#Daishin S15

[hirocimacruiser]

ALL JAPAN GRAND TOURING CAR

CHAMPIONSHIP

●All Japan GT Championship Series

Eric Comas took the GT-R championship from 1998 to 1999, but as the competition became more intense year by year, the GT-R was unable to win the championship three times in a row. However, Komas/Masami Kageyama (winner at the opening round at Motegi) and Kazuyoshi Hoshino/Tetsu Motoyama (winner at MINE at round 6), who drove the latest BNR34, managed to finish in 2nd and 3rd place in the series by a close margin, showing an outstanding performance. It showed stability. Additionally, the duo of Ukyo Katayama and Michael Krumm, who have recently joined the Nissan team, won a special race in Malaysia, and the oldest active driver, Masahiro Hasemi, retired from the front line after the 2000 season, so there is no shortage of topics to talk about. There wasn't. The GT-R has a 2.6-liter straight-six turbo in the front, whereas the Supra has a 2-liter straight-four turbo in the front, and the Honda NSX has a 3.2-liter V6NA in the midship, and the individuality of the three cars makes the race even more interesting. Also, in the GT300 class, there was one car among many Porsches.

The Silvia S15 fought hard, and Nobuyuki Oyagi/Takayuki Aoki finished 4th in the series.

[hirocimacruiser]

2002 JAPAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4 SEPANG (MALAYSIA) - Round 8 SUZUKA

The VQ engine GT-R takes the podium, and in the GT300, showing a glimpse of its capabilities, Silvia fights for the championship!

The Skyline GT-R, which competes in the GT500 class of the All Japan GT Championship, was forced into the toughest battle ever in the 2002 season. In order to switch the engine from the RB26DETT to the VQ30DETT midway through the season, we had to compete with the conventional improved 2001 model car for the first half, and simultaneously develop the engine and chassis for the 2002 model car in the second half.

Looking back at each race from the middle of the series, Round 4, the last race for the RB26DETT, was held in Sepang, Malaysia, where the championship was held for the first time. At one point, three GT-Rs were in the top six, showing a development befitting a farewell race, but the Castrol Pit Work GT-R (Masami Kageyama/Eric Comas), who was aiming for the win, was following behind. An unfortunate retirement due to a rear-end collision. Calsonics Skyline (Kazuyoshi Hoshino/Tetsuya Tanaka) was also sidelined due to brake trouble and was the only survivor.

Xanavi Nismo GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama/Michael Krumm) finished in 4th place.

In the following 5th round at Fuji, all three Skyline GT-Rs were equipped with the 02 version of the VQ engine. Here the Xanavi Nismo GT-R was in a good position in 3rd place in qualifying, and moved up one position in the final to take 2nd place on the podium. The power of the VQ engine was already demonstrated.

In Round 6 at Motegi, all three cars missed the timing of their qualifying attacks, and despite being in a difficult position, they were unable to achieve the results they had hoped for in the final. Furthermore, Hoshino, who was participating in the Calsonic Skyline, suddenly announced his retirement before this race. Benoît Treluyer, the 2001 Japanese F3 champion, was appointed in his place.

In the 7th race at MINE, the Xanavi nismo GT-R made a strong chase from its qualifying position of 10th and finished in 2nd place. Skyline gives a feeling of definite maturity.

The GT-R still had a chance of winning the championship heading into the final race.

However, in the final race at Suzuka, both the Xanavi Nismo GT-R and Calsonic GT-R suffered from trouble, leaving the Castrol Nismo GT-R in 8th place, the highest placed Skyline GT-R. As a result, the team ranking for the 2002 series was Nismo in 7th place and Impul in 12th place. In the drivers' ranking, Motoyama/Krumm finished in 7th place.

In the GT300 class, Unisia Jecs Silvia (Tetsuya Yamano/Masataka Yanagita) started by winning the third round at SUGO, steadily gaining points and continuing to fight for the championship until the final round. He took pole position in qualifying for the final race, where he was forced to carry a weight handicap of 80 kg, the upper limit of his class, and led from the start in the final race. However, just as the championship was just around the corner, engine trouble suddenly occurred. In the end, I finished 3rd in the ranking, a disappointing result. In the final race, Daishin ADVAN Silvia (Nobuyuki Oyagi/Takayuki Aoki) won. As the defending champion, he took revenge and achieved a beautiful final result.

Unfortunately, they missed out on the title in the 2002 season, but Nissan's efforts to win the title in 2003 have already begun.