Drivers' Reaction - Nations Cup in Tokyo
TOKYO, Japan (September 28, 2024) - The Nations Cup followed the incredible Manufacturers Cup race at Round 3 of the Gran Turismo World Series in Tokyo, with France’s Kylian Drumont securing victory in the Grand Final.
Round 3 – Tokyo Special Page
https://www.gran-turismo.com/world/gt7/events/gtws2024/tokyo
Round 3 – Tokyo Results
https://www.gran-turismo.com/world/gt7/news/00_3413293.html
Below are the post-race reactions from each driver:
Kylian Drumont, 1st
"I tried to be fairly aggressive at the start of the race, trying to overtake a few drivers to put the traffic behind me and have a clear course ahead of me. So, I only did one lap with hards and went straight onto mediums. I kept up my pace, I knew I was going to catch up with everyone, and it worked out really well, and I finished on soft tires. I had a clear field, I didn't have much traffic and I was very lucky with that. I’m very happy about winning in Japan because I love the Japanese people and my thanks go to all the drivers who were there for this competition.
Jose Serrano, 2nd
I’m very happy with my P2 in this Tokyo event. I’m very happy with the strategy because it worked out nicely and with this P2 we are almost leaders of the championship.
Takuma Miyazono, 3rd
"I was able to get through the sprint race in 1st place and start on pole. I honestly think that my strategy was not wrong, but my racing pace was not great, and I made a mistake, so in the remaining two months or so, up to the World Finals, I’m going to work on everything from the ground up to make sure I don’t lose to Kylian or Jose, and try hard to achieve a second championship victory.
You can watch the post-race press conference 'THE EXTRA LAP' of the podium finishers by following the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/live/citPM63J3io?t=9524
Valerio Gallo, 4th
I'm here in the GT World Series and my race has just ended. I'm quite happy about how it went because in the beginning it was full of trouble, but with a different strategy I might get a better result, why not? We'll see that in the World Finals.
Takuma Sasaki, 5th
"Honestly, I was really prepared and my pace was good, my strategy wasn't bad, and I thought I may be able to win but unfortunately I couldn’t pull it off. My tire strategy could be said to have been on the conservative side, but if it went well I would have been able to finish in a good position so I think it was pretty good.
Kaj de Bruin, 6th
"The start of the Sprint race was good, I gained some places in the beginning, but in the end, I got tangled up and finished last. Then for the final race, I had a pretty good strategy together with Kylian, but I just couldn't keep up because on the left side there was a big speaker that was like screaming in my ear, so I couldn't hear the car when was sliding or losing traction so I couldn't concentrate in the end. But I finished P6 for one point so it's all good. My pit strategy was pretty good, I'm happy with that.
Angel Inostroza, 7th
The race could have been a lot better, of course, but the good thing is that I'm starting to recover my pace. So in the next race which is going to be at the World Finals I expect to be better.
Guy Barbara, 8th
So, for me the race went a bit different to how I expected it in the first half. I was with Killian and Kaj so I was on the correct strategy, just my pace wasn't there overall. I ended up falling a fair bit behind and finishing in P8. I was P7, and I threw that away with a slight mistake. But in the end I just didn't have the pace to get up to the podium today. But it’s still a P8 and some confidence to take into to the next round in the Netherlands, and we'll see how we get from there.
Calen Roach, 9th
"I think I had the pace to compete for a podium, but just a combination of poor strategy and just burning too much fuel in the first stint just prevented me from doing that. In pretty much all Nations races at the three events, I've had the pace to compete for points, but I just keep on sabotaging myself by just executing the wrong strategy, and it's just mistake after mistake even though the pace is there, so I need to stop doing that going forward.
Coque López, 10th
The race was not really good. I couldn't really focus at all, and I guess this season I've been pretty slow. In the previous two rounds, I could manage with strategy and slipstream to be there, but I guess this is the reality when there are more than four corners in a track.
Adriano Carrazza, 11th
It was a good race at the start, but I think I made a mistake on tyre strategy... I did too many laps on the hards. In hindsight, I think the best strategy would have been only one lap on hard tyres because they were significantly slower... But we are going to the final now, I have nothing to lose so I'll come back stronger.
Robert Heck, 12th
It was disappointing. We put in a pretty good amount of practice and anyone who was on the side of the stage couldn't hear anything because of the speakers, so half of the competitors were driving without being able to hear a thing. The pit strategy was okay. It's just hard to drive when you can't hear.