 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
9 TEIN Supported Machines Entered Super Endurance Series.
Nagashima's team won ST3 class championship with their Nissan Fairlady Z!
|
 There were 9 TEIN supported machines: Yamano (#1, Porsche) in ST1, Iiri (#7, RX-7), Masuda (#14, RX-7), Nagashima (#15, Fairlady Z), Shimoyama (#39, Fairlady Z), Shiobuchi (#41, Fairlady Z), Kobayashi (#74, Fairlady Z), Ohi (#113, Fairlady Z) and Maejima (#333, Fairlady Z), and in ST3.
S-Tai changed the rules for the preliminaries from this year. The final starting grid will now be decided by adding up the best scores of two drivers. Also, 3 points will be rewarded for winning the pole position in each class. The racing distance is now 500km, which makes the endurance even more challenging. Lastly, all the crews are now required to have two pit stops during the final round. |
The preliminaries took place on the 21st, on a cloudy and windy day, in which Yamano (#1) finished 5th in ST1 class. In ST3, Iiri (#7) won the pole position, followed by Kobayashi (#74) in 2nd place, Ohi (#113) in 3rd, Shimoyama (#39) in 4th, Shiobuchi (#41) in 5th, Maejima (#333) in 6th, Nagashima (#15) in 9th and Masuda (#14) in 12th.
The final round on the 22nd took place under a rainy sky. The shake down was rained off, and the race went on in a foggy and showery condition. After the 11th lap, the fog got thinner and the battle had finally begun. In the 17th lap, #7 RX-7 went off the course, so #39 NSX led the race in stead. The fog became thick again in 22nd lap, so all had to follow the pace car. #41 Fairlady Z tried changing drivers in this timing but couldn't get out of the pit road due to the traffic. #15 Fairlady Z, #1 Porsche, #74 Fairlady Z, #7 RX-7 and #113 Fairlady Z all made a pit stop in the next lap.
Restart took place in the 39th lap. #7 RX-7 was given 60 seconds of penalty for speeding in the yellow flag zone, and #333 Fairlady Z had to make a pit stop to fix the muffler. #39 NSX who was leading the race and #113 Fairlady Z made a pit stop. #113 had an excellent timing and returned as 2nd place, following #15 Fairlady Z who was now leading the race. #113 and #15 performed a heated nose-to-tail battle until the race got called off in lap 77. The final result was determined from the 75th lap, and #15 won the class championship.
TEIN supported teams conquered the winning podium. #15 Nagashima's team won the championship last year with RX-7, and they won again with Fairlady Z. #113 Ohi was in 2nd place, and #7 Iiri in the 3rd. Others followed them, too: 4th place was #74 Kobayashi's team, 5th was #41 Shiobuchi, 6th was #39 Shimoyama, 7th was #333 Maejima and 8th was #14 Masuda. As you can see, the top 8 teams were all TEIN supported machines! Yamano's Porsche also won 3rd place in ST1 despite the penalty from speeding in the pit lane. This result proves the reliable quality of TEIN's high performance suspensions, supporting the winners of the tough race. |
