2017.05.21

Round 3 Race Press Conference

Round 3 Race Press Conference

No.36 au TOM'S LC500

 

After yesterday's qualifying, I was starting to lose my confidence (laughs), so I decided to race calmly today. But, James [Rossiter] did a magnificent job at the wheel and got us to where we could take the lead. That was more than I ever expected. I had a bad time getting through the traffic (of back markers) and it allowed the No. 1 car to catch up with me. There was nothing I could do about the ensuing collision and that was unfortunate. There was some damage to my machine, but fortunately I was somehow able to get to the finish first.

 

Today was truly a day full of action. At first, I was running behind the battle between Andrea [Caldarelli, No. 6] and Nick [Cassidy, No. 37] and that was the toughest part. But after the Safety Car came out, I though that the real race would be from that point on, so I pushed hard. I kept running in full-attack mode, and I really enjoyed it. We got the win, so I am satisfied.

 

 

 

No.25 VivaC 86 MC

 

In the first half I was hoping that [Kenta] Yamashita would break out and give us the race, but things didn't go that easily (wry laugh). Since it seemed that it had been tough going in the first half, we changed the tire choice for the second half, and after they got warmed up, things went well. Because Autopolis is said to be a track where the JAF-GT300 cars have an advantage, I'm relieved that we were able to win here.

 

When I was running laps in the 1 min. 35 sec. range I thought it was a good pace, but the Subaru BRZ (No. 61) was able to stay with me and it was hard for me to build up any kind of a solid lead. But in the second half of the race, [Takamitsu] Matsui did a fantastic job, and although there was some trouble along the way, we managed to get the win. The drivers and the team really worked hard and we just managed to get the win, so I am glad.

 

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