A thrilling battle with excellent race craft and smooth manoeuvres from start to finish. Let’s hear the comments from the winners.
Nobuhiro Imada, Winner, Trofeo Pirelli AM: “I think the positioning on the track is important in this race. Although I made mistakes in the first round, I was able to perform to my full strength and was lucky enough to take pole position during qualifying. I was confident in the tyre management, which worked and so the second half went well. It was regrettable I was not able to win at Suzuka as I thought I was better at the Suzuka racetrack. But I won today and feel very reassured now. I will continue to race in the remaining 4 rounds, so I will do my best to become a Series champion”.
Kanji Yagura, Winner, Coppa Shell: “In Suzuka, I participated in Coppa Shell AM class but was promoted to Coppa Shell class by winning two consecutive races there. Today, I qualified in 7th position but had to drop 3 positions to start from 10th on the grid as I had to change my damaged tyre for a new one for Race 1. However, the other drivers were struggling so I was able to overtake during the race. I was expecting to be in 3rd or 4th in class at the chequered flag but I won the race! I feel sorry for coming into contact with my competitor at the final corner. For the next race tomorrow, I will try to race a clean race”.
Masa Katsumata, Winner, Coppa Shell AM: “When I was 12 years old, I watched the F1 race and saw Ferrari at Fuji Speedway in 1976 through the wire mesh and decided to be an amateur race driver. I once gave up racing due to budget reasons but now that I have returned to racing, I have never been so happy in my life. Today’s win is not my own but it’s because of the support of the people around me, especially my family. The temperature on the track was high today and the tyre grip was not so perfect, so I drove by adjusting the manettino many times. Actually I finished in 2nd place but due to the penalty of the race driver before me, I was lucky enough to win. My family will come tomorrow and I definitely want to win again in front of them”.