1969 Japan Grand Prix

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This was one of the most notable races in the history of the Japanese Grand Prix. In 1968 Toyota had tried to race with the brand new Toyota 7 in the Group 7 race and they failed: they ended up behind Nissan’s R381 and the Porsche 907 due to technical problems. In 1969 they were back with the improved Toyota 7: new aerodynamics and a new intake and exhaust system
But Nissan and Porsche did also improve their cars: Nissan had the Prince GRX3 V12 powered R382 ready for the race. This marked the final between the Prince and Nissan merger. Also Porsche attended with the new 917 featuring a 4.5 liter 12 cylinder boxer. The Toyota 7s had a very good start and passed the Nissans at the start, but so did the Porsche 917

The Porsche proved not to be any competition at all: they were very powerful but lacked stability in tight corners and reliability. Also one by one the Toyota 7s lost ground to the m Nissan R382 ..
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