#gt300

Toyota GR Supra GT300

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.