Andre Lotterer (DEU) 

PETRONAS TOYOTA TEAM TOM'S
2008 SUPER GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 4 – Super GT International Series Malaysia
20 – 22 June 2008

PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom's leaves "home" race lighter

Weather: Overcast but dry
Air Temp: 21 - 23°C / Track Temp: 32 - 35°C
Track: Sepang International Circuit (MAS), 5.542 km
Laps/Race distance: 54-laps / 299.268 km

PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom's Car 36
Qualifying Position - 12th; Race Results - 7th

Kuala Lumpur / Sepang (Malaysia), 22 June 2008 – It was another points-scoring finish for the PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom's at the fourth round of the 2008 Super GT International Series Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday. The duo of drivers Juichi Wakisaka (JPN) and Andre Lotterer (DEU) made the most of the race to convert the weight penalty of 60kg into a strong positive result with their seventh place finish from their 12th grid position start, adding four more points to their points haul. The weight penalty was the result of the duo's strong results from the previous rounds.

Despite the threat of rain, raceday remained a largely dry affair for the 16-car GT500 field. Having qualified to start the race from the sixth row of the grid in 12th, the 54-lap race around the 5.542km Sepang International Circuit began with German Andre Lotterer at the wheel of the SC430. Making up considerable ground to move himself up from 12th to 8th in the opening lap, Lotterer maintained a consistent pace through much of his 27-lap stint.

Pitting for fresh tyres, fuel and a driver change, the second half of the race in the hands of teammate Juichi Wakisaka witnessed the Japanese rejoin in 11th. Making up ground through the remaining laps, Wakisaka was able to move himself up the ranks to eighth by lap 41, as a result of incidents involving other competitors ahead of him. With five laps remaining, Wakisaka was already up to seventh, a position he held on to through to the chequered flag.

Nobuhide Tachi, Team Director, TOM'S
"Everything went as planned, everyone did a perfect job and we achieved a good result. Of course, we always want to be first but this is an important result for us in view of our situation for this round with a lot of weight. We still managed to come away from this round with four points, which then translates into being 10kgs lighter for the next round. This result has now given us a good basis and a chance to fight for the overall championship. We proved that we are competitive coming from 12th to finish seventh. That is down to the great work by everyone on the team. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners for the support throughout the weekend."

Masanori Sekiya, Team Director
"Finishing seventh means that we are now 10kgs lighter for the next race, which is what we needed. We were able to show that the car was still competitive against the top car despite the 60kgs we had to carry for this round. At this stage of the championship, we have managed to close the gap down to the leaders and inch closer to the championship. As such, this race was crucial in view of the championship as a whole. It is a complicated regulation and we had to make do with what we had. This achievement is a great reward especially as we prepare for the coming rounds."

Juichi Wakisaka (JPN)
"Andre had done a great job in the first stint but my stint was not that good. I was struggling to push but I could not get enough heat into the tyres. I opted for the same harder compound tyres that Andre chose but the temperatures were too low. We had the choice to go with the soft option tyres but the feeling had been better with the harder option through the weekend. As the temperatures today were cooler than it had been over the earlier part of the weekend, it was hard to keep up with the leaders. After 10-laps or so, the tyres came back to me and I did not have any problems with the tyres anymore. We also had a problem with the power steering on Saturday, so the team opted to change that, which proved to be a great move as we could see some of the other teams struggle with that problem today.

"I could see the fight between the No. 32 NSX and No. 3 GTR ahead of me and wanted to fight but as I did not want to make any mistakes I maintained my position. In the end, both cars got caught up with each other which allowed me to gain several positions. We knew we would be handicapped by the weights we had to carry for this round, so to finish in seventh and collect four more points is a definite bonus. I have to thank the team for the incredible work they have put in this week and to the support of our partners."

Juichi Wakisaka (left) and Andre Lotterer (right)  

Andre Lotterer (DEU)
"I had a great start and was able to make up quite a bit of ground. We knew from the outset that with the extra 60kg weight, we had to have a more realistic target. Our aim was to try and get the points, and finishing seventh is the best or even maybe more than what we could have done actually, which is a bonus! The car felt quick today and I think we made a good tyre choice going with the harder option as I was able to keep up with the leaders. However, when I ran into some traffic I lost quite a bit of corner speed and it was hard to recover, especially with the weight disadvantage.

"Overall though, I am happy with the result and the four points. We were aiming for this result and we achieved it. This also means that we will be lighter in the next race, which will certainly help with the preparation for the next round at Sugo. Everyone on the team did a great job with no mistakes so I think we can all go home happy."

With the addition of four points to the tally, Juichi Wakisaka and Andre Lotterer are now second in the GT500 driver ranking with 38 points, 8 points behind leaders Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer (Car No. 23, Nismo GTR) and a point ahead of Michael Krumm and Masataka Yanagida (Car No. 22 Nismo GTR).

The PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom's now lead the GT500 team standing by a single point ahead of the Nismo with a total of 50 points. For information on the regulation, points system and the full results from the round go to the official SuperGT website at http://supergt.net/. For information on the PETRONAS Toyota Team Tom's, visit the team's website at www.toyota-team-toms.com

Round five of the championship will head to the Sportland Sugo circuit in Japan from 25 to 27th July.