SUPER GT Round 2 FUJI GT 500km RACE LEXUS LC500 Achieved Second and Third Podiums

GT500 class

DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.39 co-piloted by Heikki KOVALAINEN / Sho TSUBOI finished second place at the Autobacs Super GT 2018 series at Fuji International Speedway. Sho TSUBOI drove as a replacement of Kamui KOBAYASHI, who is attending the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38 with drivers Yuji TACHIKAWA / Hiroaki ISHIURA recorded third place.

GT300 class

SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 No.60 finished seventh place.

Heikki KOVALAINEN (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.39)

I felt really good with the car. The qualifying was not perfect, but I feel that the car was strong. My target was to get to the lead during the first stint and opening the gap. I couldn’t open that much gap but I could get the lead, so everything felt fine. Tsuboi did an amazing second stint with very little practice. He is very talented and will be a strong future GT500 driver. The last stint, I couldn’t get my tires warm enough, so I could not go fast at the out lap. I was missing a little bit of the rear grip compared to the first stint, but was able to control the gap behind me. Second place is not a bad result, so I’m looking forward to another strong race at Suzuka.

Sho TSUBOI (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No.39)

I wasn’t able to attend that many tests and had only limited time to drive yesterday, so honestly speaking, I was not ready at all and was nervous before the race. Heikki taught me many things, and I also tried to learn from Heikki’s drive. I was worried about the slippery out laps, but did not make any mistakes and also did a good job in managing the tires as well. It was my first time to do such a long stint, but the car was good and the tires were good, so I did my best to maximize the performance. I think I did what I needed to do as my responsibility. GT500 cars are really fast in acceleration, so I needed to stay focused. Also, with all the GT300 cars, it is easy to lose 1 to 2 seconds without precise decisions, so I am exhausted with using my head a lot. I am looking forward to a strong race in the GT300 class at the next race by leveraging this experience in the GT500 class.

Yuji TACHIKAWA (ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38)

The qualifying went well, but to be honest, the race was tough. The balance of the car was not good and the front tire was very tough. We hardly had any time to drive on the day of the qualifying and we only had 25 minutes of warm up before the race, so we checked and adjusted, but still couldn’t find the best balance. The qualifying was only 1 lap but during long runs, the bad balance of the car effected a lot. We managed to finish third place, but honestly, today was a frustrating result. I look forward to clearing up this regret at the next race in Suzuka.

Hiroaki ISHIURA (ZENT CERUMO LC500 No.38)

I did not drive yesterday, so it was my first time driving at the warm up today. We adjusted the set up because of the understeer during long runs, but Tachikawa told me it was still difficult after the race started. I had to keep this in mind during my stint. With many cars around me, I had to battle without having room to manage the tires, and No.36 went in front. We seemed to have a better pace, so I tried to get back my position but in the end, the gap increased. However, the condition was the same for everyone with all the change in schedule, so it was good that we were able to finish third place and to gain some points.

GT500 Class Result

GT300 Class Result

Drivers Standings (GT500)

Team Standings (GT500)

Pictures will be uploaded here during the event

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