"I still can't believe we won the race," smiled Ito. "It is like a dream come true. I am very much relieved because I was invited to the team to win the race. The reason why I was doing the start was that we knew two Seven Stars Honda would push from the start and thus the pace would be high and we wanted to make a fast rhythm. I was surprised to see Kiyonari making an irregular pit-stop. After that we made an advantage to the others. The main reason for the win was that both our machine and
Bridgestone tyre was in good condition till the end. I was thinking that if we can't win this year it doesn't mean anything to continue participating in the 8 hour race, so I am quite happy that we won."
"I am relieved because there was an atmosphere that we must win the race," admitted Tsujimura. "I did a lot of night running during the free practice as I was going to do the final stint. We made a lot of advantage before the dark so I could stay cool till the end. Although we are a private team, people from Kayaba, Nisshin and OGK were with us throughout the race. We were disappointed when we lost the Suzuka 300km race and that is why we could win today."
"The reason we could finish second is that Yasuda managed to keep up with the leaders," said Konishi. "As it was very hot this year and also we haven't done any long distance test, I was very tired. I realised how old I am! Yasuda's riding impressed me and pushed me to do my best. Last year, Yasuda was third and this year we are second, so if we do it again we must win. May be it will be too hard for me physically, still I would like to try."
"I tried to keep up the pace with the leading group. There were many top riders so I was desperate to try my best. However, both tyre and I were physically tired," added Toy Story team-mate Yasuda. "That is why, I was left by them. Looking back the race as a whole, we were quite cool in every condition. I want to thank my team for preparing us such a good machine."
