JCTC: Sugor results

All Japan GT Championship Rd.5 Oct.5-6, 1996 Sportsland Sugo (3.704km) Weather Conditions: Partly Cloudy, Warm

Pos # Class Drivers Car Laps Time/Delay Q 1 60 GT500 Naoki Hattori Ralf Schumacher Lark McLaren F1 GTR 81 2:02'28.825(146.984km/h) 1 2 1 GT500 Kazuyoshi Hoshino Masahiko Kageyama Calsonic Skyline 81 -2.180 9 3 556 GT500 Toshio Suzuki Masahiko Kondo KURE R33 81 -17.831 2 4 37 GT500 Eric Comas Hironori Takeuchi Castrol Cerumo Supra 81 -54.627 4 5 2 GT500 Aguri Suzuki Hideo Fukuyama ZEXEL Skyline 81 -1'09.602 10 6 3 GT500 Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka UJ Skyline 80 -1 lap 6 7 39 GT500 Naoki Nagasaka Alain Ferte Sard Supra GT 80 -1 lap 11 8 36 GT500 Masanori Sekiya Pedro de la Rosa Castrol Tom's Supra 80 -1 lap 3 9 55 GT500 Kenji Tohira Hiroyuki Kawai WISE Skyline GTR 79 -2 laps 17 10 100 GT500 Kunimitsu Takahashi Keiichi Tsuchiya ADVAN BP NSX 79 -2 laps 14 11 26 GT300 Keiichi Suzuki Morio Nitta Taisan StarCard RSR 77 -4 laps 25 12 910 GT300 Seiichi Sodeyama Hideyuki Tamamoto Nine Ten Porsche 76 -5 laps 28 13 31 GT300 Katsunori Iketani Kazuo Mogi Caltex Porsche 76 -5 laps 27 14 28 GT300 Manabu Orito Takeshi Tsuchiya Tsuchiya MR2 76 -5 laps 21 15 7 GT300 Shinichi Yamaji Haruhiko Matsumoto RE Amemiya SuperG RX7 76 -5 laps 30 16 91 GT300 Masahiro Matsunaga Ryuji Kawai Buddy Club MR2 74 -7 laps 26 17 21 GT300 Yasushi Hitotsuyama Kenji Yamamoto BP Dunlop BMW 74 -7 laps 33 18 16 GT500 Tetsuhumi Toda Eiji Yamada Prova 993GT2 38 74 -7 laps 23 19 51 GT300 Masamitsu Ishihara Hiroyuki Noji Cobra Porsche 73 -8 laps 35 20 34 GT500 Hideshi Matsuda Osamu Nakako STP Taisan PorscheGT2 72 -9 laps 15 21 17 GT300 Toshihiko Nogami Toshiaki Koshimizu Tokagei RX7 72 -9 laps 36 22 72 GT300 Takayuki Kinoshita Norio Makiguchi WAKO'S BMW M3 71 -10 laps 29 23 43 GT500 Yukio Okamoto Yasutaka Hinoi BMB Mini Juke Porsche 70 -11 laps 22 24 20 GT300 Kenji Takahashi Hiroaki Suga Ai Auto GAB Porsche 64 -17 laps 34 25 8 GT500 Tom Kristensen Bertran Gachot FET SPORTS SUPRA 64 -17 laps 7 26 35 GT500 Oscar Larrauri Anthony Reid Taisan Sanyo Shinpan F40 61 -20 laps 12 27 12 GT300 Satoshi Motoyama Fuminori Mizuno Person's Sylvia 60 -21 laps 20 28 6 GT300 Tetsuya Kawasaki Nendai Fukushima imuraya BP MR-2 59 -22 laps 24 29 57 GT300 Toshihiro Fukazawa Masaaki Nagashima Castrol SF afiniRX7 59 -22 laps 38 30 95 GT300 Nobuyuki Oyagi Tsuneaki Mankumo Daishin Sylvia 58 -23 laps 37 DNF 15 GT500 Motoji Sekine Takahiro Ito Prova 964 Twin Turbo 46 -35 laps 32 88 GT500 Takao Wada Satoshi Ikezawa Tamura Diablo Iota 45 -36 laps 18 19 GT500 Katsuo Kobayashi Manabu Orito Jun Trust Skyline 20 -61 laps 19 5 GT500 Kaoru Iida Tetsuya Ota Chatrese Porsche GT2 17 -64 laps 16 70 GT300 Yoshimi Ishibashi Kaoru Hoshino Gaikokuya Porsche 10 -71 laps 31 61 GT500 David Brabham John Nielsen Lark McLaren F1 GTR 1 -80 laps 5 30 GT500 Yoji Yamada Eiichi Tajima Sogo Keibi Porsche 1 -80 laps 8 25 GT500 Masami Kageyama Yuji Takahashi FedEx 300ZX-GTS 0 -81 laps 13

Fastest Lap 60 Schumacher 1'23.862 (159.015km/h) on Lap 9 Attendance: 38,300

Championship Standings: GT500 Hoshino/Kageyama 54, Brabham/Nielsen 53, Hattori/Schumacher and Comas 40, Hasemi/Tanaka 39, Sekiya/de la Rosa 38, A.Suzuki/Fukuyama 34, etc.

GT300 Suzuki/Nitta 70, Sodeyama/Nagasaka 65, Kinoshita/Makiguchi 42, Kawasaki 39, etc.

Final Round: Oct.26-27 Mine

It looked like a demolition derby rather than racing when the penultimate round of the 1996 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship hit the narrow and unforgiving Sugo on Sunday. Cars banging, scattering body parts, spinning, smoking, spitting oil, you want it, you got it.

The Schumacher/Hattori pair was no exception in the chaos. Hattori spun on the pit road moments after taking over the leading McLaren from Schumacher. To save his own reputation, the Japanese driver came back from behind and scored the maximun points for the second time in GT this season.

Pedro de la Rosa took advantage of Hattori's embarrassment to take the lead but it turned out to be a mediocre finish for the Spaniard who said adios to the maiden win with spinning on oil on lap 70, and whirling once again five laps later.

The other McLaren duo of Nielsen/Brabham came to Sugo as the co-championship leaders but their chance to bag the title was gone on as early as the second lap where Brabham spun off and slammed into a Porsche entering the first corner.

It will be Mine, another track too small for those cars, to stage the last and most important round of the '96 JGTC. Let's see what happens.