Benoit Treluyer drove his Nissan to a record lap at Fuji
Courtesy of Nissan
The qualifying for the FUJI GT 300km RACE, Round 9 of the 2007 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, took place at Fuji Speedway (one lap 4.563 km) in Shizuoka Pref. on Nov. 3. In this qualifying the CALSONIC IMPUL Z driven by Benoit Treluyer and Kazuki Hoshino won the GT500 class pole position and will start from the front row in the final race on the 4th.
It was Benoit Treluyer who drove the timed laps for the CALSONIC IMPUL Z team this time. In the afternoon Super Lap for the top ten qualifiers (time trial run one machine at a time), he drove so hard that the machine was nearly out of control in some of the curves, but he managed to run a course record time of 1 min. 33.022 sec. to win the team's first pole position of the season.
This ninth round of the 2007 season represents the memorable 100th SUPER GT race. And starting from the pole position in this big race will be a machine with the same CALSONIC team colors that have been competing in all 100 races since the inaugural race back in round one of the 1994 season.
In the GT300 class, the TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S driven by Kazuya Oshima was top qualifier. Ohshima and teammate Hiroaki Ishiura are presently the 2nd-place rankers in the driver's title race.
Pole position winner comments
No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z [GT500]
Benoit Treluyer: "It was our goal to win the pole position today, so I am very happy that we succeeded. There were a lot of fans who came out to see us run at Fuji Speedway today and I'm glad that they saw us qualify first. I made a slight mistake in the first qualifying session in the morning, but in the afternoon Super Lap I was able to run the third sector of the course very well. We haven't been lucky this season, and we have only finished on the podium once, so I really want to see us win tomorrow."
Kazuki Hoshino: "There have been a lot of races this season where things didn't come together, with us and with the team. That's why we came to Fuji this time determined to win no matter what. And that is also why this pole is so important. The race settings feel good, so I think it will be enough if we can just add a little extra something to that."
No.101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S [GT300]
Kazuya Oshima: Yesterday I thought it would be difficult for us to win the pole position this time, so it is still hard to believe. I am glad that we got this good result because it will be important for tomorrow's race. We have done plenty of work on the race settings, so I am confident we can do well. That is another reason that this pole position is a meaningful result. I want to make full use of the good car and engine conditions and the good tires to win tomorrow's race."
Hiroaki Ishiura: "[In the last round] at Autopolis, the flow of things didn't go well. So, the entire team has come here with determination to work together and do the job. The top four qualifiers today are also the top four teams in the season ranking. That means that we have to win tomorrow. Second place won't be good enough. Now that we have won this good position, I want us to make it a pole-to-finish win tomorrow."
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| FUJI SPEEDWAY | Length : 4.563km
| Weather: Cloudy | Course: Dry
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Qualifying TOP 3
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Po.No.Machine Driver Time
[GT500]---------------------------------------------------------
1 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z *B.Treluyer/K.Hoshino R 1'33.022
2 17 REAL NSX K.Kaneishi/*T.Kaneishi 1'33.671
3 32 EPSON NSX *L.DUVAL/F.CARBONE 1'33.692
[GT300]---------------------------------------------------------
1 101 TOY STORY Racing apr MR-S *K.Oshima/H.Ishiura 1'42.068
2 43 ARTA Garaiya M.Nitta/*S.Takagi 1'42.295
3 2 Privee KENZO Asset Shiden K.Takahashi/*H.Katoh 1'42.403
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*=Running the Qualifying R=Course Record