GT5 Transcripts/Honda Castrol MUGEN NSX (JGTC) '00

During the 2000 season of the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the three big automakers Honda, Toyota and Nissan were engaged in a fierce battle for GT500 prominence. The Honda (Acura) NSX engineers made major changes to its race car that year, placing an idler gear between the output shaft and transmission. They also used thinner and more compact gears of Formula cars. As a result, the exhaust pipes that once ran under the engine were moved around the sides, allowing the powerplant to be lowered for improved center-of-gravity.
Five teams raced the revived NSX in 2000. Among them were the Castrol Mugen NSX and Takata Dome NSX, which assumed the role of advanced-development "work cars" for the NSX camp. The car with the overwhelming speed was the Takata Dome NSX, and it took two wins right away. Because the JGTC used a weight-handicap system to even out the competition, the Takata Dome NSX's handicaps were too much to overcome to take the championship. In its shadow emerged the Castrol Mugen NSX that progressed through the season with consistently good finishes. The driver were Ryo Michigami and Sebastian Philippe, with Philippe being replaced by Hidetoshi Mitsusada halfway through the season. The Castrol Mugen NSX handled the weight handicaps incurred from its 1st place finishes and went on to take the series championship.
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