MOTOR RACING ROUNDUP : Japanese Win by 9 Laps, Setting 3 Records at Daytona

Three Japanese drove their Nissan R91 prototype to a nine-lap, 51.065-second victory the 24-hour sports car race at Daytona International Speedway that ended Sunday.

Masahiro Hasemi, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki then smiled and joked their way through a translated winners’ interview.

One of the first questions from an American reporter concerned recent Japan-bashing resulting from trade policies.

Hasemi consulted with his co-drivers and replied, through the team translator, “We’re here to do the race, participate in a sports event, not participate in political events.”

He hesitated a moment and said, “My personal opinion is I prefer free trade.”

The LeMans-style Nissan easily overcame fuel tank and engine restrictions imposed on the handful of European Group C entries by the International Motor Sports Assn.

The winning car, giving Nissan its first international 24-hour victory in its first try in American’s most prestigious road race, covered 762 laps--2,712.72 miles--and averaged 112.897 m.p.h. at the Daytona Beach, Fla., track. The previous record for the IMSA Camel GT season-opener on the current course was 761 laps, 2,709.16 miles at 112.857 m.p.h., set in 1990 by a Jaguar prototype.

Other than minor overheating problems caused by debris picked up in the Nissan’s vents and undercarriage, the R91 never faltered, taking the lead from the pole-winning Toyota Eagle near the end of the first lap and losing it only briefly on its first six pit stops.

“We were confident of the performance of the car,” Hasemi said.

Hasemi, Hoshino and Suzuki are among the best endurance racers in Japan. Hasemi was the 1991 Japan Touring Car champion, while Hoshino and Suzuki were part of the 1991 Japanese Group C team that won the series title.

Tobey Butler maintained control despite three nudges from challenger Rick Carelli on the final lap and went on to win the 50-mile feature race in Phoenix International Raceway’s Copper World Classic.

A.J. Foyt, 57, starting 44th after crashing during qualifying on Saturday, threaded his way through traffic to finish sixth.