ARTA NSX Crippled with Just One Lap to Go

The Suzuka GT 300km race, Round 1 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, was held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Pref. on March 18. The GT500 class was won in a come-from-behind victory by the 5th-place qualifier, the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 driven by Yuji Tachikawa and Toranosuke Takagi. With this, Yuji Tachikawa extended his own record of most wins by an individual driver to nine.
In the GT300 class, victory went to the No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z driven by Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii in a pole-to-checkered win.

The race started at 14:00 under clear blue skies. Last year this race had been plagued with strong winds and although the winds weren't as bad this time, it was still a windy race. The temperature at the start was 12 degrees C. and the track surface temperature was 22 degrees.

At the first corner on the opening lap, there was a collision between the No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Michael Krumm) and the No. 39 DENSO SARD SC430 (Katsuyuki Hiranaka) in the middle of the GT500 class pack. This collision also forced the No.24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion Z (Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) off the track. No. 22 was able to get back on the course but the No. 39 machine crashed into the sponge barrier at track-side and suffered heavy damage in its rear end. It was able to return to the pit but never reentered the race. Meanwhile, the No. 24 machine developed drive train trouble in the 8th lap that caused it to slow down. Eventually De Oliveira pulled over to track-side and stopped the machine. Also, the No. 17 Real NSX (Katsutomo Kaneishi) was unable to maintain a fast pace and gradually dropped to 8th position.


Meanwhile, the pole starter, the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) , opened up a 1.4 sec. lead over 2nd-place No. 32 EPSON NSX (Loic Duval) on the first lap. And, on the 3rd lap Firman recorded the race's fastest lap at 1 min. 53.133 sec. After that, Firman continued to drive fast and open up his lead over the competition. As for No.32, Duval had a spinout on the "S" curve of the 10th lap that dropped him back to 5th position. The No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Ryo Michigami) moved into 2nd position at this point, followed by No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX (Dominik Schwager) in 3rd and No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Toranosuke Takagi) 4th. Behind No. 32, the No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Satoshi Motoyama) had moved up and was waiting for a chance to pass.


No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z Of these leading machines, No.23 was the first to make its pit stop on lap 21. On the next lap No.38 also pitted in. Both teams made their driver changes, giving the wheels to Richard Lyons and Yuji Tachikawa to resume the race. The teams running on Bridgestone tire, including leading No. 8 and No. 18, No. 100, and the No. 17 NSX used the strategy of only changing the rear tires to save pit time. By lap 30, when all the GT500 class machines had returned to the track after their pit stops, No. 8 (Daisuke Ito), No. 18 (Takashi Kogure) and No. 100 (Shinya Hosokawa) held 1st to 3rd positions respectively.

On he next lap, however, Hosokawa in No. 100 lost control in the "Gyaku-bank" and crashed into the barrier, forcing him to retire from the race. This moved Tachikawa in No.38 up to 3rd position and Lyons in No. 23 into 4th. After that these four machines held their positions with no real change in the gaps between them over the next ten laps. It looked as if this is how the race would end. But in fact a dramatic upset was waiting.
On the "Dunlop Corner" of lap 45 flames shot out of the rear of the No. 18 machine forcing it to pull over to track-side and stop. The same engine trouble that had occurred in the official test session at the beginning of the month had struck again. This would not be the only misfortune to strike the NSX teams. The leading No. 8 also suffered engine trouble with just one lap remaining before the checkered. Although Ito was able finish, his machine had completely lost power by the spoon curve.

The No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa/Toranosuke Takagi) passed the slowing Ito to take the win. For the SC430 teams this opening round victory at Suzuka became their second consecutive win following the Tom's win in the last round of the 2006 season.


No.32 EPSON NSX
Finishing 2nd was the No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Takashi Kogure/Richard Lyons) . This podium finish was the result of a steady compiling of fast laps to climb from its 7th place starting position. Third place went to the No. 32 EPSON NSX (Loic Duval /Fabio Carbone) , a team that couldn't help wondering what would have happened if it hadn't been for the spin-out a drive-trough pit penalty. Nonetheless that succeeded in preventing a total wipeout for the hard-luck NSX machines.

Still, these three podium finishers were a group that no one could have anticipated before the race and the complete dominance of the NSX in the qualifying. It was a result, however, that reminded everyone once again how hard it is to win in the SUPER GT.




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GT300 Class
A classic battle between skilled veterans and new challengers with momentum
Pole to checkered win for ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z!



The GT300 class race started out with an unexpected spin by the third qualifier, No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta) during the formation lap. After then being forced to start from the very back row, Nitta brought the machine into the pit for adjustment work on lap six.


No.101 TOY STORY apr MR-S Meanwhile, the No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z (Masami Kageyama > Tomonobu Fujii) , which had recorded the fastest times on all the sectors of the course during this race weekend, started the race in perfect form. Although the No. 101 TOY STORY apr MR-S (Kazuya Oshima/Hiroaki Ishiura) was right on their tail in the early stages of the race, the veteran Kageyama managed to keep himself in the lead with skill before giving the wheel to Fujii for the second half of the race. The only time No. 13 would give up the lead in the entire race was during this pit stop and was soon back in front after all the teams had finished their pit work. Once in the lead again No. 13 ran consistently and was never threatened again. This win gave Kageyama his second GT300 class victory. When his GT500 class wins are added, he has a total of nine SUPER GT and JGTC career wins.


No.2 Privée KENZO Asset Shiden
The second-place finisher was No. 2 Privée KENZO Asset Shiden (Kazuho Takahashi/Hiroki Katoh) . After Katoh had climbed to 3rd position from a 5th-position start, Takahashi took over in the second half and passed No. 101 on the out lap to move into 2nd.

The 3rd-place finisher was No. 101 TOY STORY apr MR-S (Kazuya Oshima/Hiroaki Ishiura) . While Oshima was chasing No. 13, a problem developed in the machine's power steering. This allowed No. 13 to pull away, and after changing drivers Ishiura was unable to block No.2 from passing and fell to third place as a result. After having struggled with the heavy steering after the power steering failure, both drivers could be seen massaging their arms after their turns at the wheel.
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Comments
T.Takagi, Y.Tachikawa, M.Kageyama, T.Fujii
GT500 Class | Winner
No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430
Yuji Tachikawa
I never dreamed that we could have won today, though I did think we might get a podium finish. I have experienced being passed in the last half a lap (2003 Round 5 at Fuji due to a flat tire) but I never imagined that I would be the one passing the leader that way like it turned out this time. Entering the last lap I heard over the radio that the leader was slowing down and I thought there might be a chance. But I guess we owe this victory to the fact that we had managed to climb to 2nd position by that point in the race. This was a real team victory owing to the no-miss work everyone did, from Takagi's start to the great pit work.
Toranosuke Takagi
Last year I wasn't able to make a good start (running off the track shortly after taking to the course in 2nd position after the pit stop) but this year I think I was able to fulfill my role as the start driver. The NSX had shown itself to be very fast from the qualifying so I had half given up the prospect of beating them, so I am glad that I was able to pass one of them. This is a competition that can't be won by speed alone. It takes strong teamwork, luck and the drivers' skill. I think that is why we won.
GT300 Class | Winner
No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z
Masami Kageyama
I have to admit that things got easier when Garaiya (No. 43 ARTA Garaiya) got effectively eliminated in the formation run. From before the race we thought it was going to come down to a battle with No. 101 and we made some changes in the settings. I talked to Oshima (of No. 101) and I even told him that I wouldn't try to block him deliberately and he should pass me if he thought he could. But after the start I found that we were more competitive than I thought we could be. We were a little slower in the chicane and the hairpins but when they got a nose in on me a couple of times in the chicane, I was still able to hold them off. I didn't expect to have to race that hard, and it was tough, with the (2 min.) 5 second lap and all.
Tomonobu Fujii
We made our pit stop before the others and I worked hard on the first lap out of the pit and the five following laps. When No. 101 came out after its pit stop at the end of that fifth lap I was able to get in front on the first corner. I thought that the remainder of the race would be easier if I could put as much distance as possible between us on that lap, so I pushed hard and tried not to make any mistakes on that lap. After that I kept listening to my margin of lead on the radio and tried to save my tires as much as I could while maintaining a safe distance.