yeah i caught one of them last year. thats why i wondered when another would be on

 

from the race

 

from jgtc.net about the Z winning


If the events of the season's first race in the 2004 AUTOBACS JGTC Series are any precursor as to what lays ahead, it's going to be a wild and eventful year. The start of the race itself was a peculiar one. An impressive 58,500 fans gathered for the season opener, excitedly anticipating the green as the Safety Car circled the track not once, but four times before allowing the field to complete its rolling start. There had been no accidents and it wasn't raining, but track conditions had to be carefully checked due to the accumulation of water on the surface following the overnight rain.
The pole-sitter No.22 Fairlady Z driven by Kageyama and No.12 Nissan driven by Ide both started on slick tires and quickly dropped position in the field, most of the cars behind them choosing to start with intermediate rubber. The No.38 Supra driven by Ara jumped from the second row on the grid into the lead immediately. Dufour, behind the wheel of the No.39 Supra, seemed confident under the slippery conditions and moved in to challenge the No.38 Supra in the opening laps. The French driver overtook Ara on lap 10 to take the lead. Not far behind, a Nissan - Supra battle broke out between Comas in the No.3 Fairlady Z and Iida in the No.6 Supra, who was lying in third. Comas pushed to find an opening but Iida held him off, keeping the door closed lap after lap. The clouds started to break around the 15th lap, letting beams of sunlight spot the circuit. With this, the teams began preparing for an extra pit stop for tire changes. The race leader, Dufour, chose lap 19 to pit and change to slicks. His move was quickly followed by a number of other teams on lap 20. Then again on lap 46, Dufour entered the pit to hand the wheel over to his Portuguese co-driver, Couto, who set a fast pace with the No.39 Toyota, clearly controlling the field.

The No.1 Fairlady Z of the NISMO team started off the day with a "Drive-thru Penalty", received for changing tires on the grid just before the start of the race. Even after dropping position due to the drive-thru, defending Driver's Champion Motoyama did an excellent job of recovering throughout the first half of the race, lapping consistently quicker through the field and taking fourth before passing the wheel to Lyons. The team crew did a marvelous job in the pit and sent the car back to the track in lightning speed time. The Irish Nissan driver showed shear determination and closed the gap, moving into second and only 15sec off the lead car, Couto, by lap 53. But Couto, too, was in good rhythm with the No.39 Supra.

With only four laps remaining, Couto was imposed a "Stop & Go" penalty for overtaking when the yellow flag was out, sending the SARD team into shock. Lyons cruised by the distraught Couto and received the checkered flag first, giving the NISMO team a victory in the Fairlady Z's debut GT500 race. Wakisaka crossed the finish line second and Couto in third, still managing to make the podium.
The best placed Honda was No.32 car driven by Matsuda and Lotterer, finishing in tenth place.

No.1 Xanavi NISMO Z (GT500 Winner)

Satoshi Motoyama: "I'm really happy. Honestly, I have to say I thought we were going to finish second towards the end of the race, but the situation changed completely. The race was a bit confusing in the first laps, and the fact that we were penalized... But the car ran very well and we could keep a good pace, so I drove with conviction to the end of my stint. I was a bit shocked that we were penalized, but as the race distance is long, I drove thinking of getting as many points as possible."

Richard Lyons: "I wasn't convinced about the penalty for the No.39 car when I heard it on the radio, I drove without letting up until the end. The car ran well throughout the entire race. I saved the tires as much as I could at the beginning of my stint, and then pushed hard to catch up with the No.39 car. I think I could have caught it even it hadn't been penalized. I'm trying for the title with Satoshi."




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