|
|
F-Nippon / Super GT News
Super GT News - Heat Takes Its Toll In Sepang
25/06/2007
The fourth round of the Super GT championship took place in Sepang, with a capacity audience enjoying the event which marked the 50th anniversary of the Japan–Malaysia friendship race. The reception may have been warm, but it was the stifling heat and a recently surafced track that really challenged the competing teams.
The teams and drivers were informed of the resurface after their arrival in Sepang and before qualifying, leaving the drivers struggling to get the correct car and tire set-up.
Despite these difficulties, Ryo Michigami and Takashi Kogure in their Bridgestone-shod Honda NSX took pole position with a time alsmost three second faster than last year. Daisuke Ito and Ralph Firman also in a Bridgestone-shod Honda NSX were second, with the Juichi Wakisaka and Andre Lottere’s Bridgestone Lexus SC430 in third.
During the race formation lap, Michigami and Kogure’s car stopped with transmission trouble, handing the lead to Ito and Firman. With the leading cars all suffering from fading grip, the lead changed again twice, with Wakisaka/Lottere and then Benoit Treluyer/Kazuki Hoshino in their Bridgestone-shod Nissan Fairlady Z taking top position.
By lap nineteen Joao Paolo de Oliveira and Seiji took the lead, a position they maintained until the race end to gift the team their maiden victory. The Bridgestone-shod Honda NSX of Dominik Schwager and Shinya Hosokawa finished second, followed by Treluyer and Hoshino.
“We struggled to supply the right tires for the resurfaced truck this weekend,” said Hosoya Yoshihiro, Bridgestone’s tire engineer. “Even facing these hard cnditions, our teams still got onto the podium, and I was sorry to see the pole-sitting NSX suffer from mechanical problams. We will win next round!”
|
|