Global Racing Management (GRM) and Italy’s rising-star driver Andrea Caldarelli (age 21) have recently signed an agreement that will entrust GRM to back-up, support the very talented driver Caldarelli through his racing activities of the coming season.

Andrea Caldarelli was born on February 14, 1990 in the town of Pescara located on the Adriatic seacoast of Italy. With the influence of his father who used to be a GT driver, Andrea started racing karts at the age of 9, then at 15 shifted over to driving formula machines. In 2007, the young Italian racing driver was chosen to become a member of Toyota Development Program (TDP), then eventually went on to competing in the Formula Renault 2.0, and in 2009 up farther to the F3 European Championship (placed 3rd in the Series standings). Before long, Andrea had an opportunity to experience test-driving for TOYOTA F1 (Panasonic TOYOTA Racing), just at the age of 19. In the following year Andrea drove in the Italian Championship F3 (placed 3rd in the Series), where his fine performances impressed Ferrari who then offered him a chance to test with Scuderia Ferrari F1. Among all the young talents there trying out, Andrea Caldarelli marked the top time proving his truly high potentials.

In 2011, the hopeful Italian driver entered the All-Japan Formula NIPPON Series (with Kondo Racing) of Japan and opened another new page in his career of racing activities. In November of the same year Andrea started participating in the “Young Driver Excellence Academy” run by the FIA as he was selected in the world’s 18 finalists admitted to this 1-year program, and where he is currently attending workshops to overcome hard training and build up those qualities asked of professional drivers ? strong spirit, techniques and physical conditions.
Year of 2012 will bring more challenges upon Andrea, one of which activities will be the FIA’s new series starting from this year, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC, in short) where Andrea will be participating as the “Junior Driver” of TOYOTA Racing. With involvement as a member in a professional team, he is likely to learn much about the world of endurance racing from the regular drivers as well. Thus, chalking up a range of experiences Andrea Caldarelli shall broaden knowledge and aim at elevating the racing skills, bring forth his caliber to an even higher degree.

（TOYOTA Racing Press release）

The “JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT & Formula NIPPON FUJI SPRINT CUP 2011” was staged at Fuji Speedway again this year. This event is truly an extraordinary festival of motorsports, with the two popular series of this country, SUPER GT and All-Japan Formula NIPPON – that just finished off each of their seasons respectively, - are held jointly in one weekend on the same track. Normally, in the SUPER GT there are the GT500 and GT300 classes running mixed, with two drivers per team taking turns of stints but this event’s protocol provides that an individual race be carried out for each class, with one (1) driver responsible for one (1) entire race. Also, for the SUPER GT, Formula NIPPON and even for the support races as well, all drivers were grouped into the East-West competition system (according to each one’s home regions) and therefore, the points won by each driver during this event contributed to the battle between the East vs. West as well (organizers were to decide “the East or West” for all non-Japanese drivers). In the end, the winning team is to be decided by the sum of points scored on the total. From LEXUS TEAM KRAFT of the GT500 class, Juichi Wakisaka (Team WEST) entered Race 1 held on November 12th (SAT), and Andre Couto (Team EAST) in Race 2 of Sunday the 13th.


On November 11th (FRI), in spite of the pouring rain showers, Official Practice took place from 09:30AM which lasted for 1 hour. Andre Couto took the steering of D’STATION KeePer SC430 for 8 laps under these poor conditions, checking into the feeling of the machine in view of the Official Qualifying session to come in the afternoon.

From 14:20, Qualifying heat for GT500 class’ Race 1 began. During the 20 minutes of this session however, the downpour turned heavier and heavier, with conditions becoming ever more difficult for everyone. Wakisaka finished 13th (1’50.283) from this session, and from 15:25, Couto was to run in the qualifying for Race 2, but this session had to be put off till the next morning as the rain only grew worse with no chances of recovery for the day.

On 12th (SAT), that miserable weather condition of the previous day seemed like it had never happened and skies over the mountains of Fuji were as clear as ever, but the postponed Race 2 qualifying session (GT500) had to be held over the track that had not completely dried yet – in the semi-wet condition. Andre Couto pushed hard on D’STATION KeePer SC430 with intermediate tyres, but suffering some issues of understeer had to settle to 12th (1’44.934) position on the grid.

The official schedule of the event commenced with an Opening Ceremony, then on to the official qualifying session for Formula NIPPON, and following Race 1 of the SUPER GT300 class came the time (15:15) to start Race 1 of the Super GT500 class, by the “standing start” style. Juichi Wakisaka of LEXUS TEAM KRAFT starting from 13th on the grid climbed to 9th in the opening lap already, pushed onward more with aggressive drives rising to 4th by Lap 11! From there and ever more fighting on hard especially against No. 36 (PETRONAS TOM’S SC430), finally took hold of No. 36 on Lap 19 and emerged to position 3! Thanks to our veteran driver, a dramatic outcome was brought about with a pleasing 3rd place podium finish after 22 laps of real racing - some great work done!

On the following day, 13th (SUN), Fuji Speedway was again blessed with beautiful skies and a huge crowd of spectators attending from quite early in the morning. From 10:05AM were the opening event functions, and right from noon (12:00) began the Formula NIPPON race (22 laps), which was followed by the Legend Cup race competed by the big-name drivers of all-times, and soon came the time for the SUPER GT race, the true climax battle of the weekend. After Race 2 of the GT300 class, starting from 15:25 now Race 2 for 15 cars of the GT500 class got under way.
Andre Couto who kicked off with a fantastic start from 12th of this race’s grid, jumped up to P5 already in the opening lap, and then captured P4 just in the next lap. Then soon again, overtaking car no. 1 (Weider HSV-010), the Macau-resident driver climbed up further to P3! From there on and for some numbers of laps, including Andre the top 3 race leaders fought high-paced actually for quite a while, enlarging the gap from all the rest. And over halfway through the race, the pace of No. 35 D’STATION KeePer did drop a bit but only slightly, so Andre with steady driving kept a good stride at 3rd throughout the remaining half of the race. Nevertheless, at the point of 5 laps to go, No. 36 (PETRONAS TOM’S) that was closing in from behind began raising its pace and in the final lap the two cars got into a fierce tail-to-nose condition. Andre Couto held out as hard as he could blocking the back, but then with just seconds away to Finish, or “one more podium finish” for this team, No. 36 came forcing its way and the two cars hit and spun on Prius Corner (T13) from the outside. The Portuguese SUPER GT driver somehow managed to return No. 35 onto the course in spite of this upset, and brought it to chequer at 6th.
Nonetheless, the overall count (Race 1 and 2 combined) for the team resulted as 3rd, and Wakisaka-Couto pair finished in good beauty, finishing a very enjoyable weekend and their battles standing on the Podium! Besides, something also nice is that Team EAST, to which Andre Couto belonged, won the West vs. East battle so this might have been another treat for the happy driver from his weekend at Fuji.

ANDRE COUTO
“Getting so close to a podium finish, it was a bit of a regretful outcome for me. The machine setup was really at its best from the beginning to the end, it was perhaps a race most well-driven and that I enjoyed the most this season. Let me take this moment again to thank all the people in the team for the many hard work and efforts we shared, all the sponsors for their backup support, - also my big thanks go to each and every one of our many fans, just as well. I’ll try to keep this vibe and bring it with me to Macau GP. Then after that, on November 27th (SUN) I hope to see everybody in Japan at the “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing FESTIVAL”.

(Attendance: 70,700 spectators/3 days)

This year on March 11th, all of Japan was in great sorrow and turmoil caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the major disasters it brought. As many efforts for reconstruction and recovery gradually got under way, the motorsports season also resumed its activities from May, particularly with the SUPER GT organization standing up to position the Series in the circle of actions for the Great East Japan Earthquake and Disaster Relief Aid. Now, the AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series touched down on its last stage Twin Ring Motegi (in Tochigi Prefecture) over the weekend of October 15th – 16th, for Round 8 “MOTEGI GT 250KM RACE”, the true climax of this season taking place at a track that had to be reworked after suffering some damages by the earthquake earlier in the year.

In this round, the weight handicap added up on each machine up to now were reset and zeroed for all cars so that the battle here be one that is competed purely by the performance of drivers and machines. Portuguese SUPER GT driver Andre Couto, who has not been able to exert his usual, true best all season long, is unfortunately not among the title contenders but even then, managed to maintain high motivation throughout the year. This week he rose again to the challenge with LEXUS TEAM KRAFT, for the grand finale of this season.

October 15th (SAT), amid unfavorable weather conditions with downpour and winds also blowing, the Official Practice began from 9:45AM. Already from the beginning, cars struggled against difficult conditions such as bad visibility by water-screening, slippery track surface, and therefore many coursed off. However by the latter half of the session, rain eased off and the practice session finished at 11:30AM. D’STATION KeePer SC430 was in the field with first Juichi Wakisaka running 23 laps, then Andre Couto in the last half driving 10 laps. The team finished this session with a 13th position time (1’55.490).

At 13:05, with rain pouring down again, Q1 of the Official Qualifying session began. 30 minutes into the session with GT500/GT300 classes mixed, during 15:00-15:10, 15 cars of the GT500 class set out to qualify for the Q2 (top 11 positions) of the knock-down style. Attempts by No. 35 D’STATION KeePer SC430 were conducted by Juichi Wakisaka up first, but not able to gain enough tyre grip team’s position stagnated at 14th (1’55.771), thus no advance to the Q2 could be made. On top of that, as the time marked in Q1 by Wakisaka was judged to be invalid due to overrunning in the yellow-flag zone, the time outputted by Andre Couto earlier in the mixed session became the certified result (1’55.898, P15) for this team.

On October 16th (SUN) morning, Free Practice (9:00 - 9:45) was again a wet session. By rain continuing to fall from the day before, heavy-wet condition was declared for the course. D’STATION KeePer SC430 was driven in the order of Wakisaka up first, Couto up second, with both drivers checking deep into the machine setting and conditions. Just as this session got through with the team in 14th position, now the skies started to clear and from then onward weather started to improve rapidly.

Soon it was time to begin the warm-up procedures preceding Start, (as the condition turned to dry, these procedures usually taking 8 minutes were extended to 13 minutes). All 36 machines coming off the last checks took their places to form the grid. Then at 14:05, over Twin Ring Motegi found under crisp blue skies (Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius, Track temp. 33 degrees C), the final race (53 laps) of the 2011 SUPER GT season got under way with enormous roars of the engines.

Andre Couto on D’STATION KeePer SC430 was off with a decent start from the rearmost row of the GT500 grid and soon worked up to 11th position, managing to get through unscathed an accident by two cars in the opening lap. From there, Couto continued his push on farther keeping the position, but then on the 5th lap at T3, just upon overtaking no. 24 (ADVAN KONDO GT-R) got hit on the rear by the same car, and unable to hold, spun-off! Luckily, the machine did not experience any damage and No. 35 was able to return to the course but because of the time loss, position dropped down to 14th. Having to try catching up again from backfield, eventually on Lap 9, Couto was back again running at 12th as there was one car pitting in. But then having to care for the tyres too, in the meantime No. 35 was overtaken by two cars from behind, those with fresh tyres, and by Lap 15, the position was back down to 14th. Nevertheless the resilient driver held on striving till the scheduled, routine stop. By the time of 20th lap in the race, there were many machines going for pit-stops but meanwhile No. 35 stayed going at a steady pace until Lap 28. Then, D’STATION KeePer SC430 returned to the pit for driver change, tyre change and refueling, and from there on team’s Japanese driver Wakisaka began his stint for the remainder of the race.
By this time, all machines had finished the compulsory pit-in and car No. 35 was running in 13th position. Veteran driver Wakisaka kept up a constant, high pace throughout the remaining laps but coming to the final lap, got struck by another misfortune on T12! Just after brilliant overtaking two cars no. 19 (WedsSport ADVAN SC430) and no. 8 (ARTA HSV-010) over the back-straight, No. 35 D’STATION KeePer SC430 was contacted hard on the rear by no. 8! This hit forced Wakisaka to spin-out and due to the damages caused No. 35 had no option but to stop, finish the day’s race in P14 and also the season - just like that.

ANDRE COUTO
“This being the last round of the season, we were keen to end the year with good feelings. But both Juichi and I got hit today by other cars, and it turned into a bitter end for us. Machine and tyres were all working so we could have gained much better results… I am disappointed that we were not able to show good performance to the 36,000 fans that attended the race this weekend.
This marks the end of the series of this year. Everything went by so quickly, it seems like. Supported by many fans and members, I was able to fight through season-long, till the very end. I would like to express my very sincere appreciation to everybody. Thank you very much! Next month, JAF GP and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing FESTIVAL will be held, also I myself will be participating in the Macau GP (WTCC), so now I look forward to giving my best in each of these races, offer some excitement to everyone.”

October 1st - 2nd, 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 7, "SUPER GT in KYUSHU 250km" was staged at Autopolis found in the beautiful and grand natural surroundings of Aso Mountain Ranges, (in Oita Pref., Kyushu Island) now beginning to color with shades of autumn. It has been 2 years since a SUPER GT event was staged here the last time in 2009, and is also the circuit where Andre Couto has achieved a podium finish in the past. Toward the final round, Andre came ready to face another challenge, aiming to take a win from this place and with his team, LEXUS TEAM KRAFT.

On October 1st (SAT), though the winds felt rather chilly, clear skies spread over the track blessed with pleasant autumn sunshine and at 9:00am, Official Practice Session of 1 hour and 45 minutes got under way. From LEXUS TEAM KRAFT, first Juichi Wakisaka drove for 16 laps as checking into the machine setting, then followed by Andre Couto driving another 10 laps giving further checks. After both drivers' confirming, No. 35 finished this session in 11th place (1'42.728). From 12:00, Q1 of the Official Qualifying got started. In the mixed session (25 min.) of GT500/GT300 classes running mixed, first Andre went out on the course with used tyres and cleared the qualifying standard time (1'44.659) at ease, then handed the steering over to his teammate. On new tyres, No. 35 marked a good, 2nd place time (1'41.634) and proceeded to the next Qualifying session (10 min.) competed among 15 GT500 machines. In this session, Wakisaka overwrote the time with a fine 1'40.715 result, and thus the team advanced to the Super Lap in position 5.
Shortly, at 15:19 the Super Lap of the 10 top qualifying cars from Q1 began. As the 6th car up to start the pursuit, Wakisaka on D'STATION KeePer SC430 pushed with the utmost to further trim down the time to 1'40.478, and secured 5th on the grid for Sunday, not a bad position to start the race.

On October 2nd (SUN), temperatures got even lower than the day before with cloudy skies spreading over the Aso region. Amid a 14-degrees Celsius, rather chilly morning, 30 minutes of Free Practice began. Andre Couto on D'STATION KeePer SC430 made 15 laps in the practice as reconfirming the last machine settings fit for the race.

At 14:00 it was now time to Start the race, and with a trace of sun coming down quietly upon the circuit of Autopolis, the wild hollering sounds of the SUPER GT cars roared off for the 54 laps of race. With rolling start from the third row, No. 35 under the command of Andre Couto jumped up one position in the opening lap to 4th, but on coming to the 3rd lap was passed by car no. 6 (LEXUS TEAM LeMans ENEOS) and was back down to staying at 5th during the early laps of the race. Then in the 9th lap, Andre passed back No. 6 whose pace did not improve much farther, and took position 4 again. In the next few laps however, No. 35 was overtaken by other cars coming from behind and by the point of 16th lap, D'STATION KeePer SC430 was gradually down to running at 8th. During that time, Couto judged that he cannot burden the machine too much with any unreasonable initiations or attempts, but instead tend the tyres, and went on patiently for another while. Eventually, there were many machines going into the pit, perhaps due to wear of tyres, but in the mean time Andre hung on till the last lap of his compulsory 22 laps in spite of his lap time dropping down, returned to the pit and passed the baton over to Juichi Wakisaka. From there and onward, veteran driver Wakisaka continued with a constant pace from one lap to the next, and finished the race in position 9.

ANDRE COUTO
"The track surface here is really hard on the tyres, and though having some margin, I tried controlling the pace as much as possible. Even then, gripping down could not be helped and we could not cling onto the leading pack. We'll try to find the best match by the last race, and I'll certainly give my best in the remaining races, end this season on a high note."


TOPICS:
F3 Macau GP winner and the hero of Macau, Andre Couto will again make a spot entry in the World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC), Macau Round held this year on November 17 - 20th. Same as last year, Andre will be racing with the Spanish team, SUNRED Engineering, driving SUNRED SR Leon 1.6T.

On September 10 - 11th, the "FUJI GT 250km RACE", the 6th of the total of 8 rounds in 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series took place at Fuji Speedway. In this race which is already one of the last and near-climax phases of the season was attended by the audience of about 42,600 GT fans this weekend, who were all glued to watching some fierce battling go on till the very last second! Andre Couto driving with LEXUS TEAM KRAFT flew in from his hometown Macau to join forces again with his team and teammate Juichi Wakisaka who, just like Andre, are greatly determined to give their most and gain back the lost grounds of up to now - really do some catching up in these final rounds!

On September 10th (SAT) under pleasant autumn-blue skies, the day begun with first the Official Practice Session in the morning (9:15 - 11:00). On D'STATION KeePer SC430 first Juichi Wakisaka, later serving the qualifying-attacker, ran to do the machine check as firming up the setting, which machine was next handled by Andre in charge of doing the long run. Marking a 4th position time (1'35.656) from this session, No. 35 was able to gain a good feel toward the Qualifying to take place in the afternoon.

As going on to the Super Lap, Juichi Wakisaka whose order was to start 7th, headed to course-in on given the cue from the official, but just then it happened to be that No. 35 was blocking the way for car No. 6 (ENEOS SUSTINA SC430) which was already on its way out, so therefore Wakisaka had to yield and give way to No. 6. This was in fact, a mistake on the steward's half, but for any reason such happenings could still disturb any driver when trying to pick up pace or good rhythm, also delays the warmup of tyres. In spite of it all however, the expert Japanese driver managed to make a quick recovery, and in this session confirmed the 4th place starting grid for the team.Commented Andre Couto after the qualifying session, "For us this was not the best SL and result, but for all LEXUS to dominate the top 5 positions at the home course is really something. We can be very confident with the machine and its setup so please watch us! We are really going to tackle hard in the race tomorrow!", with a cheerful look on his face.

On the following day, 11th (SUN) the Free Practice Session (8:20 - 8:50) took place under light rain. This forced all machines to run with rain tyres, and on D'STATION KeePer SC430, first Couto put in 9 laps, followed by Wakisaka doing 2 laps. Rain already cleared by the time Free Practice was to finish, in fact, it gradually started turning into a rather perspiring-hot weather.
The clock stroke 14:00, and though clouds spread over the skies the dry condition (Temperature of 29 degrees C, Track temperature 39 degrees C) was addressed on the track, and rolling start by 15 machines of GT500 and 23 of the GT300 kicked off for the 55 laps of race with enormous bursting sounds!
Starting from a good, 2nd row of the grid, D'STATION KeePer SC430 went with Andre Couto, - as a matter of fact with an excellent start among all LEXUS's in the top rows - and ran at position-4 in the early laps of the race. However, on the 10th lap, it got passed by No. 36 (PETRONAS TOM'S SC430) from behind and thus it lost one position down to 5th. From there on, the pace did not grow much better which cost No. 35 some more positions down. Unable to hold much longer in that condition, Andre went into the pit on 19th Lap just on completing his stint, then the machine got refueled, tyres changed and switched to Wakisaka for the remainder of the race. Going back onto the field at 14th position, Juichi tried catching up with a great strive, and brought the position back to 11th by Lap 37. Then, toward the last laps, with one car retiring, the position was up to 10th, and soon one another notch up as overtaking a car in front, and thus D'STATION KeePer SC430 finished the race in 9th position.

ANDRE COUTO
"Today, some technical issues that we had slowed us down. And though it couldn't be helped, since the machine was set up so well, we really saw good chances for a podium result this time... it is rather disappointing. With all the team together we will review, troubleshoot and solve the problems, and for sure go to "win" the next round!"

TOPICS:
Andre Couto continues to be actively involved in the bone-marrow donor bank awareness-raising program that the SUPER GT is promoting.
On September 11th (SUN), the Japanese Red Cross Society opened a blood donation booth on-site Fuji Speedway to call for donor bank registry, where Andre also joined the campaign efforts to promote greater public awareness and cooperation.

The all-time, well-loved summer festival event, the “International Pokka GT Summer Special” of Suzuka Circuit welcomed its 40th anniversary over the weekend of August 20th – 21st this year, also held as 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 5. With the influence of the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster of earlier this year, this one race that was competed over the distance of 700km last year was shortened to 500km (87 laps) this time, now making this endurance race not only long and enduring but to have a touch of also a sprint-race element - which only arouses greater excitement, actually! Andre Couto, with a past winning experience from this big race rose to the challenge again, this time with LEXUS TEAM KRAFT for Round 5 of the second half in this series, this season.

August 20th (SAT), Official Practice Session (9:55 – 11:40) in the morning was found under cloudy skies. Juichi Wakisaka was the first driver up to take car No. 35 out for a stride of 10 laps, then next with Andre Couto running 11 laps more to sophisticate the machine setting, the pair advanced to Official Qualifying session with a 5th position time (1’55.684). Then, from 12:55 Q1 on the Knock-out style began and in the session of GT500/300 running mixed, Couto made the standard time to farther qualify. In the session that followed of the GT500 class alone, No. 35 came to 7th position with the time marked by Wakisaka 1’54.537 and advance to Q2 was accomplished.
However, just before 15:00, finally the rain started pouring down and Q2 (15:25 -15:45) had to start in the heavy-wet. Here, the Portuguese SUPER GT driver took the steer giving his utmost, and yet the 2’10.832 time could not bring LEXUS TEAM KRAFT to the Q3, but only to 10th position on the starting grid of the race.

ANDRE COUTO
“From Q1, the track condition changed and under-steer grew worse, slowing our time. I’m rather disappointed with this result from the qualifying, but then it's going to be a long race tomorow. We do have a good machine, so raising of positions even starting from 10th is not impossible! We’ll just do our best!”


The next day, 21st (SUN) from about 9AM, large drops of rain came dripping down (!) soon soaking up the grounds and hence the race day had to begin under not the best auspices. Through the Free Practice Session (10:00 – 10:45) which got under way in the wet condition, all GT500 (15 cars) and GT300 (23 cars) looked into making final adjustments on their machines. Andre Couto on LEXUS TEAM KRAFT, known for his skilled driving in the rain commented, “Machine is better than it was yesterday”, as coming off this session where the team positioned 6th (2’10.166).
Eventually, the rain once cleared but still over the skies of Suzuka lingered some very thick rainclouds. By the time Warm-up laps preceding Start were to begin, the course turned into heavy-wet condition. However at 15:10 (Temperature: 26 degrees C / Track temperature: 27 degrees C), most of that rain stopped.
From the Formation Lap and to chequer of 87 laps away, D’STATION KeePer SC430 kicking off with a decent rolling start was driven first by Japanese veteran driver, Juichi Wakisaka. In the opening lap No. 35 passed one car, moving up to position 9. Then on the 10th lap rose to position 8, and on lap 11 up to 7th. By that time, the track turned to semi-wet, and from the 19th lap many teams started making their first pit stops. No move was made by LEXUS TEAM KRAFT then and for another while until the 33rd lap when it finally went for a pit stop! After tyre change and refueling, Andre Couto was now in command of the wheels, back in the field at 10th position. Andre kept that position throughout the middle phase of the race steadily, piling up numbers of laps. On lap 43, as one of the cars crashed at 200R, from the 44th lap Safety Car got in and from there the cars assembled into one formation again for the SC run until eventually Restart could be made on lap 47. With resilience, the Macau-resident driver strove on keeping up the pace, and while other competitors went for their 2nd pit stops to switch to either rain tyres or slick tyres, again LEXUS TEAM KRAFT decided to put off their next pit stop for a while more. Then on the 66th lap, Andre entrusted the car over to his Japanese teammate and by then the rain was coming down heavy again so LEXUS TEAM KRAFT put intermediate tyres on the car for Wakisaka to accomplish the last stint. Though maintaining position 7 at high-pace, with the track now clearing up a bit more, No. 35 got passed once by a machine from behind, positioning down to 8th momentarily but on lap 83 when the clock was about to strike 18:30, which was the finishing time of the race, it recovered one position back right in time for chequer and the team achieved a 7th place result from this traditional midsummer event.

ANDRE COUTO
“It was really a tough, long race having to cope with the downpour off and on, but a 7th place finish from this race is a result that will bring us to the next round on a good note. I did my stint on deep-groove rain tyres, but among the rivals who were mostly with intermediate tyres I had a somewhat difficult time raising positions and just had to hang on. We have had to race a lot in the rain this season up to now, so in the next round at Fuji (September 10 – 11), let’s hope for a sunny race and there aim at getting the top positions!

The AUTOBACS SUPER GT of 2011 has now come halfway through the season (8 rounds in total) with the unfolding of Round 4, “SUGO GT 250KM RACE” staged at Sportsland SUGO located in Miyagi Prefecture of Japan, which is also where many people were victimized by a devastating earthquake tormenting the regions back on March 11 of this year. Now that this Series and its rounds are positioned to serve as tribute-events to indicate support for the Great East Japan Disaster Reconstruction Aid, messages of encouragement and relief are conveyed to those in suffering by the catastrophe. At this time, GRM driver Andre Couto, together with his team LEXUS TEAM KRAFT resumed their racing actions after some month and a half of interval.

On July 30th (Sat.), the Official Practice Session in the morning (8:23 – 10:10) began under rain. Midway into the session came more downpour causing machines to course off one after another, but during the last half of the session, eventually the skies started to clear. D’STATION KeePer SC430 was first driven for 16 laps by veteran driver Juichi Wakisaka who has gained many wins from this circuit before, then followed by Andre Couto running 7 laps towards the end of the session. An 11th position time (1’30.392) was marked by the work of both drivers, and the team was now headed to the afternoon qualifying session.

The 1st Official Qualifying session began at 12:25, which by then the track surface had mostly dried. First the GT500 (15 cars) and GT300 (22 cars) classes ran mixed, and in Lap 8 Juichi Wakisaka marked a fine time with 1’17.321, a 2nd position result from this session. But soon after, rain started to fall again and also with some machine coursing off the Red Flag was addressed. The session was resumed in the 5 minutes remaining, but most of the drivers including Andre Couto could not clear the standard time and many had to wait until the next session of 10 minutes starting at 13:39 for more time-attack pursuits. But in this run, Andre got caught in traffic unfortunately and could not renew the time. Even then however, D’STATION KeePer SC430 finished the qualifying at 10th, owing to a time marked by Wakisaka, and the team successfully advanced to the Super Lap (SL), or in other words the 2nd Official Qualifying. Later, the rain started coming down heavier, this time accompanied by strong winds and even some fog as well, and at 15:20 under - what’s called, the heavy-wet condition - the team’s Japanese driver was the first one up to take No. 35 out to the field in the SL of GT500s. Coming off the warm-up lap and onward smooth to the time-raising attempt of 1 lap, Wakisaka marked a 1’32.960, and also by the results of other 9 cars fighting the SL, D’STATION KeePer SC430 affirmed its 8th position on the Starting Grid.


July 31st (Sun.), at rather low 21 degrees Celsius temperature, Free Practice (45 minutes) began from 9:10AM. On D’STATION KeePer SC430, first Andre Couto took the steering under wet condition, checking on the condition of the machine through his 17 laps run. Then, in the last half under a semi-wet condition Juichi Wakisaka went on the wheels, and finished this session placing 8th.

With the audience of over 27,000 GT fans (overall figure was 36,200 in total) watching, finally it was 14:00, time for the race to Start. In the skies over Sportsland SUGO, with dense clouds appearing it was though rain could start pouring almost anytime. However, with dry condition declared (Temperature of 21 degrees Celsius / Track: 22 degrees C), the 250km of race (68 laps) got under way. Andre Couto, the starting driver on D’STATION KeePer SC430, rolled out well and smooth from the 4th row on grid and on the 3rd lap overtook one machine in front moving up to 7th, and then again on the 8th lap worked up to 6th position. However, even for Andre who normally favors the track characteristics of SUGO, the ups and downs were felt quite uneasy, and thus the race pace did not improve as was hoped for. Gradually losing some positions, by the 25th lap No. 35 was down to 10th, and routine pit stop was made for the driver change, lubrication, and tyre change to take place. Next, the car was trusted to Juichi Wakisaka who maintained constant pace and laps, but coming to the back-straight end on the 36th lap, with a machine going in front braking hard (!) No. 35 could not help but collide! This causing damage on their radiator, race was finished for the team instantaneously - right at this point.

ANDRE COUTO
“We were able to start the race today from not a bad grid position and also went pushing very hard from the starting laps but not being able to overcome problems of under-steer, really not much more could be done. We will definitely work hard to catch up in the remaining half of the season, so give us your warm support!”

The 2011 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 3 “SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES MALAYSIA” unfolded at the Sepang International Circuit (Length: 5.542km) over June 18 – 19th. About 7 hours of flight away from Japan, this circuit located near Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia close to the Equator is renowned to also host F1 and MotoGP events. And obviously, it being a tropical region, for any race the auspices here are never so easy on the drivers or machines. On top of that, occasional squall or sudden rain-shower common to this area can always stir up and upset developments of the race. And where such demanding conditions await, GRM driver Andre Couto coming in from Macau (where he resides) joined the rest of LEXUS TEAM KRAFT members committed to face all the challenges. Now, for this team who has been working to seek a good flow, particularly as progressing on to the last half of the series, it is quite important that they finish this 3rd round with positive results. Thus, Andre Couto came with some strong determinations to fight through the two days of this one special weekend held in Malaysia.

On June18th (Saturday), Official Practice Session took place from 10:00 to 11:45 AM, where Andre Couto, together with teammate Juichi Wakisaka worked to tune D’STATION KeePer SC430 to a good setting, and finished this session with a 10th position time result (1’59.299). Then, from 14:15 to 15:05 (Sunny skies, with temperature 35 degrees C / track temp.46 degrees C), the first run of the Qualifying Session began. 15 machines of the GT500 class, and 19 machines of GT300 ran the session together, and Wakisaka of LEXUS TEAM KRAFT cleared the standard time. Soon after, Andre Couto coursed in to make time-attacks and outputting a 1’59.441 9th position time, the team was able to advance to the next session (10 min.) of just the GT500 class alone. There Andre marked the time of 1’58.313 and in 10th position advanced to the Super Lap (SL).

Following the SL by the GT300s, beginning at 17:12 with the sun from the west still coming down strong (Temp. 32 degrees C / Track: 43 degrees C), Andre Couto on No. 35 hit the track as the first runner of the GT500 - Super Lap. Gradually warming up the tyres, then “Right On!!” already in the first lap of the timed session, marked a 1’57.948 time. Though the rivals soon followed or exceeded with faster times, D’STATION KeePer SC430 clung on and secured their grid start from 10th position in the next day’s race.

ANDRE COUTO
“Machine is in better and better shape every round, and today we were able to move on to the Super Lap, which is a good achievement. In the race tomorrow, we will be using stronger tyres, and since our machine has been finished to such a good state, I think we can really look forward to tomorrow!”


Next day, the 19th (Sun), the Free Practice session in the morning continued to be under dry condition (Temp.: 32 degrees C/Track temp. 37 degrees C), and Wakisaka/Couto’s D’STATION KeePer SC430 marked a 3rd position time of 1’59.587 and in good note prepared for the race to come that late afternoon.
The Sepang race this year was to start from 16.00, just past the peak of daytime high temperatures. Even then, the temperatures continued to stay high at 34 degrees Celsius with the track temperature reading 43 degrees C, and for sure the 46 laps of the race here on this track always turns into a harsh one not only for the drivers, but just as much for the team crew doing the pit actions. And soon following the formation lap, all the cars rolled out to the SUPER GT race of Round 3!

Andre Couto serving the starting driver kicked off from the 5th row and ran at 10th position for a while. On the 7th lap, he moved up to 9th as another machine going in 6th position spun out. Further, on the 10th lap, Andre overtook car no. 39 (DENSO SARD SC430) going in front and rose to 8th position. But thenafter for a while, another car going ahead in 5th position (No. 24 ADVAN KONDO GT-R) but not able to pick up a good pace, clogged up everybody’s way and therefore, D’STATION KeePer SC430 without any choice also had to stay stuck, patiently following a trail of cars. What’s worse, this had to go on for as long as six laps, as the layout of Sepang Circuit does not allow for much overtaking. Eventually when no. 24 finally went in for a pit stop in the 17th lap, all the machines held up behind 5th and downward were finally able to raise their paces and Andre Couto on No. 35 was also able to move up positions to 7th. Shortly passed the 17th lap many of the GT500 cars started pitting in (to fuel, tyre change and driver change), while Andre on LEXUS TEM KRAFT stayed on track driving steadily for some laps more till it was time for pit-stop scheduled upon completion of his 25 laps stint. However, on this pit stop refueling did not go smooth, and an unfortunate time loss was caused! Wakisaka, now on the steer stormed out to catch up for this loss, and though having to go from the rearmost, he throve with veteran driving, working back up to 10th which is the position the team got the chequer.

ANDRE COUTO
“There is definite improvement with our machine, and it is now more competitive. Both Juichi and I really did our best today. If it hadn’t been for the fueling trouble on our pit-stop, we could have finished the race in the top 6, I’m sure. At SUGO (July 30 -31) the team will reunite as one aiming for a win, so please stay tuned with us!”

"AUTOBACS SUPER GT Rd.1 OKAYAMA GT 250km Race" which had to be postponed by the March 11th Great East Japan Earthquake finally came to unfold at Okayama International Circuit on May 21 - 22, amid rich verdure of the season. Here the track length is 3.7km, not as long - but with very tight corners and considerable elevation, overtaking points are seldom found over this technical course. As for the spectators' points, since the GT machines can be seen running at close hand, this is obviously the one track where GT fans can really satisfy the craving they always have for a race! This weekend a total of 23,500 spectators showed up, all who must have had their fill of great fun and excitement from a hot SUPER GT battle brought to them up close.


On May 21st (Sat), though there was slight rainfall at dawn, the Official Practice session was conducted on slick-tyres. D'STATION KeePer SC430 had Wakisaka putting final touches on the machine-setting in main, then in the latter half of the session Couto reconfirming them through a long run. With the time of 1'25.434, car no. 35 headed to Official Qualifying in the afternoon in 12th position.

At 12:30 under cloudy skies, one hour of qualifying heat, the Q1 on the knock-out style began. First, the two classes of GT500 and GT300 ran a mixed session where LEXUS TEAM KRAFT sent out Andre Couto to clear the standard time (105%). Next, the machine was entrusted to Wakisaka for final checks. Then later again, Wakisaka went back on the course as he was in charge of the 10-minute Q1 competed among 15 cars of GT500. However, even with the performance of this veteran Japanese driver, still the time did not improve as much as it should. Therefore, stuck at 14th position with 1'25.293 time the team could not move on to fight the Q2 (the frame of top 11).

ANDRE COUTO
"Machine has been finished to a good package, but just the time hasn't gotten better. I could feel a slight under-steer and braking not completely improved yet, so we still need to work on the setting a bit more. But anyway, just like how we did in the last round at Fuji, we know we can catch up pretty well in the Race. Chances of rain is said to be high for tomorrow, but dry or wet - whichever it may be, for sure we'll give it our best shot!"


In the morning of the 22nd (Sun), the Free Practice session which was scheduled to take place from 08:30 to 09:15 had to be cancelled due to a heavy downpour so the Warm-up laps just preceding the Race were started from 12:38, also extended to 25 minutes long, which allowed both drivers to practice. As the rain stopped eventually, Warm-up session was held in the dry with both GT500 and GT300 classes running to make some last check-ups into the machines and on the track conditions as well.

Soon it was 14:00, and the 68 laps of Race got under way with cloudy skie still up above (Temperature: 23 degrees Celsius / Track temp.: 29 degrees C). Andre Couto on D'STATION KeePer SC430, responsible for the first stint, started from the 7th row and was quick to pave his way upward. In the 2nd lap he passed a car in front, no. 23 (MOTUL AUTECH GT-R), and positioned up to 12th. On the 11th lap however, this same no. 23 overtook back, and for another while no. 35 had to endure going 13th, gradually stressing out its tyres. Even so, on the 25th lap Andre once again brought the position back to 12th, and then went in for a pit stop. And there, as the change of tyres and switching to Juichi Wakisaka took place, just then some fuel sprung out from the filler neck due to problems with the fueling system, and slightly caught on fire! Team crew managed this all very well and quickly, and no. 35 was able to go out on the course. Wakisaka from there pushed hard, working to recover the time lost during the pit stop. Around the last half of 40th lap, when it was time that other cars started pacing down, car no. 35 stayed running steadily rising to 12th position on Lap 49, 11th on Lap 52, 10th on Lap 54, and to 9th on Lap 55! Then on the 58th lap, just when further positions up seemed quite possible in the laps remaining to chequer, D'STATION KeePer SC430 had to rush into the pit for an urgent stop. After refueling, no. 35 made it back to the field again, but this urgency costing them considerable positions down, the team could only finish the race with a 14th place result.

ANDRE COUTO
"After those qualifying results, we made final touch-ups on machine-setting together with the engineers and readied the machine for the Race. So the machine got better and with Juichi pushing very hard, single-finish (* finishing in 9th at least) looked quite possible for a moment there, but unfortunately by the fueling trouble during our pit-in, later we ran short of fuel and could not bring ourselves to earning points. But our machine is gradually improving so let's definitely look forward to the next round!"


TOPICS：
Hirotaka Teraoka, who is a more than 10-years big fan of SUPER GT, particularly of LEXUS TEAM KRAFT's Wakisaka/Couto, traveled from Hiroshima down to Okayama this weekend. Last year in January he was diagnosed to have acute myeloid leukemia, and having gone through many months of anti-cancer treatment, he has been able to recover to the point of visiting a race weekend! Given much support from his family of course, on top of that his sincere passion for car races must have really given him the strength and power he needs to fight off the hard treatment he is going through. This time, Mr. Teraoka joined Andre Couto with the campaign efforts such as handing out stickers for bone-marrow donor bank promotions, and truly enjoyed his race weekend on site.

On March 11, 2011, The Great East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 - the biggest ever recorded in this country - brought an unprecedented extent of catastrophe on the northeast coastal regions of Japan, stretching from Tohoku and as far down to Kanto. Other than the directly stricken areas, this earthquake brought serious consequences on power supply, transportation systems, also over production activities by corporations and many businesses as well. Based on these facts, it has now come to be ranked as "The country's largest-ever crisis since the War".

Due to these situations, Round 1 of the 2011 SUPER GT season which was initially scheduled to take place at Okayama International Circuit on April 2 - 3, had to be postponed to the weekend of May 21 - 22 instead. Meanwhile, many members of the national motorsports organizations not only remained grieving over the many losses, praying for the lost ones and their souls, but was also quick to move on with various reconstruction support and actions, such as visiting the disaster victims at the shelters to offer whatever aid that can be provided. With the whole country now undergoing many hardships with sinking hearts and deep emotions, decisions have been made to position all 8 rounds of this year's SUPER GT Series as "The Great East Japan Reconstruction Aid Event", with the hope to deliver as many happy feelings to the victims, give courage and dreams to whoever in need.

Overcoming many obstacles, in the weekend of April 30 - May 1 the "2011 AUTOBACS SUPERGT Round 2 FUJI GT 400km RACE" unfolded at Fuji Speedway (in Shizuoka Prefecture), which according to the calendar is the 2nd Round of the SUPER GT season but actually turned out to be the season's opening race . For GRM Driver Andre Couto too, this marked the real beginning and very first race since joining LEXUS TEAM KRAFT (Bridgestone), after coming off his 7 years racing with LEXUS TEAM SARD (Dunlop), so here Andre was at one very important round to exert his performance in a fresh and new environment. Again, due to the recent circumstances, the pre-season tests had to be cancelled. Hence, on April 29 (Nat'l holiday), free practice opportunities were especially provided and there finally, the GT machines all in new coloring lined up together. D'STATION KeePer SC4320 (No. 35), in its image color of green/blue, kicked off with Juichi Wakisaka in charge of the setting and Andre Couto doing the long runs, trying out various parts and specs the team innovated for the new season.

In the morning of April 30th (Sat.), the Practice Session (09:10 - 10;55) began in good weather with pleasant spring-breeze brushing by. The 15 cars of GT500 class and 21 of GT300 kept busy working on machine adjustments and preparations for the Qualifying Session to take place in the afternoon. In this free practice session, D'STATION KeePer SC430 positioned 12th (with the time of 1'34.913). Just when the time came for the 1st run of the Qualifying (13.15 - 14:00), suddenly the Mt. Fuji area was covered by an overcast of clouds, accompanied with gusty winds. Amid so, first the two classes together set out to the joint session where the two drivers of No. 35 cleared the norm - the time required, then moved on to the 10-minute session separately held for each class. However in this session, an electrical problem arose! Therefore, the team's Japanese driver Wakisaka was to drive the qualifying runs, but had to stay in pit with the machine, with only the session time going by... With not much time left, No. 35 somehow made it out to the field finally, but still could not reach the point to making time-attacks, and thus the time marked in Lap 8 (1'36.213) became their only result recorded. With this, the team had to sink to 15th on the grid.

ANDRE COUTO
"It is truly heartbreaking when I think about the many victims of this time's earthquake disaster, people who lost their loved ones. The nuclear plant failure in Fukushima is also a shock to us too who live outside of Japan, and everybody is wishing for things to settle down soon. At the same time, all of us were moved watching how the Japanese people, even during such times conducted themselves with calmness, caring for each other, and I want to send my sincere wishes to everybody, saying "Gambaro! Japan". In tomorrow's race, we will have to start from the very back row, but thinking about the people now living their everyday in the evacuation centers, I must be stronger too and do the best I can here in my place because we are all one to fight together!"


On May 1st (Sun.), rainclouds spread out wide over Fuji Speedway from early morning, with light drizzle coming down. In the Free Practice session held from 8.30am for 30 minutes, all cars worked on warm-up laps in wet condition, preparing for more rain possible in the afternoon during the Race. Andre Couto drove D'STATION KeePer SC430 for about 6 laps as checking into the feel of the car. Not as comfortable with the under-steer of the car particularly at high-speed corners, Andre informed the engineer of his insights.

As the time to start the Race of 66 laps approached, during the warm-up laps just preceding the race large droplets of rain began to fall. In a matter of seconds, track condition turned to heavy-wet with temperatures rather low at 13 degrees Celsius (Track temperature: 14 degrees C). Meanwhile, the 36,000 GT fans (audience figure was approximately 60,000 for all 3 days) sat waiting for the Start of the Race. Also 5 minutes before Start, 1 minute of Moment of Silence was held to honor the lives lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

At 14:00, 36 machines of both GT500/GT300 kicked off for their very first SUPER GT race of 2011 (66 laps x 4.563km) but behind the Safety Car (SC) for several laps. Eventually on the 6th lap when the SC determining the track conditions left, the Green Flag permitted all cars to storm out at full-throttle towards the 1st Corner! Andre Couto steering No. 35 from 15th position already worked up to 14th in the 7th lap, then farther up to 11th position in the next lap (8th). On top of being slippery, poor visibility by shower-screened conditions did stress the Portuguese driver, but with astounding performance Andre went rising up the notches as overtaking one car after another. In the 9th lap, D'STATION KeePer SC430 got up to 10th, then 9th on the 13th lap, 8th on the 15th lap, even up to 7th by the 18th lap!! During that time, while other cars started pitting in, Andre Couto stayed out in the field maintaining an incredible level of concentration! By the 23rd lap, Andre caught up to as high as 6th position and held on until getting passed by a car from behind in lap 25, but even then calmly kept up his constant, steady pace. As the rain began to ease off a bit, No. 35 continued to keep the position but on the 34h lap got overtaken by a faster-paced no. 39, DENSO SARD SC430 (Michelin), the pole-sitter. So with one position down to 7th, but after a satisfying 44 many laps, Andre Couto finished his stint, then handed the steer to his teammate Juichi Wakisaka. Back in field, Wakisaka managed to stay in 8th position chasing the top pack with his veteran driving and expertise, but unfortunately in the 57th lap the rain started pouring down ever heavier. Soon No. 35 had no way but to pit in on the 59th lap to change to deep groove tyres!
On returning quickly to the track at 11th position, just then the Red Flag was commanded by the Steward of the Meeting judging that any further racing would be too dangerous, and the competition was officially terminated at this point. Therefore, the position of D'STATION KeePer SC430 also had to stop at 11th, and as a result of this, the team finished this Race just bare inches away to earning points.

ANDRE COUTO
"Missing the chances to qualify, we had to start the race from the back today, but being it a wet race there were also possibilities to reverse the situations for us. In the beginning of my stint, visibility was so awful I could hardly see the front and driving became very difficult, but I did my best to catch up as much as I could. When switching over to Juichi, parts around the track were beginning to dry to semi-wet so intermediates (tyres) were chosen for his stint but in that kind of rain towards the end, it was just too risky. So we decided to change tyres one lap earlier, but this didn't work. Well, it's still the first and only one round done. We will definitely make up for this in the next round. Please continue to give your big support for D'STATION KeePer SC430!"


TOPICS:
On April 28th (Thursday) a day before getting to the circuit, Andre Couto joined a courtesy visit to Shizuoka Children's Hospital (in Shizuoka City), with Honda driver Hideki Mutoh (ARTA HSV-010) and Nissan driver, Masataka Yanagida (S Road MOLA GT-R), which is one of the efforts the GTA has been making since last year to raise public awareness for the Bone-marrow Donor Bank Registry.

Before a group of young patients and their parents fighting illnesses such as leukemia, the three GT drivers gave talks, introducing themselves and sharing their aspirations for the coming weekend's race. Then, gifts such as SUPER GT machine models, radio-controlled cars, and mini-cars were handed to the children.

Children were all in smiles and laughter hearing talks from the drivers, receiving gifts with drivers' autographs, also taking photos together. Andre himself, also joyed by these children expressing best wishes back to him and the drivers, "Good luck with the race!", he too will continue to pray ever more for all children's recovery, with all his heart.

The SUPER GT has continued to grow until today it is recognized as the "world's prime touring car race", which Japan can be very proud of. Andre Couto has been present throughout many of this series' exciting race scenes and actions over the years since 2004, and this season he is onto making entry with LEXUS TEAM KRAFT.

LEXUS TEAM KRAFT is known for many of its glorious achievements throughout the past, such as that fantastic pole-to-win victory in the 3rd round (Fuji Speedway) of last season. Inviting Akira Iida to serve as their new director, the team has chosen two strong drivers to fight through the coming new season. Juichi Wakisaka, one of the distinguished drivers representing Japan with also abundant experiences as a champion, together with Macau-hero Andre Couto will hit their strides this year, all determined to drive KRAFT Racing ultimately to winning the series champion title!

The two drivers will take the steer of D'STATION KeePer SC430, car No. 35, the machine which Toyota has pumped in all the best technologies with all the dignity. There is no doubt that Toyota Techno Kraft (TRD)-tuned engine, in combination with the Bridgestone tyres, will stir up dynamic battles on the tracks thrilling many race fans and spectators waiting to see some great actions.

ANDRE COUTO
"I am greatly honored to continue racing as a LEXUS driver in the SUPER GT series. I can't wait for the first round and the season to open, as we are able to race with the best package, matured in all aspects. We will certainly give our maximum, do whatever we can to accomplish our target to win the "Series Champion", and while we do so, we count on your grand support for LEXUS TEAM KRAFT all throughout the year!"

Andre Couto’s dear son Afonso passed away on November 3rd at the age of just 7 years and 5 months old, after a brave and hard-fought struggle with leukemia. And though just 10 days following the saddest day for the family, Andre decided to come take part in the “JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT & Formula NIPPON FUJI SPRINT CUP 2010” held over November 12 -14th, for one, as a dedication to his beloved boy who had much love for daddy's racing, and also to indicate sincere appreciation to the many fans and members who always conveyed kind words of support, encouraging not only Afonso but he himself throughout their fight against the very difficult illness. Hence, Andre Couto spent the whole weekend through attending the event, accompanied by his wife Graca, and their 2-year old daughter Catarina.

The event held at Fuji Speedway this time turned into one unprecedented, big event ever, staging together the two series - the SUPER GT and the All-Japan Formula NIPPON - which both finished their seasons just recently. This is ultimately for the purpose of invigorating the Japanese motorsports on the whole, and a way to show appreciation to the fans and enthusiasts in this country always loving and supporting motorsports. It was also the long-missed, traditional event title, “JAF Grand Prix” coming to a revival after 20 years. Therefore, one of the featured highlights was such as the Legend Cup competed by prominent, legendary drivers and figures in the Japanese motorsporting history, and the event truly turned into a grand festival (drawing the total of 65,500 spectators for the 3 days) celebrating all the success and glory this sport has brought around this country.
Rules different from the usual practices were also applied at the FUJI SPRINT CUP. For the SUPER GT, two drivers belonging to one team each ran a qualifying session separately held within Friday, then according to their respective qualify results, each one individually entered a 22 laps race for whichever class the GT500 or the GT300 may be – with Race 1 taking place on Saturday, and Race 2 on Sunday. LEXUS TEAM SARD in the GT500 class, chose to have the Portuguese driver Andre Couto compete in Race 1 on Saturday and his Japanese teammate Kohei Hirate in Race 2 held on Sunday.

On October 12 (Friday), under fair Autumn skies, just preceding the SUPER GT practice session in the morning, all the participating teams and drivers stood lined up over the pitlane for a moment of silence offered in memory of Afonso Couto. Then, as the session got underway Andre set out to the track driving DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 which he had been away from for more than 2 months. In Andre's hands the car was managed perfectly just like usual - hard to tell there was any blank period – and car No. 39 advanced to the qualifying heat scheduled in that day’s afternoon. From 14:35 began the Official Qualifying (of 20 minutes) with 13 GT500 cars - the 13 drivers to run and battle in Race 1. Here in this session, Andre marked a 1’34.260 time placing 11th.
In the qualifying session for Race 2, Kohei Hirate with the time of 1’35.216 took the 13th position.

On Saturday the 13th, the piedmonts of Fuji were under an overcast of light clouds, but even so the day stayed fair and pleasant throughout. Again, from early morning there were various fan services and functions programmed for the day at Fuji Speedway, meanwhile the time to begin Race 1 of first, the GT500 and next, of the GT300 came approaching.

Finally it was 15:10. By Standing Start method which was exclusively applied as a special rule for this event, the 13 GT500 machines jumped out powerfully from the grid. Andre Couto on DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 ran the opening lap going at 4th, which was a great leap of 7 positions (!) up from the grid order. Picking up a good, fast pace, the skillful driver on car 39 pushed ever more, closing in to overtake one more machine in front of him on the 5th lap. But then gradually, the pace started to drop and thereafter No. 39 could not help but let other machines from behind pass itself, every 3 - 4 laps. Then, in the latter half of the race, Andre began reporting some major understeer problems, and finally as finishing off the 19th lap, LEXUS TEAM SARD had no options other than a tyre change, and as a result finished Race 1 at 10th position.

On the 14th (Sunday) as well, various support races and ceremonies were held with and for the fans, and following the Formula NIPPON race, soon Race 2 by each class of the SUPER GT got underway, bringing Kohei Hirate of LEXUS TEAM SARD to an 8th place finish in the GT500 race.

ANDRE COUTO:
“My Start went well, and early in the race for some laps long, I was able to keep pushing with our utmost, but eventually the tyres started to grip down and overall, driving became uneasy.
But anyway, coming to this event, I realized ever more strongly how everybody around me is always there to support me and my family. I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone for everything.”

TOPICS:
This time all the LEXUS drivers wore helmets which they judged for and chose out of the “LGDA Helmet Coloring Contest", and actually wore them in this weekend’s races. Andre Couto’s choice was the one designed by Yuka Abe (age 5), with painted sketches. This helmet will be presented to each of the winners during the TMSF(Toyota Motorsports Festival) weekend held in two weeks.

After the previous Round 7 that was supposed to be staged at Fuji Speedway and cancelled due to terrible typhoon damages left over the very regions, the 2010 AUTOBACS SUPER GT came down to Round 8, the "MOTEGI GT250km" which turned out to be the one intensively-final round to conclude the season. Hence, it was the first SUPER GT race weekend held after 2-months absence since Round 6 was held at Suzuka back in August. Over these past couple of months, GRM driver racing with LEXUS TEAM SARD, Andre Couto unfortunately came to face another problem as his dear son Afonso's leukemia relapsed. With little Afonso's condition not yet heading towards fair recovery, and though it was indeed a very difficult decision to make, father chose to stay and care for his son at the hospital back home in Portugal. Given this situation, LEXUS TEAM SARD also had to arrive at quick decisions upon this very final round of the year to entrust Couto's steering over to driver Carlo Van Dam from Netherlands.

October 23 (Saturday) the venue was blessed with pleasant skies and the freshest Autumn sunshine the day through, with comfortable daytime temperatures of around 19 degrees Celsius. Starting from 9:05 to 10:05 in the morning, Official Practice was held, then on to the afternoon, the first (45 minutes) of the Official Qualifying heats began from 13:05. Team's regular driver Kohei Hirate, with Carlo Van Dam both took the command of DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 (No. 39) in the heats and cleared 107% of the standard time to qualify and challenge the Super Lap.
From 14:55, the 10 minutes of the first run of Super Lap (S1) got underway, where Hirate took the steer but the time of 1'45.031 resulting from this heat did not allow the team to advance farther on to the remainder of the session.

On October 24 (Sunday), the temperatures got somewhat lower and chilly to around16 degrees C (Track temperature: 20 degrees C), under overcast of cloudy skies. From 8:30am started the 45 minutes of Free Practice during which session each of the teams made last checks on their machines. In this session, Hirate marked a 6th position time of 1'46.949 on DENSO DUNLOP SARD, gaining some good feels for the upcoming race.

Now the time was 14:00 and 53 laps of the season's final battle kicked off with a great start! As the skies above were starting to grey there were concerns for rain, but anyway all the13 cars of the GT500, and 24 of GT300 cars took off with the rolling start on dry tyres. Starting driver for LEXUS TEAM SARD, Kohei Hirate was soon to earn one position up on the 4th lap with one of the cars in front given a penalty, and No. 39 went on running at 12th for a while. Then on the 18th lap, moved one position up to 11th and eventually when the race itself came to the 20th Lap or so, there were teams already starting to take relatively-early pit in strategies.
Meanwhile, No. 39 DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 was one of the later ones to go in for a pit stop, as it waited until the 31st lap. On this pit stop, tyre change, re-fueling and switch of drivers took place with the machine now trusted to Carlo Van Dam. For Carlo this was his spot entry in the SUPER GT since his last one in 2008, but which did not seem to matter at all as he has not lost touch and pushed on with a very steady and secure driving all the way as keeping the 11th position to chequer. His mission to cover for Andre's absence and help complete the season for this team were fully accomplished in safe and peace.

Regarding the championship, No. 18 Weider HSV-010 (Takashi Kogure and Loic Duval) after placing 2nd in the final round captured the 2010 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series title, bringing Honda's HSV-010 to big glory in its debut year.

Driver Andre Couto racing with LEXUS TEAM SARD, currently participating in the SUPER GT series, must urgently announce his absence from Round 8 "MOTEGI GT 250km RACE"　held on October 23-24. The reason for having to miss the coming event is due to the unfavorable condition of his son Afonso whose leukemia has lately relapsed, and which will keep Andre Couto to stay with his son now receiving serious treatment at a hospital in Portugal. Andre himself was very anxious to make it to Japan this weekend for the race, and hesitating till the very last minutes, finally had to come to this heart-rending decision.
All the fans and members concerned who are always on the side of Andre Couto providing the warmest and embracing support for him, deserve the deepest apologies and also much appreciation for the many concerns and understanding for Andre (and his family) particularly upon his absence of this time, which inevitably has to be announced on such a short notice.
As for the coming weekend, on given the approval for official registration from the Stewards of the Meeting for the upcoming Round 8, driver Carlo Van Dam is scheduled to make entry in the place of Andre Couto.

Message from ANDRE COUTO to everyone concerned:
"I am unfortunately not able to participate in the season's final round, which was certainly a heartbreaking decision to make. I am sincerely grateful for all the warm support everyone has provided to me and my family over all these months. Owing to such kind support, my boy Afonso was blessed to find a donor this past May, was soon given a bone-marrow transplant surgery that helped him to move on toward good recovery. However recently, another type or onset of leukemia was found which is progressing rapidly - demanding constant care and 24-hours attention by both myself and my wife. In fact, just a few days ago my wife gave a blood component transfusion, which treatment Afonso and I will also be doing together in the days to come. With high hopes, we are trying this therapy but it also involves high risks at the same time.
With your kind understanding for these situations, please allow me to miss taking part in the coming round. In the mean time, while I remain strong with hopes to fight and overcome these circumstances, I also sincerely look forward to seeing everyone again with good news to tell."