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F-Nippon / Super GT News
Dome Racing Team dominate at Sportsland Sugo
28/07/2008
Over 34,000 spectators descended on Sportsland SUGO, Sendia, Japan, on Sunday 27 July to watch Ryo Michigami and Takashi Kogure of the Dome Racing Team dominate the fifth round of the SuperGT championship, claiming their first and NSX’s first victory of the season.
The morning of qualifying was hit with rain though the track began to dry for the start of the session leaving the teams to go out on slick tyres. The Honda NSX teams were in good shape and occupied the top spots in qualifying. Takashi Kogure claimed pole position in his final attempt at the Super Lap, Katsutomo Kaneishi/Toshihiro Kaneishi (Honda NSX, Bridgestone) took second position and Ralph Firman/Takuya Izawa (Honda NSX, Bridgestone) claimed third.
The rain continued into Sunday for the morning free practice leaving light drizzle and fog covering the Sugo circuit, though the track dried out again in time for the race. Pole sitters Michigami and Kogure made a good start closely followed by the other NSX teams. On lap 38 Izawa attempted to challenge the Racing Dome Team, though lost control of his machine and ran off the track hitting the tyre barrier. Izawa’s Honda NSX suffered considerable damage, so he returned the machine to the pits and unfortunately was unable to return to the race. The battle was over leaving Michigami to take the chequered flag.
Ryo Michigami, Dome Racing Team, said:
“In the morning, we used a dry set up with the Bridgestone rain tyre, so when it came to the race we were prepared to use the slick tyre. My position was challenged by the other NSX team but I was able to keep hold of the lead.”
Takashi Kogure, Dome Racing Team, said:
“On my stint we used the soft compound tyre. I tried to pull away and create a gap but it was not possible. The other NSX team was also running well and pushed me very hard. It was a difficult race but the tyres enabled me to keep the position as I handed the car over to Michigami.”
Yoshihiro Hosoya , Bridgestone tyre engineer, said:
“The low temperature at Sportsland SUGO was expected so it came as no surprise to us. Michigami and Kogure the winning crew made a very solid race to claim their first win this year. Peter Dumbreck and Tatsuya Kataoka of the Bridgestone-shod Toyota Team Kraft claimed second position. Yuji Tachikawa and Richard Lyons, who started from the very back of the grid passed 13 cars to claim the last spot on the Bridgestone dominated podium. Sportsland SUGO was a good race to show the strong performance of our tyres.”
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