■Winner Comments
No.100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT Naoki Yamamoto “I’m happy to have won. The deployment of the safety car meant things didn’t go exactly according to our original strategy, but after consulting with the team, our first pit stop went well. For the second pit stop, Makino suggested over the radio that we keep the stint short, and after that, he did a great job holding off the cars behind us at crucial moments. I’m truly fortunate to have such a fantastic team and partner, and I’m so happy we were able to win together.”
Tadasuke Makino “I don’t really remember the specifics of my own driving out there, but I think this result speaks well about the strength of our partnership—Naoki-san and me—as well as the strength of Team Kunimitsu. We’ve closed the gap in the title fight (against the No. 36 GR Supra) by three points, and with only two races left, it’s all about what we do at the final round in Motegi. The details don’t matter anymore—we just have to win.”
No.96 K-tunes RC F GT3 Morio Nitta “The car was perfect. We hadn’t been able to check the tires yesterday, but they performed extremely well, and so we were able to have a great race.”
Shinichi Takagi “I didn’t manage to set the record for the most wins—which is a shame (It is practically impossible considering the fact he was paired with Morio Nitta). I have so many mixed emotions about this, especially since it’s my first win since 2019, but we actually won! Wait—no, I’m not going to cry! (laughs). All joking aside, I honestly expected a tough race. But the team adopted a strategy perfectly suited to the conditions, and the Bridgestone tires held up well until the very end. That’s exactly why we were able to win.”
