2016.02.04

LEXUS team structure for 2016 season is finalized! Juichi Wakisaka assumes the role of No.6 car team manager.

On February 4, Toyota Motor held “2015 TOYOTA GAZOOO Racing Press Conference” and announced its motorsports activity plan and team structures of this season. President of Toyota Motor Akio Toyoda was initially planned to attend this presentation, but it was told that he was not going to attend because he was not feeling well, and, thus, Kiyotaka Ise, Senior Managing Officer, took over to explain Toyota’s activity plan. It was emphasized that the company will be engaged extensively with motorsports activities to be in line with Toyota’s principle concepts, “Train our people, train our car to make even better cars” and “Make people love cars even more.”

 

Senior Managing Officer Ise explains Toyota’s motorsports activity plan.

 

In SUPER GT’s GT500 class, six LEXUS RC F mounted with an inline 4-cylinder, 2-liter direct injection turbo-charged engine (RI4AG) will be supplied to five teams under the entrant name of LEXUS GAZOO Racing. The fleet will aim to bring back the title since 2013.
It was announced that Juichi Wakisaka has been appointed as the team manager of LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO’S participating in GT500 class.

 

 

Looking into the teams, the team name of No.6 car will be LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO'S with Kazuya Oshima teaming up with a new partner, Andrea Caldarelli. No.19 car, LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH, has added Yuji Kunimoto to partner with Yuhi Sekiguchi. No.36 and No.37 cars fielded by LEXUS TEAM TOM’S will be driven by Daisuke Ito and last year’s Japan F3 champion who is making his debut in GT500, Nick Cassidy, and James Rossiter and Ryo Hirakawa, respectively. LEXUS TEAM CERUMO’s No.38 car with Yuji Tachikawa and Hiroaki Ishiura and No.39 car of LEXUS TEAM SARD with Kohei Hirate and Heikki Kovalainen have no change in their team structures.

 

Left side from front, Kazuya Oshima / Caldarelli (No.6 car), Yuhi Sekiguchi / Yuji Kunimoto (No.19 car), Daisuke Ito / Cassidy (No.36 car). Right side from front, Rossiter (Hirakawa was absent due to vehicle test. No.37 car), Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura (No.38 car), Kohei Hirate / Kovalainen (No.39 car)

 

 

 

At the end of driver introduction during the presentation, Juichi Wakisaka, a three-time GT500 class driver champion with Toyota and Lexus GT cars, appeared on stage. Wakisaka himself revealed that he has retired from active driver of SUPER GT as of last season.
“My long career as a SUPER GT driver for 18 years could have not been possible if I did not receive tremendous support from Toyota, Lexus, teams, everybody involved in racing, and the fans. This year, I am determined to support Oshima and Caldarelli to capture the title as a new LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO’S team manager. I am committed to continue the work to make racing more attractive together with all the excellent drivers of Toyota. Today is the start of Juichi Wakisaka’s chapter two, so I would appreciate your continuous support.” Wakisaka expressed his appreciation for the past years and his determination for the upcoming season.
Senior Managing Officer Ise read a message from President Toyoda as a surprise, “Mr. Wakisaka, I really thank you for your tremendous effort as a member of Toyota since 2001. Not only as a driver, but you were also proactive as a spokesman for Morizo (nickname President Toyoda uses when he races), like a “Head of PR” who conveys the joy of cars through TV, etc.” Toyoda rewarded Wakisaka for his service.

 

 

Wakisaka was presented with a bouquet of flowers from Senior Managing Officer Ise as a reward for his effort of 18 years.

 

 

Class	No.	Entrant	Car Name	Driver	Tire
GT500	6	LEXUS TEAM LEMANS WAKO’S	WAKO’S 4CR RC F	Kazuya Oshima (Japan)	BS
				Andrea Caldarelli (Italy)
	19	LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH	WedsSport ADVAN RC F	Yuhi Sekiguchi (Japan)	YH
				Yuji Kunimoto (Japan)
	36	LEXUS TEAM TOM'S	TBD	Daisuke Ito (Japan)	BS
				Nick Cassidy (New Zealand)
	37	LEXUS TEAM TOM'S	KeePer TOM'S RC F	James Rossiter (United Kingdom)	BS
				Ryo Hirakawa (Japan)
	38	LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO	ZENT CERUMO RC F	Yuji Tachikawa (Japan)	BS
				Hiroaki Ishiura (Japan)
	39	LEXUS TEAM SARD	DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F	Kohei Hirate (Japan)	BS
				Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)
Tire= BS: Bridgestone, YH: Yokohama

Page Top