The opening round of 2009 Super Endurance Series was held at Twin Ring Motegi. Total of 8 rounds will be fought throughout the season, and 5 rounds will be a one day event covering all the way from qualifying to final race, therefore much of maintenance, vehicle setup, and speed will become an important factor.
Total of 5 TEIN users entered in ST3 class which are (#14/Masuda&Komatsu&Sugibayashi - RX-7 / FD3S), (#15/Nagashima&Tagahara&Furutani - RX7 / FD3S), (#16/Nakamura&Ohta&Yamazaki - Fairlady Z / Z33), (#27/Kobayashi&Ihashi&Inoue - BMW M3 / E46), (#39/Kawaguchi&Aoki - NSX / NA2).
In the qualifying round, car#27 placed 2nd followed by car#14 in 3rd and many others positioned right behind them by only fraction of a second. From the look of it, it seems ST3 class is going to be a close race.
The race day went along under clear skies, temperature at 17 degree Celsius, track temperature at 25 degree Celsius, a perfect condition to race 84 laps covering 400km. Race began with fierce battle unfolding in each class, and car#27 of ST3 class jumps ahead to take the lead in its class. Car#39 who did not perform as well during the qualifying pushes hard and places 2nd in class thanks to Aoki. While the race enters the second half, teams rush through to refuel and change their drivers. Car#16 who has been performing at good steady pace passes car#39 to take 3rd place, and two FD3S's, car#14 and#15 had to retire around half way though the race due to machine failure.
Car#27 has been performing excellently from the beginning maintains his position and finishes 1st to achieve class win. Car#16 places 3rd, gets off to a good start of a season.
Rd.2 will be held at Sportsland SUGO in May so stay with us for more action! |
