No. 24 REALIZE CORPORATION ADVAN Z Tsugio Matsuda:“This 25th victory and a victory since coming to this team certainly was a long time coming. And watching Teppei (Natori in the late stages) was a thrill for me. When I was driving in the first half, I definitely had a feeling that we had a chance to win (moving up to the lead from 5th position). Working with Manager Kondo to build this team took two years, and I’m so glad that we were able to get this win. We also got a lot of help from the people at Yokohama Tires, so I am so grateful to the people that worked on the tire development. Most of all I wanted to give our Manager Kondo a win and I’m glad it finally happened.”
Teppei Natori:“After such a tough battle, my throat is worn out. With these members and as a team it has been a long struggle (since 2016) to get this win, and the fact that Tsugio (Matsuda) san has extended his number of victories to 25 is also great, and I am glad to have been part of it. （As for passing car No. 39?） I thought that was the only place it was possible. Since as a racing driver you can’t go on the defensive but have to be aggressive, there is always risk involved, but the fact that I was finally able to overtake it was good. (As for the cheering from the spectators?) I was really in an uproar of excitement myself when the overtake succeeded (laughs).”
No. 60 Syntium LMcorsa LC500 GT Hiroki Yoshimoto:“After changing to the LC500 this year with its high potential, it was still a struggle to bring that potential out with good result. When we finally thought we had a good result, it turned out that we were still 800 grams short (of the minimum car weight) and got disqualified. That was a big disappointment for the whole team. For that reason, we were determined to finally get this win at SUGO. Especially, the tires that the people at Dunlop prepared for us were truly outstanding. So when everything came together in a good matching, we got 2nd position in the qualifying and I was able to take the lead early in the race, but the pace of the cars behind me was also fast. And added to all this the driving of Shunsuke (Kohno) in the second half was really cool, and he did a great job of holding the lead for us (laughs). It was really great!”
Shunsuke Kohno:“I’m exhausted (wry smile). I knew that car No. 56 that was coming up on us at the end was fast, but then the Safety Car run reduced the gap even more. But I’m glad that the drivers weren’t injured in that accident, and I’m grateful for the fact that the officials cleared the course so quickly. In the final 30 minutes, I kept my faith in the performance of the Dunlop tires, so I kept pushing even harder than in mt qualifying time attacks. This time it was the new tires that the people at Dunlop made for us, the pit work strategy of the team and the good set-up of the car that gave us this first win in four years that I am so happy about.”
