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Wednesday, 30th April 2008

Japanese ace maintains Asian form in summer season opener.

Kobayashi was cheered from the foot of the podium by the entire Panasonic Toyota Racing team as his points haul lifted him into fourth place in the standings.

“By opening the season with a victory, I've made the best possible start to the championship," he noted, "The car's been competitive all weekend and I've scored points on two occasions, so we've shown that we're among the frontrunners. It's all very positive and I'm champing at the bit to increase my tally in the next race.”

It had been tougher in race one, however, with Kobayashi having to fight through from a disappointing 13th on the grid to eventually take eighth spot and secure pole for Sunday's reverse grid race.

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“It was my first start with the new car, so it was all unknown territory," he insisted, "Two cars stalled on the same row as me and I had to zig-zag [between them], losing a place. After my refuelling stop, I was held up for two-thirds of the race by two slower drivers but, luckily, I managed to get past one of them before the finish.”

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