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Despite having
completed entry registration for round one of the 2006
Autobacs Japanese Super GT Series, the Suzuka GT300km, team
Stile Corsa has announced that it will be postponing its
series participation until a later date.
The following is an official media comment from the team
organization: "Team Goh International Co., Ltd. had made
preparations to participate in this year's Super GT series
with a new team organization. This was a decision that had
been made as part of our efforts to take on new challenges
in new fields since our overall win at the 2004 Le Mans 24
Hours. In order to compete against the competitors in the
high-level GP500 class, we brought the Maserati MC12
machine, used in the FIA GT Championship, to Japan and
formed a completely new team under the Stile Corse name,
enlisting the collaboration of Maserati and bringing
engineers from the U.S. to work along with Team Goh's
mechanics under the management of a specialized team manager
selected specifically for the job.
"After initial tests at Vallelunga in Italy, the machine was
brought to Japan, where work on the machine's set-up
continued with tests at Suzuka, Okayama and finally the
Super GT Official tests at Suzuka. In order to compete in
the Super GT series with the FIA GT machine, we made efforts
to bring out the fullest possible machine potential while
taking a variety of measures into consideration, such as
suspension settings and aerodynamic devices.
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After initial tests at Vallelunga, Italia, the Team
Goh Maserati MC12 was brought to Japan, where work
on the machine's set-up continued with tests at
Suzuka, Okayama and finally the Super GT Official
tests at Suzuka. |
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With just days to go before the opening Super GT
race at Suzuka, Team Goh have withdrawn their entry
from the Japanese sportscar series having decided
that the Maserati MC12 will not be competitive. |
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"However, the GT500 class performance level was found to be
very high and we were unable to get lap times that met the
satisfaction of ourselves or Maserati. We have concluded
that aerodynamic development will be necessary to achieve
higher speeds, and given the time and cost elements
involved, we are now considering how best to proceed. This
will be a task of considerable difficulty for Stile Corse as
essentially a privateer team.
"Considering this situation, we have decided today to
postpone our Super GT participation for the time being,
beginning with Round 1. We deeply regret that we will not be
able to live up to the expectations of the fans who were
looking forward to see a Maserati machine competing in the
Super GT. We extend our heartfelt apologies to all the fans
who have given Team Goh their kind support. We hope that you
will continue to support us in the future."
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