JF3000: Fuji results

• Mitsuhiko Ishii
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Thu Sep 5 18:54:17 EDT 1996

Formula Nippon Round 7 Race Results
Sept.1,1996
Fuji International Speedway (4.470km)
Weather Conditions: Hot, Partly Cludy

Pos No Driver             Car                Tire  Laps Time/Delay 
                        Q
 1  24 Naoki Hattori      Reynard96D Mugen   BS    45 
  59'22.324(203.013km/h)    1 1'16.785
 2  10 Norberto Fontana   LolaT96/51 Mugen   BS    45      -0.415 
                6 1'17.427
 3   8 Shinji Nakano      Dome F104i Mugen   BS    45     -12.156 
                3 1'16.876
 4  55 Katsutomo Kaneishi Reynard95D Mugen   BS    45     -26.138 
                6 1'09.438
 5  56 Satoshi Motoyama   Reynard95D Mugen   BS    45     -39.483 
                7 1'16.608
 6   9 Pedro de la Rosa   LolaT96/51 Mugen   BS    45     -40.587 
                5 1'17.153
 7   1 Toshio Suzuki      LolaT96/52 Mugen   BS    45     -49.589 
               13 1'17.226
 8  65 Takuya Kurosawa    Reynard96D Mugen   BS    45     -50.708 
               10 1'17.081
 9   7 Masami Kageyama    Reynard96D Mugen   YH    45     -56.724 
               20 1'18.006
10   6 Hidetoshi Mitsusada Reynard95D Judd   YH    45     -57.327 
               15 1'17.368
11  31 Hideki Okada       LolaT95/50 Mugen   BS    44      -1 lap 
               18 1'17.966
12   5 Marco Apicella     Reynard96D Judd    YH    44      -1 lap 
               11 1'17.103
13  72 Atsushi Kawamoto   LolaT93/50 Ford    BS    44      -1 lap 
               22 1'19.206
14  28 Masahiko Kondo     Reynard94D Mugen   BS    43     -2 laps 
               19 1'18.000
15  15 Masao Yamada       LolaT93/50 Mugen   YH    42     -3 laps 
               26 1'20.834
16  12 Yukihiro Hane      LolaT94/50 Mugen   BS    41     -4 laps 
               17 1'17.644
DNF
    64 Toranosuke Takagi  Reynard96D Mugen   BS    38     -7 laps 
                2 1'16.799
    19 Kazuyoshi Hoshino  LolaT96/52 Mugen   BS    21    -24 laps 
                4 1'16.983
    73 Tetsuji Tamanaka   LolaT93/50 Ford    BS    20    -25 laps 
               25 1'20.236
    17 Taichiro Onishi    LolaT94/50 Mugen   YH    10    -35 laps 
               24 1'19.772
    20 Andrew Gilbert-Scott Reynard96D Mugen BS     9    -36 laps 
               23 1'19.331
    21 Michael Krumm      Reynard95D Mugen   BS     2    -43 laps 
               16 1'17.555
    30 Eiichi Tajima      LolaT94/50 Mugen   BS     1    -44 laps 
               21 1'19.127
    25 Ralf Schumacher    Reynard96D Mugen   BS     0    -45 laps 
                8 1'16.717
    27 Masahiko Kageyama  Reynard96D Mugen   BS     0    -45 laps 
                9 1'17.046
     2 Katsumi Yamamoto   Dome F104i Mugen   BS     0    -45 laps 
               12 1'17.131


Fastest Lap:  10 Fontana  1'18.098 (206.049km/h) on Lap 34
Championship Standings:  Schumacher 27, Hoshino 25, Takagi/Hattori 24, 
Fontana 22,
                         Nakano 11, Kaneishi 9, Masami 
Kageyama/Kurosawa/Motoyama 8, etc.
Next Round: Sept.14-15 Mine

   Naoki Hattori crossed the finish line to win the seventh round of the 
Formula Nippon just ahead of Norberto Fontana who used all the bits of the 
track for the last couple of laps in an effort to take the X Japan Team Le 
Mans driver, but to no avial. The Argentine ended up in second. This was the 
closestfinish so far this season. Shinji Nakano endured the broken exhaust 
pipe and nursed his Dome home to claim the third spot.

   What has to be stressed here is the fact that all of the top three 
contenders in the championship bit the dust on Sunday.  With the maximum 
points of thirty still available, EVERYBODY in the series is mathematically 
in for the crown. The Mine race is going to be very interesting.