No less than 18 hours from the start, the race once again came down to a fight between the Porsches of the Advan and Falken teams. However, at half past 6 in the morning, the Falken Porsche crashed. The resulting repairs took about an hour and a half and once the mechanics put the Porsche back on the track they had to bring it in one more time due to transmission troubles. This sealed the victory for the Advan Porsche giving this team three wins in a row. Manabu Orido said "We don't have to win any of the final four races [of the season] now! Second position is good enough, because we have a 25-point advantage." The ST2 Fujitsubo Impreza finished in the second overall position, and lead driver Toshiro Yoshida said, "It is our first time to beat the Lancer this season. We kept our own race pace without any trouble. I'm so happy!".
Soup or Taco?! Tetsu Breaks it Down
We don't know jack about Super Taikyu but we do know a guy named Jack. Unfortunately Jack doesn't know jack about Super Taikyu either, so we called on our amigo bueno, Senorita Tito Ogushi to drop some Taikyu tech. After rambling on about the hassles of La Migra and the plight of the migrant farm worker here's what Tito had to say:
"The Tokachi 24-hour race (T24H) is one event in the Super Taikyu race (STR) series but T24H is also a race where STR and Super GT (JGTC) cars can compete at the same time. An R33 GT-R JGTC race car won at T24H in 1994 and 1997 and Keiichi Tsuchiya won here in 1995 with his NSX JGTC car. You could see JGTC and STR run at the same time and place until three or four years ago. However, this year, just one Super GT car (a Porsche) took part in T24H.
The STR series has been in existence since 1991. STR race cars are not too far removed from stock. The engines are stock and you can't change the displacement or add a turbo or supercharger if the stock engine was not originally equipped with one. Transmissions are stock although LSD's are permitted. But these are race cars and STR cars must have all of the proper safety equipment-roll cage, fire extinguisher, etc. Body kits are permitted as long as they are street legal (Japanese regulations are very strict regarding these modifications). Teams are allowed to change ECUs, engine head gaskets, suspension, exhaust, and brake pads. You can also counterbalance the crankshaft. Tires are slick but the size must remain the same as a stock car. Sometimes the STR organizers give special approval for entries in order to make for better racing. One example is the approval of the S2000 and RX-7 to take part in STR even though they only have two seats. Here are some brief descriptions and some examples of the cars in each class:
ST1 engine capacity is over 3501cc: Porsche, 350Z
ST2 engine capacity is 2001cc-3500cc with AWD: Impreza, Lancer Evo
ST3 engine capacity is 2001cc-3500cc with FF, FR, or Midship 2WD: 350Z, NSX, S2000,RX-7, BMW M3
ST4 engine capacity is under 2000cc: Integra, Civic, Accord, Altezza
ST5 engine capacity is under 2000cc: Integra, Accord,
ST4 may sound the same as ST5 but ST5 was called "Group N +" until last year. ST5 cars can change pistons and camshafts and add big brake systems and individual throttle body systems. ST5 cars have more power.
The JDM S2000 has a 2000cc engine and this car took part in ST4 until last year. But the S2000 was very fast and last year STR organizers moved this car to ST3 to help level the playing field in ST4.
The RX-7 has a 1308cc displacement which should make it an ST4 car but STR regulations say that a turbo engine needs to multiply engine capacity by 1.7 (1308 x 1.7 = 2223.6). STR regulations say the RX-7 is 2223cc and that's why it competes in ST3.