Erik Comas and Nissan Skyline GT-R Win JGTC Series Two Years Straight
Round 7 of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) was held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture on October 24th. Nissan drivers Erik Comas and Satoshi Motoyama ended the 1999 season with a third place finish allowing Comas to claim his second consecutive championship in the series. The driver pair of Aguri Suzuki and Michael Krumm finished in second, putting a fine end to the season for Nissan with two Skyline GT-Rs on the podium.
Race development
Twin Ring Motegi welcomed 42,300 fans (organizer announced) to the final round of the 1999 JGTC Series. The center of attention was obviously for the championship contest between Erik Comas (Satoshi Motoyama, the co-driver with Comas, was not competing for the championship as he missed Round 2 in the series and was thus 8 points behind Erik.), driving the No.1 Skyline GT-R, and the driver pairs Masanori Sekiya/Takuya Kurosawa (Toyota Supra) and Jyuchi Wakisaka/Katsutomo Kaneishi (Honda NSX). Both driver pairs of Suzuki/Krumm and Comas/Motoyama ran well beginning from the Saturday qualifying sessions; the former producing a superb qualifying performance as the fastest Nissan car for fourth on the grid, and the latter putting the No.1 Skyline in the sixth spot in spite of a heavy 60kg handicap weight.
Krumm took the first stint at the wheel and fought a good fight from the green light of the 63 lap-race. He quickly moved into third place and then tucked in behind the leader early on in the race as the Nissan pacemaker. A spin caused by bumping with another car caused him to fall back from the front-runners, but the German driver recovered well and maintained fourth place followed by Kazuyoshi Hoshino in the No.12 Skyline GT-R and Motoyama in the No.1 GT-R. Motoyama staged a good comeback after dropping back to eighth on the first lap.
The Nismo team mechanics showed their usual fantastic pit work during the routine driver changes at mid-race, helping the new drivers to rejoin the race in good position. When the top runners had completed their stops, Comas was running third in the No.1 GT-R followed by two other Skylines, the No. 12 and 2 cars now driven by Masami Kageyama and Aguri Suzuki, respectively. Suzuki overtook Kageyama later, but both of the Nissan drivers seemed to be driving as guards for the champion candidate, running in a smart convoy style behind the No.1 Skyline GT-R. The three Nissan drivers drove well, lapping consistently quicker as they worked their way around the track. When second running Osamu Nakako drove his NSX off into the corner gravel, Comas and Suzuki moved into second and third, respectively. Kageyama was forced to pit for fuel in the last stage of the race, and reentered the race in seventh. Coming out of the last corner on the final lap of the race, Comas was leading Suzuki, but he slowed and gave way to the No.2 GT-R and crossed the line for a third place finish. With this, the French driver became the 1999 JGTC champion.
In the GT 300 class, Nismo team's young driver pair of Takeshi Tsuchiya and Yuji Ide overwhelmed from the qualifying sessions in the No.15 Silvia. Even though carrying the class limit 80kg handicap weight, they qualified the top in the class, and with a record lap at the circuit. Tsuchiya set the pace early on and fought well, but a brake problem slowed the No.15 car and they had to settle for fourth in the class. With this finish, Tsuchiya/Ide took second place in the GT 300 class championship.
Erik Comas:
" I'm very glad to have won the championship two years in a row. The team did a good job as usual, making excellent pit work and we never had to retire from a race. The Skyline GT-R is the ideal car to win the championship. Consistent, easy to drive, reliable, and a manageable engine with plenty of torque. "
Satoshi Motoyama:
" I'm very happy to close the last round of the championship with a good result, one that's even better than we expected before the race. It's great that Erik could get the championship. The Skyline GT-R ran well, especially the braking is fantastic. In spite of the heavy handicap weight, braking performance was still good. "
The results of the race are as follows:
| Pos. | No. | Class | Class pos. | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1.
|
Supra JZA80 | Masanori Sekiya/Takuya Kurosawa | TOYOTA Castrol TEAM TOM'S | 1:59'11.055 | ||||
|
2.
|
Skyline GT-R BNR34 | Aguri Suzuki/Michael Krumm | NISMO | 1:59'21.782 | ||||
|
3.
|
Skyline GT-R BNR34 | Erik Comas/Satoshi Motoyama | NISMO | 1:59'21.894 | ||||
|
4.
|
Honda NSX NA 2 | Osamu Nakako/Ryo Michigami | Mugen Dome Project | 1:59'23.445 | ||||
|
5.
|
Honda NSX NA 2 | Tom Coronel/Hidetoshi Mitsusada | Mobil 1 NAKAJIMA RACING | 1:59'52.813 | ||||
|
6.
|
Supra JZA80 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel/Shinichi Yamaji | Matsumoto Kiyoshi TEAM TOM'S | 1:59'59.326 | ||||
|
7.
|
Skyline GT-R BNR34 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino/Masami Kageyama | TEAM IMPUL | 2:00'10.435 | ||||
|
8.
|
Skyline GT-R BNR33 | Masahiro Hasemi/Tetsuya Tanaka | Hasemi Motor Sports | 2:00'17.124 | ||||
|
18.
|
Silvia S-15 | Takeshi Tsuchiya/Yuji Ide | NISMO | |||||
|
22.
|
Silvia S-14 | Tetsuo Kozai/Nobuo Komiya | Alta RACING TEAM | |||||
| Silvia S-15 | Hideo Fukuyama/Nobuyuki Oyagi | TEAM DAISHIN |
Twin Ring Motegi : 4.801379km
Entry/Start/finishÅF39/37/29
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