All-Japan Rally
Championship
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All Japan GT Championship |
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All Japan GT Championship |
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Rd.6 MOTEGI GT CHAMPION RACE - TWIN RING MOTEGI 9/14 - 15
Cusco Subaru Impreza starts from 4th after qualify to finish in 2nd on the Podium!
All Japan GT Championship (JGTC) round 6 was held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi prefecture from September 14 to 15 and Cusco Subaru Impreza of drivers Katsuo Kobayashi and Tatsuya Tanigawa started the race from 4th grid position to checker flag in 2nd place. It was their awaited Podium since round 3 in Sugo.
Qualify
As the autumnal rain front passed through the Kanto region, the weather was damp and cold as it rained off and on. The first qualifying session started in the morning of Saturday, 14th, the rain started to fall as GT 300 started its run. Tanigawa was in charge of scoring the time, and although he could not achieve the time he expected then, it was the mixed run with the GT 500 that he achieved 1 min. 57 sec., the 2nd of this session.
Quote from Tatsuya Tanigawa
"I couldn't get a clear lap, but if I had, I probably got 1 min. 55 seconds. This is our best grid position this year; sour most humble ambition would be to get the podium. I think we can, as long as we do our race."
Race
Sunday morning still left the rain from previous day, but eventually, the track had become a dry condition. At 2:00 pm, the rolling lap started witnessed by 44,000 fans in watch. The temperature was bit low in 20Cº. Tanigawa started the race, he overtook a Porche that started from 2nd, and improved his position by one and kept constant laps. On lap 22, Mosler, which was in 2nd place, went into the pit, which led Tanigawa to improve his positions again. On lap 30, Vemac, the leader and Tanigawa returned to pit simultaneously. The routine pit work was carried smoothly, and the car returned to the track with Kobayashi on board. Kobayashi kept a constant lap, and when all the cars finished Impreza was in 2nd place. The car finished the race keeping the position, 6 seconds behind the leader. This was their second podium this year after Sugo.
Quote from Katsuo Kobayashi
"The car was perfect! At first, I felt a vibration from the right-front tire, so I was watching carefully to what may happen. I was telling myself that I can't make any mistakes and to keep this position. The championship is never known until the end, and we have to earn points by finishing the last two races."
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The second session was with dry condition, and for most cars, it was their chance to improve their time. Tanigawa scored 1 min. 56 sec., which became a course record, but three more cars surpassed his time, and totally, his time attained 4th place in the grid.