. But when they pitted to pass on the driving to their co-drivers, Aguri Suzuki and Erik Comas, respectively, the new drivers got back into the race too far off the leaders' group. It was the pit stop timings of Hoshino and Hasemi, who relayed their cars to Takuya Kurosawa and Tetsuya Tanaka, respectively, while the Safety Car was out that helped get them into position to move up in the later stages of the race. Kurosawa and Tanaka drove their cars skillfully into fourth and fifth, and then both took on Yamanashi, who had taken over for the NSX driven by Coronel. These three drivers became involved in a brawl for third that sent the crowd cheering with delight. The two leaders going into the final laps of the race were the NSX of Nakako, who had taken over for Michigami, and the Supra of Tsuchiya, who replaced Tanigawa, running first and second, respectively. Then suddenly, the tides were turned for the two top cars as both were penalized for allegedly passing another driver when a yellow flag was out. This put Yamanishi on top followed by Tanaka and Kurosawa, separated by a slight gap. Tanaka tried everything to catch up with the leader, but they finished in that order in the end. The young pair of Satoshi Motoyama/Takeshi Tsuchiya also ran well, placing a promising sixth in their GT-R. A 10th place finish by the #23 GT-R gave Comas/Kageyama a point to help maintain their lead in the points standings for the championship.
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SUPPLEMENTAL NISSAN NEWS
A30-SN-8055
In the GT 300 class, two Nissan Silvias were entered. Unexpected problems caused the Silva of Masahiko Kondo/Takayuki Aoki to pit for an extended time, but Hideo Fukuyama/Nobuyuki Ooyagi ran consistently and finished sixth in the class.
Masahiro Hasemi :
“It was a good race today. We didn't make any mistakes. I'm very satisfied. Thanks to its good balance, the Skyline GT-R ran well. We didn't have any special strategy, just that we should be very careful not to be penalized from the start."
Tetsuya Tanaka :
“I'm very happy to be on the podium. I didn't think we would end up here before the start. I regret not being able to catch the leader in the last stage as our GT-R was running really very well. There was only a slight difference..."
The results of the race are as follows:
Pos. No. Class Class Car Driver Team Laps Time
pos.
1. 64 500 1 Honda NSX Koji Yamanishi Mobil NAKAJIMA 55 1:32'10.247
Tom Coronel RACING
2. 3 500 2 Skyline GT-R Masahiro Hasemi Hasemi Motorsport 55 1:32'13.204
Tetsuya Tanaka
3. 12 500 3 Skyline GT-R Kazuyoshi Hoshino TEAM IMPUL 55 1:32:22.731
Takuya Kurosawa
4. 18 500 4 Honda NSX Katsutomo Kaneishi Dome Racing Team 55 1:32'24.382
Katsumi Yamamoto
5. 16 500 5 Honda NSX Osamu Nakako Castrol Mugen 55 1:32'36.045
Ryo Michigami
6. 50 500 6 Skyline GT-R Satoshi Motoyama AUTOBACS RACING 55 1:32'57.038
Takeshi Tsuchiya TEAM AGURI
7. 2 500 7 Skyline GT-R Aguri Suzuki NISMO 55 1:32:59.266
Masahiko Kageyama
10.23 500 10 Skyline GT-R Erik Comas NISMO 55 1:33:30.457
Masami Kageyama
22.81 300 6 Silvia S14 Hideo Fukuyama TEAM DAISHIN 51 laps
Nobuyuki Ooyagi
15 300 Silvia S14 Masahiko Kondo NISMO 35 laps
Takayuki Aoki
Fuji International Speedway : 4,470km
Entry/Start/finish : 47/45/36
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