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F-Nippon / Super GT News
Formula Nippon News - Quintarelli Wins In Okayama
11/06/2007
Ronnie Quintarelli took his first chequered flag of the championship in the fourth round of the Formula Nippon series, in front a capacity crowd at the Okayama International Circuit.
Despite changeable weather conditions in qualifying, which saw many of the drivers having to complete their timed trials in wet conditions. Takashi Kogure, winner of the third round race completed his run in the dry to take pole, followed by Quintarelli and Loik Duval in third.
Sunday saw the changeable weather conditions remain, drenching the track before drying up before the race. Quintarelli made an excellent start and took the lead followed by Kogure. An accident at Hairpin Corner on first lap saw two cars retire from the race, with the safety car out until the third lap.
Quintarelli continued his lead with Benoit Treluyer and Tsugio Matsuda in hot pursuit. The tight circuit prevented any further overtaking and the position of the top three cars did not change until the chequered flag dropped.
“I am so happy because Okayama is our home circuit, a lot of my fans came and cheered me on to win,” said an emotional Quintarelli. “Thanks also for my team, which prepared such a good car. I look forward to maintaining this pace at the next race at Suzuka.”
“This was the first ever Formula Nippon race in Okayama,” said Bridgestone’s senior technical engineer Yasuo Teranishi, “but we did a good job and demonstrated both our tire’s strong level of grip and low level of wear. Congratulations Ronnie!”
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