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Fuji Tourist Trophy

Fuji, Japan

Date: 4/11/1973
Track length: 5.999 m
Attendance: unknown
Entries accepted: unknown
Starters: 26
Finishers: 14

Pole position: Mass in 1.57,08
Fastest lap: unavailable

Distance: 500 miles, 133 laps
Average speed: 167,093 kmh
Weather: unknown
Ruleset: group 2-ish
Car info: 1973 Cars

 

A journey to Japan for the Ford works team: new boy Hezemans, Mass, Glemser and Allan Moffat were invited for the Fuji Tourist Trophy, a race with rules a little more liberal than group 2.

No BMWs here to spoil the party, but competition from Japan. Though Mass/Glemser got pole, the second Capri was in fourth place, two Mazda RX-3 rotary cars in front of them. The “private” cars, with 260 HP and very light at 760 kg, proved formidable opposition. Ford tried a rear spoiler in practice, but this did not work as expected.

A sort of Le Mans start was a new experience for the team, the team-mate had to sprint to the car and touch it before the drivers could race off. This compromise was the results of long negotiations between Kranefuss and the organisers - the starting point was a real Le Mans start. But Hezemans simply ignored his team-mate and thundered away, only to be black flagged for a restart. Another new experience was the 800 meter long banked curve.
“It’s plain madness”, Hezemans commented, “you can only hold on the steering wheel and hope the car knows where it is going.”

Mass led followed by Yorino (Mazda) and Terada (Toyota Celica). After 34 laps, Hezemans could pass the Toyota for third, while Mass had a lead of two minutes. But in lap 68, Hezemans came in, now Terada led, followed by Kamazuka, while Yorino had to retire. Hezemans fought back yet another time to third place, but than retired with a broken wheel bearing. After 73 laps, three Mazdas led followed by Glemser three laps behind. But Glemser did not give up, and in lap 102 he had only one Mazda in front of him. This had to make a lengthy pit stop to repair its brakes, so in the end Ford won the race - a little lucky perhaps.


Touring cars
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine
Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)
Engine
Type
Group Distance,
time
Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 2 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600
Jochen Mass, D
Dieter Glemser, D
2999 V6 D 133 laps, 4:46.32,77 1 1.57,08    
2 2 5  
Mazda Savanna RX-3
Masanori Moribe, J
Yuzuru Kono, J
2 x 573 R2 D 132 laps, 4:46.45,17 8 2.03,08    
3 1 24  
Toyota Celica GT
Naohiro Fujita, J
Fumiyasu Sato, J
1588 L4 B 132 laps, 4:46.49,65 7 2.02,95    
4 3 1  
Mazda Savanna RX-3
Yojiro Terada, J
Yasuhiro Okamoto, J
2 x 573 R2 D 132 laps, 4:47.48,29 3 1.58,85    
5 4 6  
Mazda Savanna RX-3
Makato Kamazuka, J
Makoto Onoe, J
2 x 573 R2 D 132 laps, 4:48.20,22 5 2.01,2    
6 1 14  
Nissan Skyline HT GTR
Yasumasa Kubodera, J
Hiroshi Kubota, J
1989 L6 C 130 6 2.02,69    
7 2 16  
Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R
Chikashi Ishitani, J
Harumoto Nakamura, J
1989 L6 C 126 15 2.13,26    
8 3 12  
Nissan Skyline HT GTR
Masayuki Mizorogi, J
Hiroshi Tanaka, J
1989 L6 C 126 10 2.05,77    
9 1 38  
Datsun Sunny coupé
Tsutomu Irihara, J
Shoji Hitachi, J
1171 L4 A 120 13 2.11,81    
10 2 32  
Datsun Sunny coupé GX
Kaneyuki Okamoto, J
Akira Suzuki, J
1290 L4 A 115 22 2.22,63    
11 2 23  
Isuzu Bellet GTR
Tatsuo Yamamoto, J
Yoshinobu Hori, J
1584 L4 B 113 25 2.26,84    
12 3 25  
Toyota Corona 1600 GT
Seiji Morozumi, J
Masami Tanimukai, J
1587 L4 B 113 23 2.22,84    
13 4 22  
Isuzu Bellet GTR
Masahito Oma, J
Ken Maki, J
1584 L4 B 106 20 2.18,15    
14 3 33  
Toyota Corolla Sprinter
Jiro Shimoda, J
Akira Arai, J
1200 L4 A 103 24 2.23,39    
DNF   11  
Nissan Skyline HT GTR
Yoshikuni Masatani, J
Mitsuhiro Otsuka, J
1989 L6 C 74 9 2.05,49    
DNF   3 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600
Toine Hezemans, NL
(Allan Moffat, CDN)
2999 V6 D 71 4 2.00,46    
DNF   17  
Mazda Savanna RX-3
Takashi Yorino, J
Tateki Masuda, J
2 x 573 R2 D 67 2 1.58,85   Engine
DNF   31  
Toyota Corolla Sprinter
Koichiro Shimizu, J
Kaoro Hoshino, J
1200 L4 A 52 14 2.12,89    
DNF   37  
Datsun Sunny coupé
Yoshio Sakai, J
Tadamasa Takada, J
1171 L4 A 39 18 2.16,27    
DNF   9  
Mazda Capella RX-2
Tetsuji Shiratori, J
Noboru Akahori, J
2 x 573 R2 D 32 12 2.11,32    
DNF   21  
Isuzu Bellet GTR
Eisuke Yamamoto, J
Junichiro Kasuya, J
1584 L4 B 32 17 2.15,79    
DNF   34  
Subaru FF-1
Noriyuki Koseki, J
Katsusuke Aoki, J
1300 B4 A 28 26 2.30,76    
DNF   36  
Toyota Publica
Masao Yokota, J
Tatsuo Abe, J
1166 L4 A 23 16 2.14,85    
DNF   10  
Mazda Capella RX-2
Yuzuru Miyasaka, J
Eiji Miyasaka, J
2 x 573 R2 D 12 21 2.19,94    
DNF   15  
Nissan Skyline HT GTR
Tokio Senda, J
Kazuo Ito, J
1989 L6 C 11 11 2.08,54    
DNF   8  
Mazda Savanna RX-3
Takeshi Hoshino, J
Mitsunori Katsumata, J
2 x 573 R2 D 4 19 2.16,75    

Remarks: Class limits: A: under 1300 cc, B: 1300-1600 cc, C: 1600-2000 cc and D: 2000-3000 cc