JCTC: Suzuka results

Here's the result of the round one of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in Suzuka on March 31.

Pos Car  Drivers                           Car                   Time
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  1  60   Naoki Hattori/Ralf Schumacher    Lark McLaren F1GTR    1:53:59.892
  2  61   David Brabham/John Neilsen       Lark McLaren F1GTR    +30.327
  3   3   Masahiro Hasemi/Tetsuya Tanaka   UJ Skyline            +36.778
  4   2   Aguri Suzuki/Hideo Fukuyama      Zexel Skyline         +44.033
  5  36   Masanori Sekiya/Pedro de la Rosa Castrol Tom's Supra   +52.479
  6 556   Toshio Suzuki/Masahiko Kondo     Kure R33              +2:13.439
  7  30   Yoji Yamada/Eiichi Tajima        Sogo Keibi Porsche    -1 lap
  8   1   Kazuyoshi Hoshino/M. Kageyama    Calsonic Skyline      -1 lap
  9  34   Hideshi Matsuda/Osamu Nakako     STP Taisan PorscheGT2 -1 lap
 10   8   Tom Krstensen/Tetsuya Tanigawa   FET Sports Supra      -2 laps
 11  55   Kenji Tohira/Hiroyuki Kawai      WISE Skyline GTR      -2 laps
 12  35   Anthony Reid/Takeshi Tsuchiya    Taisan PorscheGT2     -2 laps
 13   5   Kaoru Iida/Tetsuya Ota           PorscheGT2            -2 laps
 14  26   Keiichi Suzuki/Morio Nitta       Taisan PorscheRSR     -3 laps *
 15  31   Katsunori Iketani/Kazuo Mogi     Caltex Porsche        -3 laps
 16  72   Norio Makiguchi/T. Kinoshita     WAKO'S BMW M3         -4 laps
 17   6   Tetsuya Kawasaki/K. Wakita       Imuraya BP MR2        -4 laps
 18  70   Yoshimi Ishibashi/Kaoru Hoshino  Advan Porsche         -5 laps
 19  20   Kenji Takahashi/Hiroaki Suga     AI Auto GAB Porsche   -5 laps
 20  95   Nobuyuki Oyagi/Tsuneaki Mankumo  Daishin Sylvia        -5 laps
 21  69   Kenji Kawagoe/Shunji Kasuya      Porsche911 GT2        -6 laps
 22  21   Fuminori Mizuno/Kenji Yamamoto   BP Advan BMW          -6 laps
 23  38   Adrian Fu/Rodney Jones           Fuspeed Porsche       -7 laps
 24  15   Scott Maxwell/Motoji Sekine      Prova964LMBi Turbo    -9 laps
 25  17   Toshihiko Nogami/T. Koshimizu    Kageisen RX7          -10 laps
 26  51   Masamitsu Ishihara/Hiroyuki Noji Cobra Porsche         -10 laps
 27  28   Masaoki Nagashima/Ji. Yamanashi  Taisan BMW M3         -11 laps
 28  37   Eric Comas/Hidetoshi Mitsusada   Castrol Cermo Supra   -12 laps
 29   9    Katsuhiko Okamoto/T. Hioki      Porsche               -14 laps
 30  39   Wayne Gardner/Alain Ferte            Sard SupraGT      -14 laps

* 1st in the GT300 class

Five non-classified cars

51 laps, 157.40 km The McLaren combo showed both consistency and speed to claim the 1-2 finish on arrival to the JGTC scene. Eric Comas' blistering pace in the early stages just didn't pay off since his Toyota was too thirsty to last the distance, throwing away the 2nd place as a result. The Nissan camp fought well despite the relative lack of pre-season testing. Veteran Hasemi's Skyline made it to the podium while the F1 refugee Aguri Suzuki's spirited driving was something to write home about.

The supporting Japanese F3 race was also worth watching, with Juichi Wakisaka, Tom Coronel in the Tom's, Keiichi Nishimiya, Shigekazu Wakisaka (younger brother of JW), Go Shimizu, and Takeshi Asami as the first 6 finishers.

The next JGTC race is held at Mt.Fuji on May 4, and the JF3 round 2 will be in Tsukuba on April 21.