SUPER GT Round 4 Chang SUPER GT RACE LEXUS LC500 Monopolized the Podium

GT500 class

WAKO’S 4CR LC500 No. 6 with driver Kazuya OSHIMA / Kenta YAMASHITA achieved victory for the first time this season at the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series at Chang International Circuit, Thailand.

LEXUS LC500 swept the podium for the second 1-2-3 finish this season, with KeePer TOM’S No. 37 co-piloted by drivers Ryo HIRAKAWA / Nick CASSIDY in second place, followed by WedsSport ADVAN LC500 No. 19 with drivers Yuji KUNIMOTO / Sho TSUBOI in third place.

GT300 class

K-tunes RC F GT3 No. 96 finished 14^th place.

WAKO’S 4CR LC500 No. 6 and KeePer TOM’S LC500 No. 37

WedsSport ADVAN LC500 No. 19

Kazuya OSHIMA (WAKO’S 4CR LC500 No. 6)

The last time we won was 2013, and we couldn’t win for a long time, so we felt a lot of pressure. Now we won, so we were able to give back finally to everyone who has been supporting us. Before the driver’s change, I got a little bit excited, and lost position due to some contact, but the team recovered with fast pit stop work. Yamashita also did a great race, so I feel the victory was led by the whole team. I appreciate everyone’s support. The next race will be tough, as there will be a weight handicap, but we will try our best to get points.

Kenta YAMASHITA (WAKO’S 4CR LC500 No. 6)

I really appreciate the team for this race. I thought it was tough from the beginning, looking at driver Oshima’s stint, but he came back to the pit with P1 position. The pit work was really fast, and we were able to pit out before the team TOM’S. We had to maintain the position and I did my best to keep this. The speed of the two TOM’S car was fast and they tried to overtake us, but I tried not to let them. I am happy that we won. We will have more weight, so the next race will be tough. We will have the possibility of winning the championship if we gain points in the remaining races. We will try our best to finish in the upper position, and will aim for the championship.

Ryo HIRAKAWA (KeePer TOM'S LC500 No. 37)

Second place is not what we expected, and honestly we wanted to win. The last race was also P2, and it doesn’t feel good to have two consecutive P2. I want to break off with this difficult situation. No. 6 was fast and we knew that their performance is good at Thailand, so we thought they will do it, and we are glad to be able to race to victory with them. We will rally in the next race.

Nick CASSIDY (KeePer TOM'S LC500 No. 37)

It was a good stint. After I passed No. 36, I became side by side with No. 6 and I think our fans enjoyed it. It was really a fair battle with No. 6, and it was good and fun racing with Kenta. I think we were at a similar pace, and the level was really high. It was not the best result but it was a good race.

Yuji KUNIMOTO (WedsSport ADVAN LC500 No. 19)

We had contact in the warm up, so there was some concern at the beginning of race. At the initial stage, we were able to be behind the pole position, but after losing position to P3 by the traffic, the top two cars pace were fast, and our tire condition was dropping, so I concentrated to keep our tires. In the middle of my stint, the tire was losing grip, and we had our competitors right behind us, but we maintained our third position. There was some luck when driver Tsuboi was on his stint, but we overcame the hardship and gained a podium finish. Today, with the team working together, we were able to race with strength.

Sho TSUBOI (WedsSport ADVAN LC500 No. 19)

It was the first time to start from the front row, so I thought we have chance to win, but Kunimoto-san’s stint looked tough, and as my stint was longer, I expected the race to be even tougher. I tried to concentrate to save the tires, and pushed whenever it was necessary. The gap with the top two was quite big, so the safety car run was lucky for us. We were also able to keep the tires during this time. After the safety car was gone, we were fast and overtook the other competitors and was able to recover the position. At the latter part of my stint, the competitors came close, but I was able to utilize the traffic of the GT300 cars to keep the position. It was not easy, but I’m glad we were able to be on the podium.

GT500 Class Result

GT300 Class Result

Drivers Standings (GT500)

Team Standings (GT500)

Pictures will be uploaded here during the event

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