Motoyama stays top in Nippon test
Satoshi Motoyama topped the big Formula Nippon test at Motegi - but Ryo Michigami ran him close
Team Impul driver Motoyama lapped his Reynard 99L in 1m34.060s on Thursday, three-tenths clear of the similar car of Michigami - who was consistently quicker than him on Friday, the slower of the two days.
Malaysia's Alex Yoong was third quickest, having recently re-signed for Team LeMans Co, setting his 1m35.029s on the final lap of Thursday's session: "I set my time when the tyres were already old. I am very pleased with the team and myself, and the work we've done."
Of the non-regular Nippon drivers, Macau Grand Prix winner Andre Couto was an impressive sixth quickest in the G Force chassis driven by Ralph Firman this season. Korean F3 Super Prix winner Narain Karthikeyan took over Motoyama's car for a two-hour session on Friday and was 14th quickest after 32 laps.
F3000 racer Christijan Albers was 13th fastest for Eddie Irvine's old team Cerumo, while British F3 ace Ben Collins was 15th for the DoCoMo Dandelion squad.
1 Satoshi Motoyama (Reynard) 1m34.060s
2 Ryo Michigami (Reynard) 1m34.327s
3 Alex Yoong (Reynard) 1m35.029s
4 Tsugio Matsuda (Reynard) 1m35.053s
5 Juichi Wakisaka (Reynard) 1m35.278s
6 Andre Couto (G Force) 1m35.287s
7 Dominik Schwager (Reynard) 1m35.297s
8 Daisuke Ito (Reynard) 1m35.298s
9 Seiji Ara (Reynard) 1m35.269s
10 Masami Kageyama (Reynard) 1m35.859s
13 Christijan Albers (Reynard) 1m36.208s
14 Narain Karthikeyan (Reynard) 1m36.235s
15 Ben Collins (Reynard) 1m36.250s
18 Alex Muller (G Force) 1m37.892s
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