This round of the JGTC was held in the tropics of Malaysia, a place known for temperatures of more than 86 degrees. The worst part about this particular race may not have been the difficulty of the circuit but the toll the heat and humidity took on the drivers and spectators alike. Luckily, the race started late in the afternoon to bypass a good portion of the sweltering heat. That race was cancelled last year because of SARS concerns, but this year all that nonsense was put on the back burner and the race went off pretty much without a hitch.
Being in the tropics proposes unique weather issues. During the morning qualifying rounds, driving rain kept speeds lower and lap times higher than in the clear and hot afternoon rounds, leading to a complete flip-flop of grid order for both the GT500 and GT300 classes.
GT500
Jeremie Dufour, driving the Denso Sard Supra, really put the screws to the rest of the field during the morning rain-soaked qualifier and took the pole, only to drop to 13th place when he picked the wrong tires for the drier afternoon qualifying session. The number 12 Calsonic Impul Fairlady Z driven by Benoit Treluyer took the pole spot in the dramatic final seconds of the round, leaving him a full 1.819 seconds ahead of Dufour. Supras from the Team Tom's camp took the Second and Third spots on the grid, hoping for the one-two chance at the flag, and Fourth position was held by one of the biggest surprises of the day. Masami Kageyama, piloting the Motul Key Value Fairlady Z, started out in 11th place on the grid after the morning session and moved up to the Fourth place spot in the later drier track conditions. The other Zs didn't fare as well, with the number 3 G'ZOX SSR and the number 1 Xanavi Nismo taking the Seventh and Eighth spots. Debuting at this event was a pair of Lamborghini Murcielagos in 16th and 18th place-not a bad showing out of a field of 40 cars.
When the lights went green, pole-sitter Treluyer tried to walk away from the rest of the field, building up a significant lead over the other drivers. Takeshi Tsuchiya in the number 36 Woodone Tom's Supra spent a brief moment sipping the First place wine only to have the glass spill and drop back to Second, where he remained until the car came in for its routine stop on the 25th lap. Treluyer came in a lap later two seconds ahead of the pace but lost his position because of a long pit stop, dropping to Third.
Attrition took its toll on a couple of the Supras early on. The Esso Ultraflo car had a slow leak in one of its tires and dropped to 15th, and the Dynacity Tom's and Yellow Hat YMS Supras traded paint and slid down the ranks from Fourth and Fifth places to 13th and 14th. Andre Couto drove the Denso Sard Supra all the way from 13th place to Third in an amazing run before handing the reigns to copilot Dufour on the lap 26 stop.
Yuji Ide took over the controls of the Calsonic machine from leader Treluyer during the same lap only to be passed by Shigekazu Wakisaka in the Yellow Hat Supra. Ide was put out of his misery on lap 32 when he collided with two GT300 machines and couldn't finish the race.