FNIPPON: Suzuka results

Formula Nippon Round 5 Race Results July 7,1996 Suzuka Circuit (5.86403km) Weather Conditions: Occasional Rain Pos No Driver Car Tire Laps Time/Delay 1 64 Toranosuke Takagi Reynard96D Mugen BS 35 1:03.28'642(193.99km/h) 2 65 Takuya Kurosawa Reynard96D Mugen BS 35 -10.733 3 24 Naoki Hattori Reynard96D Mugen BS 35 -15.150 4 25 Ralf Schumacher Reynard96D Mugen BS 35 -15.780 5 19 Kazuyoshi Hoshino LolaT96/52 Mugen BS 35 -16.463 6 8 Shinji Nakano Dome F104i Mugen BS 35 -22.319 7 55 Katsutomo Kaneishi Reynard95D Mugen BS 35 -34.958 8 10 Norberto Fontana LolaT96/51 Mugen BS 35 -35.668 9 1 Toshio Suzuki LolaT96/52 Mugen BS 35 -56.210 10 6 Hidetoshi Mitsusada LolaT94/50 Judd YH 35 -1'09.419 11 21 Michael Krumm Reynard95D Mugen BS 35 -1'10.349 12 56 Satoshi Motoyama Reynard95D Mugen BS 35 -1'13.761 13 12 Yukihiro Hane LolaT94/50 Mugen BS 34 -1 lap 14 5 Marco Apicella Reynard95D Judd YH 34 -1 lap 15 17 Taichiro Onishi LolaT94/50 Mugen BS 34 -1 lap 16 27 Masahiko Kageyama Reynard96D Mugen BS 34 -1 lap 17 7 Masami Kageyama LolaT95/50 Mugen YH 34 -1 lap 18 30 Eiichi Tajima LolaT94 Mugen BS 33 -2 laps 19 72 Atsushi Kawamoto LolaT93 Ford BS 33 -2 laps 20 31 Hideki Okada LolaT95/50 Mugen BS 31 -4 laps DNF 28 Masahiko Kondo Reynard94D Mugen BS 29 -6 laps 9 Pedro de la Rosa LolaT96/51 Mugen BS 27 -8 laps 73 Tetsuji Tamanaka LolaT93 Ford BS 11 -24 laps 20 Andrew Gilbert-Scott Reynard96D Mugen BS 9 -26 laps 2 Katsumi Yamamoto Dome F104i Mugen BS 6 -29 laps

Fastest Lap: 8 Shinji Nakano 1'47.018 (197.26km/h) on Lap 35 Championship Standings: Schumacher 27, Hoshino 19, Fontana 16, Takagi/Hattori 14, Masami Kageyama 8, Nakano 7, Kurosawa 6, etc. Attendance: 39,000 Next Round: Aug 3-4, Sugo

In the middle of the rainy season here in Japan, the difficult weather conditions gave the teams lots of thinking before the start of the Formula Nippon race number five.

First there was a drizzle during the lunch break but it soon let up. When they went out to line up on the grid, the track was still damp and the skies looked a little threatening. The PIAA Nakajima team of Takagi and Kurosawa, who shared the front row, dared to make a radical move. The tires were changed from rain to dry, and the setup was converted likewise.

Most of the teams, such as the Team Le Mans of Hattori and Schumacher, didn't go that far. They put on slicks with the setup unchanged.

The start saw a brilliant getaway by Hattori but it was Takagi who took the first corner first. Too much drag on his X-Japan Reynard made Hattori's job really tough to keep up with Takagi and there was a massive four second gap between the two at the end of lap one.

On lap 13 Hattori had to surrender the second position to Kurosawa. Tackling the adverse setup on the track which turned completely dry by then, the only thing he could do now was to fend off the charging Hoshino and Schumacher who had their share of bad handling.

A few people did the rain dance in vain on Sunday.

1996 All Japan F3 Championship Rd.5 Race Results (Top 10) July 7, 1996 Suzuka Circuit

Pos No Driver             Car           Engine         Lap  Time/Delay
 1   8 Juichi Wakisaka$B!!!!(JDallara F396  Mugen MF204A   17   35'45.415(167.27km/h)(J
 2  64 Koji Yamanishi     Dallara F395  Mugen MF204    17      -1.098
 3   4 Keiichi Nishimiya  Dallara F395  Opel C20       17      -2.115
 4   7 Tom Coronel$B!!(J      Tom's 036F    Toyota 3S-G    17      -6.403(J
 5   2 Shigekazu Wakisaka Dallara F395  Mugen MF204    17     -20.331
 6  16 Takeshi Tsuchiya   Dallara F395  HKS 310E       17     -24.769
 7   6 Shota Mizuno       Tom's 036F    Toyota 3S-G    17     -31.170
 8  45 Hiroshi Furuichi   Dallara F395  Toyota 3S-G    17     -32.249
 9  65 Haruki Kurosawa    Dallara F396  Mugen MF204    17     -32.588
10  12 Taku Utagawa       Dallara F396  Toyota 3S-G    17     -53.493

Fastest Lap: 64 Koji Yamanishi 2'04.642 (169.36km/h) on Lap 9 Championship Standings: J.Wakisaka 34, Yamanishi 26, Coronel 24, S.Wakisaka 13, Nishimiya 11, Mizuno 5, etc. Next Round: Aug 3-4, Sugo

The Dome F3 driver Juichi Wakisaka took advantage of the disastrous start by pole sitter Yamanishi to claim the third win of the season.