2016.07.24

Round4 Sugo Race Press Conference

Round4 Sportsland Sugo : Race Press Conference

No.24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R

Since we had elected for a strategy that eliminated the tire change, it was only natural that the tire conditions made the driving a bit tough at the end. There were still ten laps left to go at that point, but even if the Red Flag hadn't come out, I was confident that if I was passed on the Umanose (horseback) or the last corner, I could still beat them because I was faster coming out of the last corner. The next race at Fuji is one that we won last year, so I thought that if we could do well in the race before it we could go there with a good momentum. But, we have to keep concentrated so that we can win a lot of points at the coming Fuji and Suzuka rounds.

 

(Watching from the pit) the second stint felt really long. So I don't remember much about my own stint (laughs). The strategy of going without a tire change was something we were thinking about before the race, so I drove my stint taking care of how mush wear I put on the tires. Then, when the Safety Car came out to control the race [after the first accident], I heard over the radio that we were going with the no-tire-change strategy. Since Daiki [Sasaki] has the ability to run fast while still going easy on the tires, I was watching with assurance, but it was still a big relief when we finally won.

 

 

 

No.31 TOYOTA PRIUS apr GT

Since we had no-pointed in both the opening round and the last round at Fuji, we came into this race knowing that we had our backs to the wall. Our strategy turned out to be right on target. Since the softer tires had proved a bit difficult in the races, we sent Yuichi [Nakayama] out on the harder tires [for the second stint] believing that it would be good if we could get 2nd or 3rd. But he did well to the end. This has been a good result in terms of our title hopes.

 

We hadn't gotten a good result up to this point in the season, but now we have gotten a good flow going for the three summer rounds, including the 5th round at Fuji and 6th at Suzuka. We have always done well at SUGO, and during the short break of the Safety Car run, the Bridgestone people and our manager Kaneso-san and [first stint driver Koki] Saga-san got together and talked, and it was decided that I would drive the second stint on the harder tires. I was able to use the advantages of having changed all four tires, and the good chances resulting from the timing of the GT500 class cars passing us. I want us to keep this good flow going through the coming rounds at Fuji and Suzuka.

 

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