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Yokohama Advan Runners Lead Race, Show Pace & Fight Gremlins |
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Monday, 17 July 2006 |
Yokohama runner Shinji Nakano dominated the opening laps of the race moving from third on the grid to take the lead at the first corner. Later in a press conference Collard for Pescarolo commented on how big the fight was to get by Nakano. Having conceded the place the Courage Competition car then had a disadvantage in traffic in what turned out to be an exceptionally hectic first few laps. Team-mate Jean-Marc Gounon in the sister #12 car also made very good early progress and the pairing were second and third in the order until fortunes changed. Nakano in the #13 car had a major clutch issue which ultimately led to a non-finish. Meanwhile Gounon was second and pulling away from the Creation and catching the leading Pescarolo showing how strong their pace was. He challenged for the lead but there was contact as he tried to overtake resulting in a spin. He lost 14 seconds but held onto second position. Gregor Fisken took over the wheel and retained second place until for close to the halfway point of the race. He was then also struck with mechanical problems, suffering a fuel pump issue which impacted on the team’s position for the remainder of the race and #12 finally crossed the line after 6 hours 7th in class.
Yokohama ADVAN teams in GT2 had mixed results. The #80 Farnbacher Racing Porsche retired early in the race with a clutch problem. Both its sister car #90 and the Seikel Motorsport Porsche had steady races but the high level of competition and a full grid meant results that didn’t reflect their achievements.
| No. |
Team |
Car |
Driver 1 |
Driver 2 |
Driver 3 |
Class position |
| 12 |
Courage Competition |
Courage LC70-Mugen |
JM Gounon |
A Frei |
G Fisken |
7 |
| 13 |
Courage Competition |
Courage LC70-Mugen |
S Nakano |
H Kurosawa |
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DNF |
| 77 |
Seikel Motorsport |
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR |
T Burgess |
P Collin |
T Bergmeister |
11 |
| 80 |
Farnbacher Racing |
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR |
LE Nielsen |
M Seefried |
I Baas |
DNF |
| 90 |
Farnbacher Racing |
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR |
P Ehret |
D Farnbacher |
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8 |
Shinji Nakano, Courage Competition #13 “We had a clutch problem as well as an electrical problem. Apart from
that the car was good. Leading the race was very good! I think Yokohama
has made a lot of progress. The tyre is very consistent and with good
pace so I want to say a big thank you to Yokohama. They have worked
really hard since last year and now the results are coming.”
Akira Shiraishi, Yokohama Motorsport “We have shown how we can contribute to race pace and to see a world
class car leading on Yokohama ADVAN tyres makes me very proud of the
team that have put in the work. It is very pleasing that Shinji has
said such kind words and I’m sure that together with our teams we’ll be
showing top class results in the near future.”
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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