Archive for the ‘Racing’ Category

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As part of the annual Lexus GT Drivers Association event in Tokyo this weekend all kids attending got the opportunity to enter a competition to redesign a Lexus driver’s helmet for us to use at the final race of the season at Fuji Speedway.

15 year old Yutaro Rikukawa was selected as the winner for my helmet. The design is based on my nationality and my first name which in Swedish means Bear. The Japanese translation is “Kuma” which is the sign on the belly of the bear in the design below. As some of you will know it is the same sign I’ve currently got on my helmet instead of my name.

Well done Yutaro!

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I’m now at Heathrow waiting for my connection to Japan for the next race of the Super GT Championship, Round 6 at Suzuka.

I’ve just returned from attending the annual Hello Sweden event which is mainly a golf tournament in which most of the associated athletes take part and play together with people from all the companies that are a part of Hello Sweden. It’s the event of the year, I always have a great time and it was nice to catch up with friends who I only really get the chance to see once a year. We also got the crayfish season started which is something I love, but rarely get a chance to have. For most of the people it was the perfect end to their summers holiday and for me a great way to kick-off my next race week.

Round 6 at Suzuka is coming up this weekend – the longest race of the year at 700km. We’ve already managed to accumulate our maximum handicap weight at 100kg. I guess under normal circumstances there wouldn’t be much hope of yet another podium but we’ve shown this year that we can be competitive even though carrying a lot of weight. + the fact that this is a long race – anything can happen and usually does.

Last year we were running second half way through, fighting for the lead, when we had an electrical failure. We’ll be running a similar strategy this year, aiming to stay out of trouble and avoiding mistakes. Its easy to get penalties as you sometimes get involved with the slower cars in traffic and if you get a drive-through it seriously hampers your chances.

If we can protect our Championship lead at Suzuka we’ll be in a very strong position for the final two races of the season when they’ll start reducing our weight again. We’ll be on 50kg for the penultimate round at Fuji and then back to zero for the final at Motegi.

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Highlights from Sugo Round 5.

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By finishing 3rd at Sugo Round 5 we managed to maintain a 1 point Championship lead over the #18 Dome Honda. With our 80kg handicap weight we didn’t expect to be fighting for a podium this race but our race pace was very strong and our pitstop was the quickest overall this weekend and that helped us pick up a position as well.

There are only 3 races left in the championship now, the next one beeing the Suzuka 750km. That will be the last race that we’re carrying our full handicap weight with a 50% reduction for the penultimate round and then with everyone back to zero for the final race. Suzuka will be tough as we have now reached our maximum handicap weight for the year – 100kg. But it is also the longest race of the season and at about 5 hours anything can happen.

Current Super GT 500 Championship Standings

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Highlights from Sepang Round 4.

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