Nirei Fukuzumi scored Kids com Team KCMG’s first Super Formula pole position on Saturday, before the squad earnt a double-points finish in Round 4 at Fuji Speedway.
Fukuzumi produced a stunning lap to line up on the front of the grid for Sunday afternoon’s event, while Kamui Kobayashi began the race 13th.
The polesitter started well, maintaining his lead until the pit-stops, although a slow tyre change dropped him down the order. However, Fukuzumi battled back to finish fourth, less than a second off a podium place.
On the other side of the garage, Kobayashi showed great pace, despite picking up damage to his front wing on the first tour of the 41-lap race, making some strong overtakes on his way into the top-10 to secure eighth place.
It was the squad’s second double-points finish of the opening four events, with both drivers earning their best results of the campaign so far. Super Formula returns on 23-25 August at the Mobility Resort Motegi Circuit.
#8 NIREI FUKUZUMI
“I’m delighted to score the team’s maiden pole position in Super Formula and also my first since 2021. The race started well as I led, but unfortunately a slow stop dropped us down the order. After this, I got my head down and battled back within a second of the podium, which showed the strong pace we had over the weekend. It’s frustrating to miss out on a potential win, but at the same time it shows the progress we’ve made to be challenging at the front. We’ll look to carry this form into the next round at Motegi and fight for the top-three again.”
#7 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
“It was a much-improved event all round for us with the car looking strong throughout the sessions. We had a small problem in qualifying which cost us the chance to advance to Q2, but in the race on Sunday, even with early damage to the front wing, the pace was good. I worked myself up into P8 to take my third consecutive points finish, which shows that the car is improving and that we’re now getting stronger.”
RYUJI DOI KCMG HEAD OF MOTORSPORT
“I’m thrilled to take our first ever pole position in Super Formula and it’s thanks to the team, our partners, Toyota Motor Corporation, the fans and Paul Ip, the owner of KCMG, who have all helped to make this happen! It was great to celebrate this achievement on Saturday and score points for the fastest qualifying time, but the pit stop mistake on Sunday potentially cost us our first victory. I take responsibility for it and apologies to Nirei, as he drove a fantastic race. However, the double-points finish is our strongest performance of the campaign with both drivers performing well, showing that the car is improving. We’ll continue to work hard to achieve more positive results like this throughout the rest of the season.”
Media enquires: Cristina Villar
Email address: cristina@kcmg.com.hk
For more information about KCMG please visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of all the latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow on Twitter and Instagram.
Who is KCMG?
KC Motorgroup Ltd (KCMG) is an international motorsport services group established in 2007 by Paul Ip. The group, with its headquarters located in Hong Kong, has operations reaching across the Asia Pacific region. KCMG operates closely with many partner companies and racing organisations around the world to provide unrivalled motorsport services, equipment, team management and quality distribution in the automotive industry. This includes the FIA Motorsport Games, where KCMG is the official supplier of hybrid F4 cars, and the KCMG Driver Development Project. For more information on all of the team’s activities please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.com.hk.
