18.07.2004 Amprex Motorsports fought back to record a satisfying finish in the JGTC race at Tokachi today after an early tyre-related spin forced an unscheduled pit visit to carry out rapid repairs

A tyre-related spin during the 27th lap of the Japan GT Championship race at the Tokachi Speedway in Hokkiado today curtailed the plans of Malaysian-based Amprex Motorsports to improve on the overall position they attained last month during their series debut at Sepang.

At the wheel of their new 6.0-litre V12-powered Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, were Kuala Lumpur-based Japanese driver Genji Hashimoto, also the owner of Amprex Motorsports, and the experienced German driver, Norman Simon.

The pair recovered to finish in 15th position, out of a field of 16 cars in the GT500 class. They eventually completed 84 laps of the 89 lap race, held over the 3km circuit in northern Japan, about 900km from Tokyo.

Team director Hong Heng Soon commented after the race, “The mishap happened with Norman as the first driver somewhere between the 27th and the 28th lap, when a tyre problem spun the car onto the grass.

“This resulted in a damaged rear diffuser forcing Norman, on advice from the race officials, to make an unscheduled and unprepared stop at the pits to repair the damage and make some changes.

“When the car was ready, second driver Hashimoto had to rush into the car minus his cool racing suit. With the extreme heat Hashimoto had to come back to the pits again after a few laps".

Norman then took over again from Hashimoto to steer the car from last position into 15th by overtaking the Hitotsuyama Racing-entered, Prodrive-built, Ferrari 550 Maranello. The team expressed confidence after the race that the car will be improved further in time for the next round of the JGTC, to be held at the Twin Ring Circuit in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan on 5th September, where they will aim to finish further up the leaderboard.

Soon said that, in intervening period, the team would be closely working with Michelin, their tyre supplier, as well as allowing the drivers to spend more time with the car. Considering that this is only their second JGTC outing after taking delivery of the car from Reiter Engineering of Germany about a week before the last round in Sepang, and that they are the only runners using Michelin tyres in the JGTC, the project is progressing well.

He wrapped up by revealing that testing of the Lamborghini would take place at their 'home' circuit, Sepang, shortly, with around five days of development taking place before the car and team would return for Japan to prepare for the next race.

Meanwhile, early unofficial results from Tokachi had Team Nissan Nismo, with drivers German Michael Krumm and Japanese Masani Kageyama winning, at the wheel of the factory-developed Nissan Z.

Second was the Toyota Supra of Team Esso Toyota Le Mans, in the hands of Juichi Wakisaka and Ikira Lida, while third went to another Nissan Z, the Team G’Zox-SSR example, piloted by Eric Comas and Toshiro Kaneishi.

A total of 17 cars competed in the GT500 class and a 25 in GT300. The winners of the last round in Sepang, the Team Denso Sard Supra GT, with French driver Jeremie Dufour and Portugese driver Andre Couto, only managed to finish seventh today, while neither the Team Yellow Hat YMS Supra, which came second, nor third place team Xanavi Nismo Z, were able to make the top ten.