1997 All Japan Formula Nippon Championship Rd.1,
    Race Report & Result
    at
    Suzuka Circuit

    (April 27, 1997)
    SUZUKA -RIJ- Spanish young driver Pedro de la Rosa got his first victory in Formula Nippon with new Lola T97/51 Mugen by 1 hour 03 minutes 21.391 seconds for total 35 lap race on 5.864 km length Suzuka International Circuit on Sunday.

    He started from third grid and climbed to second on lap 12 after second runner Toranosuke Takagi spun out at entrance of the S-Curve, then chased leader Takuya Kurosawa. On Lap 18, Spanish driver passed Kurosawa from out side of the First Corner and got away until the checkered flag.

    "I'm very happy to my first win in Formula Nippon," said former All Japan F3 Champion on podium. "I got good start, but I couldn't follow the top two drivers (Kurosawa and Takagi.) But my car was good and tire grips were great. So finally I could pass Kurosawa. I'm very very happy!"

    Takuya Kurosawa, replaced veteran Kazuyoshi Hoshino, stood on the second podium. He drove Lola T96/52 Mugen, followed by Hidetoshi Mitsusada in same car.

    All Formula Nippon cars wore the Bridgestone tires this year.

    Result of Formula Nippon Rd.1 SUZUKA: 

    
SUZUKA -RIJ- Here are Results of All Japan Formula NipponRound-1 at
Suzuka Circuit, Japan.

 P No. Driver------------- Car------------------Lap-Time-------Ave/Behin.
 1  9 Pedro de la Rosa   (E) Lola T97/Mugen      35 1:03'21.391 194.36Km
 2 19 Takuya Kurosawa    (J) Lola T96/Mugen      35 1:03'27.366    5.975
 3 11 Hidetoshi Mitsusada(J) Lola T96/Mugen      35 1:03'30.837    9.446
 4 56 Satoshi Motoyama   (J) Reynard 94D/Mugen   35 1:03'44.660   23.269
 5 65 Koji Yamanishi     (J) Reynard 97D/Mugen   35 1:03'53.756   32.365
 6 10 Akira Iida         (J) Lola R97/Mugen      35 1:03'54.286   32.895
 7 55 Katsutomo Kaneishi (J) Reynard 96D/Mugen   35 1:03'54.527   33.136
 8 33 Toshio Suzuki      (J) REynard 96D/Mugen   35 1:04'12.533   51.142
 9  1 Norberto Fontana  (RA) Reynard 96D/Mugen   35 1:04'39.442 1'18.051
10 28 Katsumi Yamamoto   (J) Reynard 95D/Mugen   35 1:04'40.559 1'19.168
11 27 Masami Kageyama    (J) Reynard 96D/Mugen   35 1:04'46.932 1'25.541
12  8 Juichi Wakisaka    (J) Dome F104R/Mugen    34 1:04'15.166   1 Lap 
13 36 Tetsuji Tamanaka   (J) Lola T95/Mugen      33 1:04'07.163   2 Laps
14 12 Sarah Kavanagh   (IRL) Reynard 95D/Ford AC 32 1:05'00.624   3 Laps
15 17 Masahiko Kondo     (J) Reynard 97D/Mugen   31 1:03'34.359   4 Laps
------------[ DNC: 70%]-------------------------------------------------
    6 Risto Virtanen    (SF) Reynard 96D/Judd    26   48'55.937   9 Laps
    2 Esteban Tuero     (RA) Reynard 96D/Mugen   24   44'34.745  11 Laps
   63 D.R.B.Malagamuwa (SRI) Reynard 96D/Mugen   23   46'59.757  12 Laps
   20 Masahiko Kageyama  (J) Reynard 96D/Mugen   22   45'21.348  13 Laps
   21 Tetsuya Tanaka     (J) Lola T96/Mugen      16   30'05.735  19 Laps
   18 Ralf Firman       (GB) Reynard 97D/Mugen   14   26'34.988  21 Laps
   35 Michael Krumm      (D) Reynard 96D/Mugen   13   24'14.037  22 Laps
   64 Toranosuke Takagi  (J) Reynard 97D/Mugen   11   20'02.868  24 Laps
    5 Marc Goossens      (B) Reynard 96D/Judd    11   20'49.651  24 Laps
   37 Masao Yamada       (J) Lola T94/Mugen       6   12'26.704  29 Laps
    3 Atsushi Kawamoto   (J) Reynard 96D/Mugen    4    7'36.076  31 Laps

  Fastest Lap: #55 Katsutomo Kaneishi, 1'46.738 On Lap 30/35,  197.77Km/h.
  Penalty: #27 Masami Kageyama, 10 second pit stop (jump-start.)
           #20 Masahiko Kageyama, 10 second pit stop (pit lane speed limit.)
  Track Length: 5.864 km
  
    Data: Suzuka Circuit via NIFTY-Serve Auto Racing Forum
          RIJ-Mitsuru Sugaya/Tokyo,

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