2017.11.12

Round 8 Race Press Conference

Round 8 Twin Ring Motegi : Race Press Conference

No.23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R

 

We got one more season ranking point from yesterday’s pole position win and today we were able to win the race. We actually came here to Motegi aiming to win the championship title, but since car No. 37 finished 2nd today, we fell short of winning the title by just 2 points and ended up 2nd in the ranking. But at the start of the season, the Lexus cars were dominating the top six places and had more than a 1-second/lap advantage over us, so I feel that we were finally able to win for the first time in this final round because the whole team came together and we worked to make progress on the machine-tire package. I want us to keep this flow going and come back next year to re-take the title.

 

At the start, my car was hit from behind by another car so hard that I thought I might spin out, and it made me think for a moment that today’s race was over for us. But the tires weren’t punctured and the car’s balance wasn’t bad, so it was great to find that it still ran well. Considering the (difficulties with the) car’s performance at the start of this season, I think we did great to come back this well. I feel some disappointment that we didn’t get the championship title, but by getting today’s win we were able to end the season on a good note.

 

 

 

No.65 LEON CVSTOS AMG

 

All season, Mercedes Benz and AMG and Bridgestone took good care of us. They gave us a truly good car and truly good tires. We went to Bridgestone tire this season and started the series with a new package, but Naoya (Gamou) has grown into a very good driver for us and we were able to compete without mistakes on the part of us drivers or the team, and in the end we were able to get this win and finish the year ranked 2nd. At times this year it felt like we were groping in the dark, but next season will be our second with Bridgestone and I think we will it will make us stronger.

 

I think that for me, today’s race was a good one. When I passed car No. 55, it looked like its tire condition wasn’t good and the car went wide on the last corner, so I went strongly to the in-side and pulled even and managed to get past it. Looking back on this year, there are a number of things that I think I made progress in and I think it all came together today to contribute to this win. There were some things that could have gone better and we ended up ranking second, but I think we have the best car and tire package.

 

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