SUPER GT Round 4 SUGO GT 300km RACE Fourth Consecutive Victory for the LEXUS LC500

GT500 class

DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.1 co-piloted by Heikki KOVALAINEN/Kohei HIRATE won the tough race under an unstable weather condition and brought the team a first victory with the all-new LEXUS LC500 this season at the Autobacs Super GT 2017 series at Sportsland SUGO.

This win is the fourth consecutive victory for the LEXUS LC500.

GT300 class

SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 No. 60 recorded a fifth-place result with the all-new LEXUS RC F GT3 in the GT300 class with drivers Akira IIDA/Hiroki YOSHIMOTO and achieved a first top-5 result.

Heikki KOVALAINEN (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.1)

It was a crazy race. Always in these kind of conditions, when it‘s not very wet and not dry either, like when it‘s a damp condition, anything can happen.The strategy and tire choices are always the key. We decided to put the hard wet tires at the beginning. We actually had a radar we were following, and we estimated that it was going to be raining but not very heavy but a little bit too much for the slick tires, so we decided to go with the wet tires and this was the right decision. After that, we wanted to minimize the pit stops, we didn‘t want to go to the pit and change the tires and come out and we have the wrong tires and come in again, so we decided to stay out and the hard tires were working very well and even with some weight, the balace and pace of the car was very good. We were able to stay in the game. And of course the strategy of the safety car worked out perfectly for us today, it was a little bit of luck. The tires were working very well, the car was working very well and looking into the sky we knew these were the right strategies, so I was rested.

Kohei HIRATE (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.1)

It was a difficult start and we discussed until the last minute with the engineers and drivers on which tires to start with. We decided to start with rain tires, which was a good choice and Heikki did strong laps. The pit timing we decided with the engineers went perfectly. We ended up fighting for victory with No.46 (S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R) but I kept my eyes on the distance with the car behind because the tires will damage quickly under this type of condition. I thought that I would win the tough battle in the last lap and win, but it was a tough drive with some rain at the end of the back straight. However, we had the best pace compared to other LEXUS teams with the same tire brand, and the team makes a great car every race. We had chances to win at round 2 Fuji and round 3 Kyushu but couldn’t lead to victory, so I am happy to be back to fight the championships. SUGO is like my second home town, so this victory is special and I can bring back home good news.

GT500 CLASS RESULTS

GT300 CLASS RESULTS

Drivers Standings (GT500)

Team Standings (GT500)