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Eifel Dunlop Impreza finished the reduced race in 2nd in Class 2

"The 9th Tokachi 24 hr Race" held at Tokachi Speedway from July 20 to 21 was interrupted by the dense fog from after midnight to morning. It has become very irregular race with the result decided according to the accumulation of laps completed during the first part (11 hours) and the second part (8 hours).

Car #2, Eifel Dunlop Impreza with drivers Kazuo Shimizu, Toshihiro Yoshida, Toshihiro Arai and Tsutomu Shibuya drove through total of 441 laps, and although they missed their third consecutive victory, they successfully finished the race in 2nd place of Class 2.

3:00 pm July 20, with 28 cars on the grid, the long race of 24 hours had started. Shimizu had marked their rival car #11 (Lancer Evolution) closely and kept his position in 6th over all. As the other Class 2 cars made their first pit stop around 1hour 15 minutes after start, car#2 had easily reached the top of the class. Eventually, they made laps for more than 1 hour 50 minutes, to prove their efficiency in fuel mileage.

Driver had then switched to Arai who is making his first challenge to Super Taikyu. However, he returned to pit after 50 minutes with emergency. Their left front drive shaft broken from the over heated brakes. The team replaced the drive shafts of both left and right and its hubs for security. This made them lose position to 4th in class, but as the drivers had changed to Yoshida, then Shibuya, and then Shimizu and by the time it reached 10:00 pm, they recovered their position to 2nd in class. They were out of any major problems as they cleared the laps, but the race was interrupted with dense fog before 2:00 am. This called for the end of first part, and they finished in 9th over all, 2nd in class.

7:00 am, the second part had started. The drivers changed from Shimizu, Yoshida, and then Shibuya around noon, another problem occurred this time in the left hub. They managed to return to the track without losing their position, and passed the car to Arai to receive the checkered flag. Although they were not able to make 3 consecutive victories, they finished second best on the podium.

Rd.5 TOKACHI 24 HOURS - TOKACHI INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY 7/20-21 Eifel Dunlop Impreza finished the reduced race in 2nd in Class 2 "The 9th Tokachi 24 hr Race" held at Tokachi Speedway from July 20 to 21 was interrupted by the dense fog from after midnight to morning. It has become very irregular race with the result decided according to the accumulation of laps completed during the first part (11 hours) and the second part (8 hours). Car #2, Eifel Dunlop Impreza with drivers Kazuo Shimizu, Toshihiro Yoshida, Toshihiro Arai and Tsutomu Shibuya drove through total of 441 laps, and although they missed their third consecutive victory, they successfully finished the race in 2nd place of Class 2. 3:00 pm July 20, with 28 cars on the grid, the long race of 24 hours had started. Shimizu had marked their rival car #11 (Lancer Evolution) closely and kept his position in 6th over all. As the other Class 2 cars made their first pit stop around 1hour 15 minutes after start, car#2 had easily reached the top of the class. Eventually, they made laps for more than 1 hour 50 minutes, to prove their efficiency in fuel mileage. Driver had then switched to Arai who is making his first challenge to Super Taikyu. However, he returned to pit after 50 minutes with emergency. Their left front drive shaft broken from the over heated brakes. The team replaced the drive shafts of both left and right and its hubs for security. This made them lose position to 4th in class, but as the drivers had changed to Yoshida, then Shibuya, and then Shimizu and by the time it reached 10:00 pm, they recovered their position to 2nd in class. They were out of any major problems as they cleared the laps, but the race was interrupted with dense fog before 2:00 am. This called for the end of first part, and they finished in 9th over all, 2nd in class. 7:00 am, the second part had started. The drivers changed from Shimizu, Yoshida, and then Shibuya around noon, another problem occurred this time in the left hub. They managed to return to the track without losing their position, and passed the car to Arai to receive the checkered flag. Although they were not able to make 3 consecutive victories, they finished second best on the podium. Quote from Kazuo Shimizu I knew this is not an easy race to be winning 3 years in a row. We probably had more problems if not for the interval. But I think we're making progress because last year, we broke 8 drive shafts and this year we broke only 2 (laughs). The fuel mileage was good too. Arai did very well although it was almost the first time for him. This Tokachi 24 hour is supposed to be the most difficult though. Quote from Toshihiro Arai I'm so relieved the race is over; you know in rally, for each SS, you have to go flat out for about 30 km. I feel much easy with closed circuit, because the tracks are wide and you can see what's there ahead of the corners. If I have another chance, I would want to challenge another race again.