“SUPER GT That Moment” where the drivers themselves reflect on the events of the race. We’ll go deep into the behind the scenes of the races and the true story of the driver, and present them in videos and chronicles!
Riki Okusa in the #10 TANAX GAINER GT-R took pole position in the GT300 class at Round 5 at Suzuka. Although he is a rookie who has just finished a full-time participation in SUPER GT this season, he is a promising candidate who will fully demonstrate his speed in qualifying and his tenacious driving in the final. We asked the new face, now respected by ‘that fighter’, about the Suzuka race and his future goals.
──At Suzuka, you were on the podium for the second time this season. However, it was a pole position start, so I wonder if you have mixed feelings about 2nd place.
Riki Okusa: During Suzuka race week, Yokohama tires and Bridgestone tires were a bit better than our tires (Dunlop), and to be honest, I didn’t think we would be able to race in that position. We were able to go this far in qualifying thanks to the preparation of very good tires from Dunlop, so I am grateful for that. However, after winning last time, I was a bit far from winning. It was pole position that I finally got in the middle of that, so personally it would be ideal if I wanted to win from pole. First of all, there were no problems and the team didn’t make any big mistakes, so I think it’s a positive result.
── In qualifying, he was in charge of Q2 and took pole position in the GT300 class with a difference of 0.054 seconds from 2nd place. What type of attack was it?
Okusa: “We didn’t have a lot of speed all weekend, so at the end of Q1 I was really worried about what to do with the car with (Ryuichiro) Tomita and the team. great feedback from my partner Mr Tomita the whole team shared the idea that if we could change things like that we would definitely have a great time I was able to adapt to my riding and I was able to improve my time, so I’m relieved that I was able to do it in a finished way.
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