Fuji Speedway, Japan (April 28-29, 2007)
April 28/29, 2007 – D1GP Round 2 was held at Fuji Speedway with absolutely clear weather, not a cloud in the sky and you could actual see a perfect view of Mount Fuji from the distance. It was just a perfect day to take the family out to the races.
Unfortunately, the beautiful weather did not last to keep the audience cheering on for long. During the Best 8, Daigo Saito (JZX90) uncontrollably came too close to Masato Kawabata’s S15 causing both cars to spin out and leaving Kawabata’s S15 crashing hard into one part of the track’s barriers. Saito was able to safely walk away from the crash, but Kawabata wasn’t as lucky as he lay motionless on the floor of the track. Within seconds the rescue crew came and took Kawabata away to the hospital. Both cars were completely totaled.
It took about a good 40 minutes for the clean up crew to finish cleaning up the debris from the unfortunate accident and for the event to resume as normal. Qualifying rounds went on as usual leaving the final match between Suenaga (FD3S – Toyo D1-7) and Kuroi (S13 – Team Toyo with Riverside). It was such a close match between the two drivers, but Kuroi ended up taking 1st and leaving Suenaga in 2nd. It was not only a good victory for Kurio, but for all the D1 drivers to hear that Kawabata will be able to make a full recovery.
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Story and Photos by: Christopher Jue
I remember going to the Indy races as a kid and seeing some horrific crashes! Auto racing is such a great sport it is so easy to think these guys will never get hurt. I have seen some truly terrible crashes which really hammer home the point that you can get really hurt in this sport.