Nissan Z Marks Second Victory
First Win for MOTUL PITWORK Z(#22)
Top 3 Qualifying Positions Dominated by the Zs
JGTC Rd.4 Hokkaido Gran GT Championship Race Report
Tokachi International Speedway (Hokkaido, Japan) - July 17-18, 2004
2004 JGTC Round 4 "Hokkaido Gran GT Championship" was held at Tokachi International Speedway located at a suburb of Obihiro, Hokkaido, where 31,000 spectators gathered. The event was blessed with very fine weather with the temperature of 29 degrees (C).
Among the three Z cars which dominated the top three positions in the qualifying sessions, Erik Comas driving G'ZOX SSR Hasemi Z (#3) started well from the pole. Comas led the race while increasing his lead, once ran alone with approx.10 seconds lead over the followers. On the lap 43, he entered the pit lane to hand over to the next driver Toshihiro Kaenishi.
Masami Kageyama who started MOTUL PITWORK Z (#22) from the 3rd position ran aggressively to move up to the 2nd position on the lap 2. He kept his position at the beginning of the race in spite of Supra( #37)'s hot chase and entered the pit lane for an early diver change on the lap 38.  The next driver Michael Krumm overtook Kaneishi(#3) as soon as he joined the track and kept the top with stable driving in the latter half of the race. On the last lap, the car #6 was in an extreme pursuit of Krumm and overtook #3. However, the car #22 shook off its pursuers and won the race. The two Z cars reserved the 1st and the 3rd places on the podium as the checkered flag was waved at the finish line.
Benoit started CALSONIC IMPUL Z(#12) from the 2nd grid, and kept the 3rd position at the beginning of the race. After the Z was overtaken by Supra (#37), the next driver Yuji Ide was supposed to cross the line at 6th place. However, he had to return to his pit due to a fuel line trouble just before the goal, finishing 11th in the end.
Meanwhile, Xanavi NISMO Z (#1) had 10th qualifying position and Satoshi Motoyama was the starting driver. Richard Lyons took over the car from Motoyama on the lap 11 in the middle of the race aiming to move up in the latter half. But he hit NSX #8 at the first corner on the lap 53, which damaged the right front part, and was forced to go back to his pit. The Z (#1) could not return to the race any more because the crew found out that the the rear suspension was damaged as well.
"I am very glad that we could win the race with our own effort and ability," said Hiroshi Degawa, Team Director of NISMO. "The four elements -- setting-up of the car, choice of the tires, pit assistance, and the drivers' skills -- worked ideally in total. This was the reason for the victory. We can even say that there was no mistake. As I wanted #22 to win here, this victory was a special one for us."
"Masami(Kageyama) did perfectly well in the first half of the race," said Michael Krumm who finished at the top. "I just kept my position after I overtook Toshihiro(Kaneishi). In fact, I did not know whether we could win or not until the very end. At the next race at Motegi we have to carry 100kg of handicap weight. It should be a tough one for us but we will always try to win the champiohship."
The winner Kageyama clinched 7 victories in the JGTC history including this one, which marks a record of most wins in the championship. "This honor was achieved thanks to you all," said Kageyama. "To some extent I've expected a close battle in the first half of the race. However I had to keep attention to the runner-ups not to come closer when I dealt with the back-markers. The car set-up has been good since the Friday sessons, so I was quite confident today. I also want to survive in the championship."
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RACE RESULTS
JGTC Rd.4 HOKKAIDO GRAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP - Sunday,18 July, 2004
Tokachi International Speedway [ 13:58- 89Laps
Fine / Dry ]
| Pos |
Car Name |
No. |
Driver Name |
Time/Diff. |
| 1 |
MOTUL PITWORK Z |
22 |
Masami Kageyama / Michael Krumm |
1:56:32.111 |
| 2 |
ESSO Ultraflo Supra |
6 |
Juichi Wakisaka / Akira Iida |
+0.686 |
| 3 |
G'ZOX SSR HASEMI Z |
3 |
Toshihiro Kaneishi / Erik Comas |
+1.693 |
| 4 |
WOODONE TOM'S SUPRA |
36 |
Takeshi Tsuchiya / Marco Apicella |
+22.776 |
| 5 |
DYNACITY TOM'S SUPRA |
37 |
James Courtney / Tatsuya Kataoka |
+41.446 |
| 6 |
EPSON NSX |
32 |
Tsugio Matsuda / Andre Lotterer |
+1:13.154 |
| 7 |
DENSO SARD SUPRA GT |
39 |
Jeremie Dufour / Andre Couto |
+1:16.493 |
| 8 |
TAKATA DOME NSX |
18 |
Ryo Michigami / Sebastien Philippe |
1Lap |
| 9 |
Yellow Hat YMS SUPRA |
35 |
Naoki Hattori / Shigekazu Wakisaka |
1Lap |
| 10 |
RAYBRIG NSX |
100 |
Shinji Nakano / Hiroki Kato |
1Lap |
| 11 |
CALSONIC IMPUL Z |
12 |
Benoit Treluyer / Yuji Ide |
2Laps |
| R |
Xanavi NISMO Z |
1 |
Satoshi Motoyama / Richard Lyons |
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TRACK INFORMATION
Length: 3,405.87m |
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