ARTA NSX makes a brilliant comeback from the disaster of round one!
Defending champion Housan TOM'S SC430 beaten by a penalty

The OKAYAMA GT 300km RACE, Round 2 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, was held at the Okayama International Circuit (one lap 3.703 km x 82 laps) in Okayama Pref. on April 8. The GT500 class winners were the 2nd fastest qualifiers, the ARTA NSX driven by Daisuke Ito and Ralph Firman, who ran virtually the whole race without ever giving up the lead.
In the GT300class victory was claimed by the No.101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S driven by Kazuya Oshima and Hiroaki Ishiura.



Race?Weather:Cloudy | Course:Dry


GT500 Class


The race started at 14:00. The fair skies of the morning had clouded over by the time of the start and some of the teams could even be seen preparing wet-use tires on the grid. But it never did rain. The temperature at the time of the start was 18 degree C., with a track surface temperature of 25 degree C, the highest temperatures of the race weekend.
Just after the start, the 3rd position starter, Andre Lotterer in the No. 1 Houzan TOM'S SC430 tried to take the lead by taking the inside on the first turn. The pole starter, Ryo Michigami in the No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX took an outside line through the turn but spun out and off the track. This left No. 18 at the very tail of the GT500 class trying to catch up. An apparent collision between two of the machines resulted in a drive-through penalty decision for No. 1. This put Ralph Firman in the No. 8 ARTA NSX in the lead. The 4th qualifier, the No.32 EPSON NSX driven by Loic Duval, was also able to move up as a result and the first lap ended with the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX (Dominik Schwager) in 2nd position and the No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Michael Krumm) in 3rd position. No. 8 ran successive laps in the 1 min. 24 sec. range and began to pull away from the following machines that were running in the 1 min. 25 sec. range.




On the 20th lap the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Satoshi Motoyama) slowed down suddenly while running in 5th position. It was probably electrical system trouble that caused the machine's engine to stop and forced Motoyama to pull over and stop at the trackside. This was the second consecutive tragedy for No.23 in two year at Okayama.
After that a fierce battle for 7th position developed. The No. 39 DENSO SARD SC430 (Andre Couto), the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hoshino) and the No. 35 BANDAI DUNLOP SC430 (Peter Dumbreck) changed positions at the corners several times in a close-fought battle. There was no unfair play going on, but none of the three would give an inch as the competition raged until No.35 made its pit stop on the 30th lap.
From this point in the race the leaders began to make their pit stops one after another. No. 22 pulled into the pit on lap 33 and changed drivers (Krumm > Tsugio Matsuda) and No. 100 on lap 34 (Schwager>Shinya Hosokawa). The leader, No. 8, made its pit stop after lap 34 and Firman turned over the wheel to Daisuke Ito. On the same lap No. 32 made its pit stop and changed drivers (Duval>Fabio CARBONE).


No.100 RAYBRIG NSX By the time all the machines had finished their pit stops, No. 8 was again in front with an 8-second lead over No. 100 in second position. Close behind were No. 32 and No. 22, and as these two battled for position the gap between them and the two leaders began to widen.
It was on lap 51 that the contest between No. 32 and No. 22 was decided. On the Redman corner No. 22 passed No. 32 to reclaim 3rd position. From there, No. 22 began to close the gap on No. 100 and finally succeeded in passing it on the hairpin of the 57th lap to take over 2nd position.
But No. 22's charge wouldn't last. On the Atwood Curve of lap 77 it ran off track for a bit and suffered a considerable time loss. During that lapse No. 100 regained 2nd position. According to a comment by Matsuda after the race, there was bad coordination with the machines he was trying to lap that caused the loss. In any event, it was No. 8 that benefited most from the problems.


No.22 MOTUL AUTECH Z
Taking the checkered at the end of lap 82, the No. 8 ARTA NSX team redeemed itself for the tragic first-round loss at Suzuka, when machine trouble caused them to drop out on the last lap after leading the entire race. This time they ran a perfect race with no trouble.
Finishing 2nd was the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX. Although for Hosokawa there might have been some regrets, having been passed by No. 22, it was still a solid performance with no real mistakes after that and thus a felicitous first podium finish for the team. The No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z team could not hide their disappointment despite their 3rd place finish, but they also saved the Z teams from the embarrassment of finishing in complete defeat after the No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z was forced to retire from the race. Following the 4th place No. 32 EPSON NSX came the top SC430 finisher, the No. 1 Houzan TOM'S SC430 in 5th place. After losing much ground with the drive-through penalty in the early stages, Lotterer drove hard to bring the team back into the race. And, after the driver change, Juichi Wakisaka also turned in a great performance. As for the No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z team, for which this would be the last appearance of the Fairlady Z Turbo, they managed to finish in the points at 8th.




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GT300 Class
A strategic win for the TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S
As top machines fall by the wayside, Shinden and MR-S battle head-to-head



In the GT300 class, the third position starter, No. 62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R (Haruki Kurosawa) ran off the track at the first corner of lap 15. Then the 4th starter, No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Nitta), also went off the track at the Atwood Curve, as the upsets continued. In both cases the cause appeared to be contact with other machines. The result was that the pole starter, No. 2 Priv_e KENZO Asset Shiden (Hiroki Katoh) and No. 101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S (Kazuya Oshima) in 2nd position were able to open up a big lead on the following pack.


No.2 ????KENZO???????
Later, No. 88 AKTIO MURCIE RG-1 (Marco Apicella) was also forced to leave the track and retire from the race due to steering system problems. After moving up into 3rd position, the No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z (Masami Kageyama) was penalized and lost considerable ground for machine contact that forced another car off the track. This put the No. 26 YUNKER-POWER TAISAN PORSCHE (Shinichi Yamaji) in 3rd position.


No.26 ??????? ???? ???? After its pit stop and driver change, the No. 101 (Oshima > Hiroaki Ishiura) passed No. 2 (Kato > Kazuho Takahashi) on their out-lap. In the last race, it had been Takahashi in the No. 2 machine who had passed Ishiura in No. 101 on their out-lap, but this time it was the exact reverse. Meanwhile, the No. 26 held on to 3rd position through their pit stop as they changed drivers from Yamaji to Nobuteru Taniguchi. From this point the lead machines went on to the finish with no change in order.

This result gave both drivers Kazuya Oshima and Hiroaki Ishiura of the No. 101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S their first SUPER GT victory. And for Oshima, who was born on April 30, 1987, this gave him the record for the youngest driver ever to win a SUPER GT race.


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Comments
R.Firman, D.Ito, K.Oshima, H.Ishiura
GT500 Class | Winner
No. 8 ARTA NSX
Ralph Firman
I had a very good start. It was unfortunate for Lotterer (No. 1) and No. 18 that they collided at the first corner. The balance of my machine felt perfect through the first six or seven laps and I was able to build up a lead during that time. But, the balance got worse when I came up to lap the slowest machines of the GT300 class. The machine began to under-steer badly, feeling almost as if I had a flat tire. But, I guess it wasn't just me. The others probably experienced the same sort of thing. Then, over the last ten laps of my run the condition of the machine got better again and felt stable. The pit stop went just according to plan, but (because of only changing the front tires) it must have been difficult for Daisuke, with an even stronger under-steering tendency.
At the next round at Fuji Speedway (Rd. 3) I hope to push the pace all the way, win more series points and reduce our weight load. Then Sepang (Malaysia, Rd. 4) is a course where we won last year and one I do well on, so I want to see us get a pole-to-checkered win again there.
Daisuke Ito
The last race was such a disappointment that we were determined to do something here at Okayama. At the start there was the unfortunate collision between No. 18 and No. 1, but it was a lucky development for us and I felt like we were getting compensated for our bad luck in round one.
Since our strategy was to change only the front tires, there was a strong under-steering tendency as expected and it was difficult for me to get a good rhythm going. As I concentrated on my driving, it seems that I was able to increase our margin somewhat, as I heard over the wireless that Hosokawa (No. 100) in 2nd was running at about the same pace and Matsuda (No. 22) was running a slightly faster pace. And when I heard that 100 and 22 were starting a dogfight, I decided that this was my chance to push the pace and gain ground. By running consecutive 1 min. 27 sec. laps I was eventually able to open up the margin to almost 15 seconds.
With five laps left in the race I had the tragedy of the last round in the back of my mind. Normally with that big a lead I would be able to relax and drive according to image, but with the last race's disaster in mind, I can tell you that my heart was in my throat all the way until I rounded the last turn on the last lap. I have never been that nervous (laughs).
GT300 Class | Winner
No. 101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S
Kazuya Oshima
In the last round at Suzuka it was a race that we should have won, but machine trouble caused us to drop to 3rd. This time the team prepared the car perfectly for us and we drivers also did our job well. That is the reason for today's victory, I believe. I am very satisfied. Thinking in terms of the season, too, being able to win here will be very important, I think. The next race will be at Fuji, which is a track where we do well. I hope we will get lots of points there and then go on and try for the championship title this season.
There were no particular problems during the first half of my stint at the wheel, but in the second half I had to battle with the GT300 machines coming out of the pit and that caused the Shinden (No. 2) to open up a considerable lead. But I think the excellent pit work made it possible for us to regain what had been lost.
Hiroaki Ishiura
At first, the plan was for me to run the qualifying and the first half of the race, but after talking with Oshima, we decided that having him go first would bring the better result, considering the experience factor and such. Then we talked it over with the team and it was decided. The tire strategy was also something that Oshima and I decided after talking it over. As a result, even though our machine was not the fastest one out there, we were able to make our pit stop right in the middle and maintain a very good average speed between the two of us, which enabled us to get the fullest possible performance out of the machine.
When I started my stint the balance of the machine was very good and I was able to pick up the pace, but my times slowed when I came up to lap the slower GT300 machines and then had the pack of GT500 machines come up on me. I was expecting us to be able to get in front of Shinden (No. 2) while they took their pit stop, but in fact we got in farther forward than expected. In the last round it was me who suffered on the out-lap, but this time it seems that they were the ones who were struggling. When I got back to the home straight (after one lap) we had caught up with them, so I was confident I could get ahead in the first corner.
After that, Oshima told me over the radio that I should go easy on the tires and not worry about increasing the pace. So, I was able to run steadily without pushing too hard and taking care to avoid contact with other machines. I think that was what helped most.