JCTC: Krumm, Tanaka Fuji report 2001-08-05

<pre> Japanese GT Championship : Fuji Round Three 4 & 5 August 2001

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Krumm and Tanaka Win and take Championship Lead.

Qualifying
Michael qualified his Nissan Skyline in eighth position. Team Mate Eric Comas who is enjoying the lack of ballast and the larger air restrictor for this race qualified the sister Nissan Skyline in second position.

"I am not too happy with the balance in the car at the moment and with the smaller restrictor we are loosing out on the straights here at Fuji. We will work hard to get a good race set-up and see what happens tomorrow." Michael commented.

Race
In front of 50,000 enthusiastic spectators, Michael made one of his trademark starts and from the fourth row was in fifth position within a few corners. He had taken third position by the end of the eighth lap and set about passing the second placed car to chase his teammate who had taken the lead at the start.

Once into second position, Michael closed the gap to within a few seconds of Eric before pitting to hand the no. 22 Skyline to his co-driver Tanaka who rejoined in second position. Eric then pitted and handed the No.23 car over to Masami Kageyama, who rejoined in the lead.

The final battle was set - between the two Skylines - and Michael's co-driver Tanaka re-caught and passed Kageyama, to secure the win for the No.22 car in the dying moments of the thrilling race.

"The car ran well compared to yesterday. The setup and engine were fantastic. I made a good start and was able to overtake Ukyo and the No.6 Toyota," said Krumm after the race. "I caught up with Erik, but he was running as quick as I was so we pitted and Tetsuya did a great job passing Masami in traffic. We lead the championship by one point now, but will have to carry extra weight for the rest of the year."

-mkr