The Lexus won at Suzuka
Courtesy of the Super GT Championship
The INTERNATIONAL POKKA 1000 km race, Round 6 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at the Suzuka Circuit (lap = 5.807 km x 173 laps) in Mie Pref. on Aug. 19, and the victory went to the houzan TOM’S SC430 driven by Juichi Wakisaka, Andre Lotterer and Oliver Jarvis.
The race started under grueling conditions with an air temperature of 33 degrees C. With a number of machines involved in accidents in the early stages, the race quickly became a battle of survival. While other cars dropped out, the houzan TOM’S SC430 continued to work itself steadily up through the field from an 11th position start. In the latter part of the race it staged a breath-taking battle with the leading ARTA NSX until rain began to fall with about 40 laps remaining. With this, most of the cars changed to rain tires, only to have the rain stop after about 20 laps. The houzan TOM’S SC430 made the quick decision to change to dry tires at that point. That decision enabled it to catch and pass the ARTA NSX with ten laps remaining in the race and run on to a come-from-behind win.
As last year’s champions, the houzan TOM’S SC430 had failed to win any of the first five rounds of this year’s season. But brilliant teamwork finally brought them their first win of the 2007s series despite such tough race conditions.
In the GT300 class, the Privee KENZO Asset Shiden team started from the class pole position and went on to claim the victory, its first of the season.
（Spectators: 35,500）
■ Winner Comments
No.1 houzan TOM’S SC430 [GT500]
Juichi Wakisaka: “I think that until this point in the season our strong desire to win had gotten us into a bad rut that kept us from winning races. Because we were starting from 11th position this time I think we were able to approach the race more easily. When the rain started to fall, I was confident that Andre would run a good race for us, even if it didn’t mean victory. After I turned the wheel over to Lotterer, I was certain that he and Ralph (Firman in No. 8) would show us some exciting racing. In the remaining races of the season I hope I can show the fans more of this kind of exciting racing.”
Andre Lotterer: “Today was fantastic! It was so great to be able to win in front of this many fans. In the latter stages of the race it was raining hard and it was dark, so the racing was tough. Since I couldn’t see the track, I made the decision to change to slick tires just on feeling. After I got the lead, I ran safely, worrying about running out of gas all the way to the end.”
Oliver Jarvis: “Although I wasn’t able to drive during the race, I feel very fortunate to have spent such a great weekend with such a great team. I want to thank all the fans for their support.”
No. 2 Privee KENZO Asset Shiden [GT300]
Hiroki Kato: “We finally won a race. I am glad that we were able to win at such a big race. Having a great back-up driver like Yoshimoto also helped us win this. Although there was a lot going on behind the scenes, the team did a good job. Because of this win we will be carrying more weight and it will not be easy, but I am going to work together with Takahashi to do the best that we can.”
Kazuho Takahashi: “According to the original plan, I was supposed to be driving when it was cool (laughs). I hate the rain, and it was dark too, and No. 62 car was gaining on us, so it was tough out there. I am just glad that we were able to win in front of so many fans.”
Hiroki Yoshimoto: “It was my first GT in a while and it sure was hot (laughs). Kato-san set up the machine so well that it was easy racing out there. I did have one real tense moment when I went out there hard in the rain, though.”
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SUZUKA CIRCUIT | 5.807km X 173Laps=1,004.611 km
Weather: Fine/Rain | Course: Dry/Wet
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RACE RESULTS TOP3
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Po.No.Machine Driver LAPS Time/Diff
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1 1 houzan TOM'S SC430 J.Wakisaka/A.Lotterer/O.Jarvis
173 06:04'10.983
2 8 ARTA NSX D.Ito/R.Firman/Y.Ide 173 0'09.940
3 23 XANAVI NISMO Z S.Motoyama/R.Lyons/H.Yasuda 172 1Lap
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1 2 Prive´e KENZO Asset Shiden K.Takahashi/H.Katoh/H.oshimoto
159 06:04'28.880
2 43 ARTA Garaiya M.Nitta/S.Takagi 159 1'16.383
3 62 WILLCOM ADVAN VEMAC408R S.Shibahara/H.Kurosawa
159 0'24.321
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