News

News
2017.10.10
Kovalainenn and Quintarelli to drive in demo run at DTM Final

Kovalainenn and Quintarelli to drive in demo run at DTM Finalの画像

SUPER GT operator GTA and DTM (German Touring Car Masters) operator ITR announced the drivers who will take the wheel of SUPER GT cars in a demonstration run which already have been announced to take place at the final round of DTM's 2017 season in Hockenheim.

 

 

Two GT500 class cars will showcase a demonstration run at the DTM's final race taking place at Hockenheim in Germany from October 13 to 15, and one of the two, LC500 (No.093 - 2017-model test car), will be driven by 2016 GT500 class Driver Champion Heikki Kovalainen (LEXUS TEAM SARD). Four-time GT500 class Driver Champion Ronnie Quintarelli (NISMO) will be behind the wheel of Nissan GT-R (No.1 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R - 2016-model race car).
Two drivers are scheduled to have a practice run on Friday, October 13, and then drive in the demonstration run on Saturday, 10/14, and Sunday, 10/15, to showcase the performance of GT500 cars in front of motorsports fans of Europe.

 

 

 

Heikki Kovalainen [LEXUS TEAM SARD]
"I'm excited about the opportunity to drive in a demostration run in a SUPER GT car at DTM final round at Hockenheim. I think it's a great way to introduce SUPER GT in Europe in front of all the DTM fans, so I'm really looking forward to drive in the car in Hockenheim.
For me, I haven't been back in Europe since I actually left Formula One. I've been all the time in Japan. It's the first time to go back to a European circuit. I have a lot of friends and I have a lot of fans over there, so I think it would be so, so exciting time to meet my old friends and my old fans. And I'm going back as a SUPER GT champion! DTM championship is very popular in Germany, so I hope there will be many people and they get excited about our car.
DTM and SUPER GT cars are similar in some ways and different in some ways, so it would be interesting to see their reaction. So, hopefully, they will enjoy it. I think the collaboration between DTM and SUPER GT is a good idea. I hope one day we can race together in a same event with German manufacturers."

 

 


Ronnie Quintarelli [NISMO]
"When I heard about this, before I thought about myself, I was very happy that SUPER GT machine will have an opportunity to do a demonstration run right at where DTM is taking place. Of course, it's a great honor to drive last year's machine as a representative of Nissan, and having a NISMO car running on a European circuit is like a dream and I am so happy about it.
Myself and many other drivers from Europe had been telling that SUPER GT is really great, but it was not so easy to have others understand it. Of course, there are people who know about it very much, but there also many people who don't know about it, so the great thing about SUPER GT..., it's not only the race, but also the fact that Japanese automakers can create great cars. Those are what I want to show to European automakers through the demonstration run.
I sometimes participate in events in my home country Italy, and I hear many people telling me like "I wish to see a demonstration run by the car Ronnie drives" or "I want to see the car Ronnie is driving in front of me”. This time it's not in Italy, but I really think this is an incredible thing that SUPER GT will actually run in Germany, in the same Europe."

 

Page Top