Following a strong fifth-place finish for Yuji Kunimoto last month at Sugo, carrozzeria Team KCMG looks to build on the positives and continue to show improvements this weekend at Autopolis.
Kamui Kobayashi is absent due to his WEC commitments with Toyota, meaning Yuichi Nakayama will once again stand in for the ex-Formula 1 driver. Nakayama was Kobayashi’s replacement at Okayama when he was in quarantine after racing to a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in September. Two-time Super GT GT500 race winner Nakayama previously competed for the team in Super Formula in 2014-16 and 2018, having won the Japanese Formula 3 title in 2013.
The team’s form has been improving all season, so Kunimoto and Nakayama look to take advantage of this on the challenging 4.674-kilometre Autopolis circuit. The circuit features several high-speed corners, but also tests the drivers with a tricky twisty section towards the end of the lap. Kunimoto took pole position at this track last season and aims for a third successive points finish, while Nakayama looks for a top ten finish having just missed out at Okayama.
The Autopolis round takes place on 14-15 November.
Yuji Kunimoto: “Autopolis has many medium and high-speed corners that you can really attack. It’s a circuit I’ve done well at in the past, so I’m very much looking forward to the weekend. My race pace has been strong this season, allowing me to move through the field. If I can improve my performance in qualifying I think that we can have a good race.”
Yuichi Nakayama: “I would like to thank the team for welcoming me back for the Super Formula race at Autopolis. In my last race at Okayama, we had the potential to make Q3 and looking at the results of the previous round, carrozzeria Team KCMG has a lot of momentum behind it. So if all the pieces are in place, we can aim for a podium.”
Ryuji Doi, KCMG Head of Motorsport: “We are looking to continuing our form from the last two races here in Autopolis. Our performance has improved at every round this season and we want to keep showing positive signs. As was the case at Okayama, we are without Kamui, but the team is familiar with Yuichi and we know what a good driver he is, so we are confident he can perform at a high level. Yuji has been driving well all season and Autopolis is a good track for him, so we are hoping he can challenge at the front.”
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. For more information on all of the team’s activities please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.com.hk.
