2024.10.20

Round 7 AUTOPOLIS: Pole Position Comments

Round 7 AUTOPOLIS: Pole Position Comments

 

 

No. 24 REALIZE CORPORATION ADVAN Z

 

“All I can say is, not knowing anything about the conditions, including those of the track, all I could do was go out on the track and see for myself… That is all I was thinking about. And once I got out there, all I could say was, “This is bad news.” I thought the tires were never going get completely warmed up. To tell you the truth, I was scared. I never thought I would be able get pole position.

To be honest, I though I was getting a good time attack on my last try. But then I found myself coming up behind another car. I thought, “One more try!” But by that time, I had a flat spot on my tires. In the end I was able to steel the pole position. I think that if I had been able to drive as I wanted on the lap I wanted to, it would have been a really great pole position win.

When it came to the point where we were talking about who would drive in the qualifying, it turned out that I had always done well at AUTOPOLIS, so I said I wanted to take a shot at it (laughs). Well, I feel grateful that everyone on the team believed in me. Of course, this is my first PP in GT500. Since this is a PP that I won because the team trusted me, I’m really glad about the good job I did.”

 

 

“I was thinking that the outcome would probably have been the same whether I had run or Natori had. But since Natori raised his hand and said he wanted to do it, I told him to go for it. As for myself, (with experience as a SUPER FORMULA manager) I kept looking for the right timing to make the change from wet- to dry-use tires while checking the other teams’ pit stops. When Natori came back to the pit, I thought it was a bit too soon to make the change. But it turned out that that was the best move.

Looking now to the race, to be honest, there is something I am worried about. I really hope that the sun comes out. I will just be happy if we can get some more things working in our favor. In second place in qualifying was the same Z car No. 23 (MOTUL AUTECH Z), which should be a strong rival. What we have to do is just keep running well to the end, and I hope we will get a podium finish.”

 

 

 

 

 

No. 6 UNI-ROBO BLUEGRASS FERRARI

 

“We first went out with wet-use tires, but right away we changed to slick tires, but just as I got the tires warmed up there was the Red Flag stoppage, which made the conditions difficult, but the feeling of the car was very good, and I am very happy I was able to get pole position. Around the time of the end of the session, there was trouble when I came up on other cars during my attacks, which made things especially difficult.

Since there was no running time on the track during the race week until this, during our warm-up run (before the race) it will be important for us to find out where we stand in our position. Also, since Yoshi（Yoshiaki Katayama） hasn’t been able to run yet, I hope things go well for him in the warm-up so we can go on and take the win.”

 

 

“It is unfortunate that I haven’t been able to run yet, at other circuits I have been able to get top times in Q1 session before, and since the team has worked hard to get us pole position, I am very happy. It has been very moving.

Until now, 5th place has been our best starting position, and that time we finished in 3rd place, but since we are starting from 1st position this time I want to do my best to stay in the lead and see us goo on to win from pole position.”

 

 

Page Top