In GT300 No. 101 apr MR-S runs ahead of the pack

The qualifying for the SUPER GT International Series in Malaysia, Round 4 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia Pref. on the morning of June 23. In the GT500 class the TAKATA DOME NSX driven by Takashi Kogure won its third consecutive pole position. (fastest qualifier) and will start from the front row in the final race on the 24th. In the GT300 class, the apr MR-S driven by Kazuya Oshima ran fastest to claim the class pole position.

Qualifying #1? Weather:Fine | Course:Dry | Air Temp. 32° | Track Temp. 42°

The first qualifying session began at 11:00. The clouds of the previous day had cleared and the qualifying began in typical Sepang heat. The rubber grip on the main lines had improved from the day before, making it easier to run fast times.

The first 20 minutes were for the GT300 class. On its first timed lap, the No. 101 apr MR-S (Kazuya Oshima) broke the course record (2 min. 7.897 sec.) with a time of 2 min. 6.856 sec. What's more this time was three seconds faster than any of the competitors. Then another machine on Michelin tires, the No.43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi) also dipped under 2 min. 7 sec. to claim second position. Entering the final minutes of this class' session, however, the other teams also began to turn in fast times. The No. 46 houzan DUNLOP Z (Kota Sasaki) upped its time to 2 min. 6.885 sec. to move into second position. But no other machine was to run under 2 min. 7 sec. The No. 33 HANKOOK NSC PORSCHE (Mitsuhiro Kinoshita) running 2 min. 7.013 sec. to move into 4th position. Following it were other teams racing hard to make the top-ten cut-off for the Super Lap. The session ended as the No. 7 RE AMEMIYA RX7 (Hiroyuki Iiri) moved into 8th position ahead of the No.13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z (Masami Kageyama) and the No. 77 USCO DUNLOP SUBARU IMPREZA (Tetsuya Yamano) .


The next 20 minutes were for the GT500 class. The teams sent their machines out on the course once to check the track conditions and tire choices and then returned them to the pit to prepare for their final time attacks. The NSX machines that have dominated the pole position this season took to the track for their runs in the latter half of the session. The No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) quickly turned in a 1 min. 55.010 sec. time to rewrite its own course record (1 min. 57.824 sec.) by a big margin. But, immediately after that the No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Takashi Kogure) ran a 1 min. 54.383 sec. lap to take the lead, After that, none of the other machines were able to equal those times and the session ended with the two NSX machines in the lead. Among the teams fighting for the top-ten cut-off and a place in the Super Lap at the end of the session, the No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX (Dominik Schwager) , grabbed the 6th position and knocked the No. 3 Yellow Hat YMS MobaHO! TOMICA Z (Masataka Yanagida) down to 11th position, and despite a last run just before the end of the session, it was unable to catch the No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa) in 10th position. In the following mixed session, none of the GT500 class teams were able to improve on their positions.

Meanwhile, in the GT300 class there were some changes. First of all, the No. 87 MARUHON MURCIE RG-1 improved on its time. During the GT300 class session it had been Yasutaka Hinoi at the wheel. But when he failed to improve on the team's time due to the changes in track conditions from the previous day and the mix-up it had caused in the machine's balance, adjustments were made in the settings and teammate Atsushi Yogo took the wheel. By this time the sun had gone behind the clouds and he was able to better their time and slip into the top ten and a place in the Super Lap. The No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z (Masami Kageyama) and No. 77 CUSCO DUNLOP SUBARU IMPREZA (Tesuya Yamano) also made the top ten while the No. 7 RE AMEMIYA RX7 missed the cut. Hiroyuki Iiri in No. 7 made one last valiant attack but failed to catch No. 77 by 0.012 sec. This made it look like No. 77 this was going to get its first Super Lap qualification season, but at the last minute the No. 88 AKTIO MURCIE RG-1 (Kenji Yamanishi) moved up to the 9th position and the session ended. Meanwhile, the top time that Kazuya Oshima had run during the GT300 session in No. 101 was bettered by his teammate Hiroaki Ishiura during the mixed session.

No.101 apr MR-S


Qualifying #2/Super Lap? Weather:Fine | Course:Dry | Air Temp. 33° | Track Temp. 44°

The first 15 minutes of the second qualifying session were for the GT300 class and the next 15 minutes for the GT500 class. The No. 66 triple a GALLARDO RG-3, which had been unable to run in the first session due to mechanical trouble, and the No. 67 triple a GALLARDO RG-3, which had failed to run a qualifying time, were both out to get a qualifying time. As it turned out, however, No. 66 was unable to solve its technical problems and failed to make a run at all. And, trouble occurred in the No.67 machine before Tsubasa Kurosawa began his drive that kept him from getting a qualifying time, thus leaving both machines with no qualifying time. This disqualified No. 66 from the race and left No. 67's fate up to the race committee based on the results of the race day morning practice session.

The GT300 Super Lap then began with the run of the morning's 10th qualifier, the No. 4 EBBRO 350R (Tetsuya Tanaka), to be followed by the other machines one at a time in their qualifying order. Of the first five machines to run, it was the No. 13 ENDLESS ADVAN SENZAIKAKUMEI Z (Masami Kageyama) that made a big jump up in position with a time of 2 min. 7.344 sec. despite having used two sets of its new tires. This time moved the team up to 4th position overall. On the other hand, among the morning's top five qualifiers, the No.33 HANKOOK NSC PORSCHE (Mitsuhiro Kinoshita) and the No. 2 I.M. JIHAN CO. LTD. APPLE Shinden (Hiroki Kato) dropped to 8th and 6th positions respectively. No.46 houzan DUNLOP Z (Kota Sasaki) also dropped in position from 2nd to 5th. On he other hand, the No. 62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R (Shinsuke Shibahara) and the No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Shinichi Takagi) were both able to improve on their times and positions. Both recorded times in the high 2 min. 6 sec. range, putting No.62 in 3rd position and No. 43 in 2nd. The pole position went to No.101 apr MR-S (Kazuya Oshima). In the first qualifying session the team had been able to score the top time despite the fact that a failure in communications between driver and the pit team had prevented them from completing all their desired timed laps. By the time of the Super Lap, however, the problems were solved and they were able to win the pole position with a time of 2 min. 6.584 sec.

The GT500 class Super Lap began with the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa). Tachikawa ran a 1 min. 55.336 sec. lap that became the initial target time. It was then the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Benoit Treluyer) that made an impressive run, working the machine through the turns aggressively but without lost time to record a 1 min. 54.860 sec. lap. Next up was the No. 32 EPSON NSX (Loic DUVAL), which ran the first sector of the course faster than No. 12 only to suffer a big time loss with a spin-out on the last turn. After that, the No.100 RAYBRIG NSX (Dominik Schwager), No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Michael Krumm) and No. 17 REAL NSX (Katsutomo Kaneishi) were all unable to better No. 12's time, thus ensuring No. 12 at least a position on the second row in the starting grid. The next machine to finally beat No. 12's time was the No. 1 houzan TOM'S SC430 (Andre Lotterer) with a 1 min. 54.595 sec. time that move it into the lead. That left only the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) and the No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Takashi Kogure) to run. No.8 scored a 1 min. 54.593 sec. to grab the lead from No.1 by a mere 2/1000 of a second. But then No. 18 ran more than 2/10ths of a second faster than that to win the pole position with a time of 1 min. 54.306 sec. This gave No.18 it's third consecutive pole position this season. It also stretched the record of consecutive pole wins by the NSX machines since the season opened. After the qualifying, it was found that No. 22 didn't meet the minimum ground clearance regulation and its time was disqualified. This meant it would start tomorrow's race from 10th position on the grid.

Comments
GT500 Class | Pole Position
No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX
Takashi Kogure
Concerning today's condition, I wasn't able to put a faster lap together in the Super Lap despite the fact that the other machines were improving on there times, The track conditions had improved more than we expected and that threw the machine balance off and I wasn't able to compensate for it with my driving. I am a bit disappointed about that. Still, I am glad that we got the pole position, even if it was by a hair's breadth.
In the race, No. 8 will be fast, too, so we won't be able to let up at any time. The tires don't feel strained, but the rate of wear shows that conditions are tough there and Michgami and will have to be in full control in that area.
Ryo Michigami
We were confident [about winning the pole position]. I didn't drive [in the Super Lap] but I felt like I was out there competing too as I watched, and it was tense. This course has been repaved and the wear on the tires is more intense than last year. We have shown good speed today, but in the race [the tire wear] may cause us to slow down at some point.
GT300 Class | Pole Position
No.101 apr MR-S
Kazuya Oshima
According to the initial plans, I was supposed to run both the first session and the Super Lap. But after running a 2 min. 6 sec. lap while skinning the tires in the first session, I was ready to make a serious time attack on the next lap, only to get caught behind a slower machine. Still, since it looked like the initial time was fast enough to give us the tentative pole position, I returned to the pit without making another run. Then Ishiura went out and was able to make a run on a clear track that turned out to be faster than mine. That shows just what good condition the machine is in. In the Super Lap my transmission locked in the first corner and I lost about a second. If it weren't for that, I think I would have been able to get down into the 2 min. 5 sec. range.
Hiroaki Ishiura
This time we are carrying a lot of [handicap] weight, but the Michelin tires have been a good match and enabled us to stay fast in longer runs, and both of us drivers are able to run in the 2 min. 6 sec. range. So, if we keep this momentum going tomorrow and don't make any mistakes, we should be ble to win with no problem.
Result Review