![Super GT Round. 5 [Motegi, Japan]](https://wieck-nissanao-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/0672b306ae171de650939682d5234ceb6d066c5a/preview-768x432.jpg)
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan Motorsport International Co., Ltd.
SUPER GT 2005 Rd. 5 "MOTEGI GT 300km RACE"
| Date: | September 4, 2005 |
| Place: | Twinring Motegi (Tochigi) 4.801km |
| Weather: | Sunny and Cloudy (31c) (dry) |
Round 5 of SUPER GT 2005 was held at Twinring Motegi in Tochigi prefecture on Sunday, September 4, attracting 52,000 fans. Calsonic Impul Z (#12, Benoit Treluyer / Yuji Ide) started the race from 6th grid and finished in 3rd place and the first podium this season. Motul Pitwork Z (#22, Michael Krumm / Masataka Yanagida) started from 7th and finished 4th, while Xanavi NISMO Z on the 16th grid (#1, Satoshi Motoyama / Richard Lyons) finished in 6th place.
G'ZOX Hasemi Z (#3, Toshihiro Kaneishi / Erik Comas) started from 5th place and immediately improved to 4th at the early stage. However, on lap12, #38 Supra hit the rear of the car and pushed out to gravel bed. #3 was stuck there and lost positions. #12 Z with Benoit Treluyer was then 7th, but climbed to 5th. After he handed the wheels to Yuji Ide, the car further gained position to 3rd. Ide kept the position to the end, and the car won its first podium finish. "I am so glad to prevent NSX dominating the podium since Mr. Shiga (COO of Nissan) is here to see the race," said Ide. "It was a big pressure for me. I wonder if he recognize me now."
Masataka Yanagida started the race for #22 Z, and the car was in 8th place for the first few laps. Successfully avoiding the accidents occurring around him, Yanagida went up to 6th place and returned to pit on lap 26. With the swift pitwork which is now a trademark of NISMO team, the car returned to the track quickly, giving enough advantage for Krumm to pursue the cars ahead. On lap 30, #22 Z improved to 5th, and to 4th place. Krumm pushed hard to capture #12 Z and the gap between two cars was almost 1 second. However, Yuji Ide on #12 Z never gave up and did not give a way, so Krumm decided to keep his position in order to sustain the grip on the tires.
On lap 60, #32 NSX in fierce pursuit overtook the car, but it eventually slowed down and stopped just before the final corner of the final lap as it ran out of fuel. #22 Z retrieved the 4th place and received the checkered flag. The starting driver of #1 Z, which is currently 2nd place in the series championship, was Satoshi Motoyama. He passed some cars and returned to pit on lap 30 placing in 3rd provisionally. Once again, the NISMO team performed a excellent pit work and Richard Lyons returned to the race in 7th place. Lyons then kept steady pace and improve a position by one on the final lap and finished in 6th.
Meanwhile, in GT300 class, Dream Cube's ADVAN Z (#46) with Kazuki Hoshino and Takayuki Aoki won the race for the first time. Kazuki Hoshino is the son of legendary racer Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who is now the team director of Calsonic.
Hiroshi Degawa, NISMO team director said, "As usual, our pit work was perfect and the race itself has nothing to complain. I'd say it was 80% successful. #22 missed the podium by very small chance, but Yanagida did a very good job on his part. He improved his position as we planned and he fought a good fight Perhaps it would've been better if #1 could lose more weight, but overtaking 10 cars is more than one could wish for."
"Motegi was a tough weekend for us with so much burden of the weight," said Satoshi Motoyama. "But the team performed a perfect pit stop and improving from 16th to 6th was a good result for the race. I know Fuji (next event) will be hard for us once again, but I will definitely fight hard and make a go for the championship."
Toshiyuki Shiga, COO of Nissan Motor witnessed the superb performance by the Nissan teams. "It was a very tough competition, but the successful achievement of Nissan Z with a podium finish was very rewarding," said Shiga. "I must thank the fans that supported us in such a hot weather. Nissan and NISMO will continue to work hard to deliver the exciting race, so please look forward for more heated battle."
[Race Results] 63 Laps
| Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Time / Gap |
| 1 | 100 | RAYBRIG NSX | Sebastien Philippe / Jeremie Dufour | 1:56'31.713 |
| 2 | 18 | TAKATA DOME NSX | Ryo Michigami / Takashi Kogure | +0'04.389 |
| 3 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL Z | Benoit Treluyer / Yuji Ide | +0'27.177 |
| 4 | 22 | MOTUL PITWORK Z | Michael Krumm / Masataka Yanagida | +0'37.833 |
| 5 | 35 | Yellow Hat YMS Supra | Naoki Hattori / Peter Dumbreck | +1'01.798 |
| 6 | 1 | XANAVI NISMO Z | Satoshi Motoyama / Richard Lyons | +1'06.736 |
| 7 | 36 | TOM'S SUPRA | Takeshi Tsuchiya / James Courtney | +1'16.933 |
| 8 | 37 | TOM'S SUPRA | Tatsuya Kataoka / Sakon Yamamoto | +1'17.967 |
| 9 | 6 | ESSO Ultraflo Supra | Juichi Wakisaka / Akira Iida | +2'21.742 |
| 13 | 3 | G'ZOX HASEMI Z | Toshihiro Kaneishi / Erik Comas | -1 Laps |
[Championship Points] Driver's Ranking after Rd. 5
| Pos | No | Machine | Driver | Points |
| 1 | 36 | DYNACITY TOM'S SUPRA | Takeshi Tsuchiya / James Courtney | 44 |
| 2 | 1 | XANAVI NISMO Z | Satoshi Motoyama / Richard Lyons | 39 |
| 3 | 22 | MOTUL PITWORK Z | Michael Krumm / Masataka Yanagida | 36 |
| 4 | 8 | ARTA NSX | Daisuke Ito / Ralph Firman | 35 |
| 5 | 37 | DYNACITY TOM'S SUPRA | Tatsuya Kataoka / Sakon Yamamoto | 34 |
| 6 | 100 | RAYBRIG NSX | Sebastien Philippe / Jeremie Dufour | 26 |
| 6 | 18 | TAKATA DOME NSX | Ryo Michigami / Takashi Kogure | 26 |
| 6 | 6 | Esso Ultraflo Supra | Juichi Wakisaka / Akira Iida | 26 |
| 9 | 25 | ECLIPSE ADVAN Supra | Manabu Orido / Dominik Schwager | 24 |
| 9 | 12 | CALSONIC IMPUL Z | Benoit Treluyer / Yuji Ide | 24 |
| 16 | 3 | G'ZOX HASEMI Z | Toshihiro Kaneishi /Erik Comas | 14 |
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