FNIPPON: Suzuka results

Formula Nippon Round 9 Race Results Sept.15,1996 Suzuka Circuit (5.86403km) Weather Conditions: Cloudy

Pos No Driver             Car                Tire  Laps Time/Delay                Q
 1  24 Naoki Hattori      Reynard96D Mugen   BS    35   1:02'50.115   2 1'43.812
 2  19 Kazuyoshi Hoshino  Lola T96/52 Mugen  BS    35        -1.514   4 1'44.341
 3   1 Toshio Suzuki      Lola T96/52 Mugen  BS    35        -8.841   5 1'44.895
 4  25 Ralf Schumacher    Reynard96D Mugen   BS    35       -11.158   1 1'43.736
 5   9 Pedoro De La Rosa  Lola T96/51 Mugen  BS    35       -14.635   6 1'44.592
 6  64 Toranosuke Takagi  Reynard96D Mugen   BS    35       -43.671   3 1'44.172
 7  27 Masahiko Kageyama  Reynard96D Mugen   BS    35       -45.245   8 1'45.090
 8  65 Takuya Kurosawa    Reynard96D Mugen   BS    35       -54.452   7 1'44.950
 9   8 Shinji Nakano      Dome F104i Mugen   BS    35       -54.822  21 1'47.765
10   5 Marco Apicella     Reynard96D Judd    YH    35       -59.862   9 1'45.146
11  10 Norberto Fontana   LolaT96/51 Mugen   BS    35     -1'00.198  17 1'46.251
12  12 Yukihiro Hane      LolaT94/50 Mugen   BS    35     -1'43.851  18 1'47.031
13  15 Tetsuya Tanaka     Lola T93   Mugen   YH    33       -2 laps  22 1'48.600
14  17 Taichiro Onishi    LolaT94/50 Mugen   YH    32       -3 laps  23 1'48.914

DNC 73 Tesuji Tamanaka Lola T93 Ford BS 30 -5 laps 25 1'57.439 DNF 6 Hidetoshi Mitsusada Reynard95D Judd YH 27 -8 laps 16 1'46.248 31 Hideki Okada LolaT95/50 Mugen BS 23 -12 laps 24 1'49.382 28 Masahiko Kondo Reynard94D Mugen BS 23 -12 laps 20 1'47.667 2 Katsumi Yamamoto Dome F104i Mugen BS 22 -13 laps 10 1'45.369 7 Masami Kageyama LolaT95/50 Mugen YH 21 -14 laps 13 1'45.712 21 Michael Krumm Reynard95D Mugen BS 20 -15 laps 14 1'45.865 56 Satoshi Motoyama Reynard95D Mugen BS 15 -20 laps 12 1'45.626 20 Andrew Gilbert-Scott Reynard96D Mugen BS 11 -24 laps 15 1'45.969 72 Atsushi Kawamoto LolaT93/50 Ford BS 9 -26 laps 19 1'47.358 55 Katsutomo Kaneishi Reynard95D Mugen BS 7 -28 laps 11 1'45.383 30 Eiichi Tajima LolaT94/50 Mugen BS 1 -34 laps -----------

Fastest Lap: 8 Nakano, 1'45.825 (199.48km/h) on Lap 35

Championship Standings: Schumacher 40, Hattori 38, Hoshino 31, Takagi 25, Fontana 22, Nakano 17, Kurosawa 10, Motoyama/Kaneishi 9, etc.

Final Round: Oct.19-20 Fuji

Hattori picked up another win to keep the championship alive. Hoshino did everything he could to cling on to the title hopes and he managed to finish in second.

Having used up his tires in the early stage of the race, Schumacher picked up the pace as the fuel load lightened but it was too late to catch up with his winning teammate anyway.

Takagi started well from the third grid and placed himself in second. By the last third of the event, his Mugen engine started to growl, and a slight misunderstanding with a backmarker put an end to his shot at the championship.

Stay tuned for Hattori against Schumacher with Hoshino an outside chance for the crucial title decider in Fuji.