SUPER GT Round 6 AUTOPOLIS GT 300km RACE Fifth Consecutive Victory for the LEXUS LC500

GT500 class

DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No. 39 with drivers Heikki KOVALAINEN / Yuichi NAKAYAMA achieved their first victory this season in the 2019 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series at AUTOPOLIS INTERNATIONAL RACING COURSE. This is the fifth consecutive victory for the LEXUS LC500 since Round 2.

KeePer TOM’S No. 37 co-piloted by drivers Ryo HIRAKAWA / Nick CASSIDY recorded third place.

GT300 class

SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 No. 60 with drivers Hiroki YOSHIMOTO / Ritomo MIYATA won their first victory for this season. This is also their first win since the debut with this car in 2015.

DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No. 39

SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 No. 60

Heikki KOVALAINEN (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No. 39)

I feel extremely happy. It’s been a while since we won in the race, and we had a tough season so far without a podium Even it’s been a hard season for us, we kept working hard. This weekend we managed to improve our car so we were competitive in yesterday’s qualifying. It was crazy weather today. My stint was okay, and I was cautious in the rain not to make a mistake. When it was dry the balance was pretty nice, and I enjoyed my stint. Nakayama-san did an amazing job. I was a bit worried at some moment, but he said “no problem” on the radio. He took care of the tires and got it all under control. It is really happy for the team and hopefully it gives a nice kick for the rest of the season. We are now third place in the championship and in Super GT, everything is possible like what we saw today, so we will keepy trying hard as a team for the remaing races.

Yuichi NAKAYAMA (DENSO KOBELCO SARD LC500 No. 39)

This season, we were not able to get a good result, while the other Lexus cars were in good condition.But I communicated well with Heikki and the team, and changed the set up of the car, and was able to pass the Q1 since two races ago. When it was my stint, the pit was very crowded and got contact from others, but the pit stop timing was perfect. In the chaotic situation, the pit stop work was great, and the mechanics let our car back into the track in front of our rivals. Thanks to our team for today’s result. After the safety car run, the restart went well, and until the following cars came closer, we were able to keep the tires, and control the margin. I feel that my experience in the GT300 class with the same tire manufacturer was useful. We were able to rely on the car and tires, so it was possible to push until the end. We are satisfied with today’s result, as we were able to manage the tire well. I’m happy to win in my debut year of GT500 class, and now we are able to compete in the championship, so we will do our best to capture the championship title.

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

In the beginning of the race, we had the weight handicap and was difficult to increase our position, but after overtaking the rivals, our pace was good, so we thought we could aim for upper position. But it started to rain, and there was a safety car run. The tires and the brakes became cold and it didn’t grip at all. We wanted to change the tires, but we knew we will just lose our position, so we tried to warm up our tires to increase our pace. Later on there was another safety car run, and luckly we were able to get close to our rivals. While I was increasing the pace, the tires got locked, and the car spinned in the speed of 150km/h, but I was calmn enough to be able to manage, not to crash. The tires got damaged by the spin, so I had to take care while racing, but I pushed taking on the risk, and was able to finish in third place. I didn’t know the position, and thought it was P9 or P10, so I was surprised when I heard it’s P3. The car condition is good, and we drivers are doing well with the car, so if we are able to continue this, I think we will be in a good position for the remaining two races.

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

Ryo did a great job, especially the final few laps were amazing. Our speed in this weekend was really good in the dry condition. In Q1, and also in the first half of the race, we were able to pass our rivals and was able to come back in P5 at the pit stop timing. In the difficult condition, I am happy that Ryo got P3 in the end. We had good speed, and it shows that compared to our rivals, our performance this weekend was amazing. In the last five weekends, Rd. 2 Fuji qualify was P2, Rd. 3 Suzuka and Rd. 4 Thailand race was P2, Rd. 5 Fuji race was P4, and today was P3, so we were physically strongest in car. We have a good feeling, but there are still some points gap, so we will not give up until the end.

GT500 Class Result

GT300 Class Result

Drivers Standings (GT500)

Team Standings (GT500)

Pictures will be uploaded here during the event

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