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Race Report
2016.11.13
Round8 Motegi : Race Press Conference

Round8 Motegi : Race Press Conferenceの画像

Round8 Motegi : Race Press Conference

GT500 Class Winner and Champion

No.39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F

 

Heikki Kovalainen

This was an amazing weekend for us. I am grateful to the team and Lexus/Toyota for the wonderful car they prepared for us. Of course, another big reason for our success was that Kohei [Hirate] won us the pole position. In the final stages of the race I was struggling a bit as the tire wore down, but I worked to keep them from deteriorating seriously in hopes of being able to pull away again at the very end. In the end, everything went according to our race strategy. I am very happy to have gotten this first win and the championship title at the same time.

 

Kohei Hirate

We were finally able to win [with this team]. Of course I am happy to have won the championship as well, but more than anything, I wanted to end the season with a win, and I am very happy that goal was realized. I am grateful for the support we received from Lexus, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, Bridgestone and, of course, our team. Today, I pushed hard from the morning qualifying. So, I was able to follow up on Heikki’s pole win yesterday with my own today and help us keep the good momentum. It is really great to have been able to end the season with a big win.

 

 

 

GT300 Class Winner and Champion

No.25 VivaC 86 MC

 

Takeshi Tsuchiya

It makes me very happy that we were able to win and take the championship. We chose the same tires as yesterday, and since they weren’t effective yesterday, we gambled [with some new settings]. What’s more, it was great to see how cool Takamitsu [Matsui] was [as he caught up with the leader]. I hope we can continue to bring up young drivers like him. There was such a confusion of things happening today, but now I am really happy with the way things went.

 

Takamitsu Matsui

It feels really great to have won the race and taken the championship. Having this chance to race together with Takeshi [Tsuchiya]-san, I have been able to absorb a lot. I am really happy to have been able to win the championship with this team. Of course, I can’t let myself be satisfied with things as they are now. I want to take this opportunity to try to improve and become a better competitor. Anyway, I am just so happy now to have won the championship with a victory in the race today.

 

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