Malaysia’s Super GT Team

L-R: Masanori Sekiya – team director, Juichi Wakisaka – driver and Andre Lotterer – driver.

Historical Beginning

The team’s history dates back more than three decades when two Toyota works drivers, Nobuhide Tachi and Kiyoshi Oiwa, decided to form Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport (TOM’S) in 1974. What began with sales of performance accessories for motor racing through Toyota dealerships quickly developed into an officially recognised Toyota Motor Corporation’s authorised tuning shop.

Racing Pedigree

From a momentous 6th place finish in the Japan round of the World Endurance Championship with the very first Japanese-made Group C car, the TOM’S Celica C in 1982, the team garnered numerous honours in the motoring world. Success in the All Japan Championship, debuting as Toyota Team TOM’S in 1987, was quickly followed by series champion in the British F3 the following year and a 2nd place finish at the famous Le Mans 24-hour race. TOM’S entered the competitive Japan GT Championship in 1995 and promptly claimed its first series title two years later.

PETRONAS Partnership

The synergy between Malaysia’s premier oil and gas corporation and TOM’S appetite for success led to great success from the very beginning. In 2008 and 2009, the Petronas Team TOM’S was on the top step, taking home the team champion and winning driver’s titles. In 2010, the Petronas Team TOM’S is already leading the championship after round 3 as we enter round 4 at the Sepang International Circuit. The team will be intent on putting the disappointing 6th place finish in 2009 behind them and will be stretching every last cylinder to bring victory at the Pet ronas home grand prix, where they can be sure the crowd will be fully behind them.

Team Interviews

Team director Masanori Sekiya, said: “As the majority of the other cars are carrying less handicap weight compared to us, we can expect this race to be a very challenging one for us. Though everyone is carrying a handicap, the 68 kg additional weight imposed on our car means Andre and Juichi will have the heaviest car on the grid. Add the hot and humid conditions here in Sepang, the
difficulty factor is increased. Despite the obvious challenges, the team and drivers are extremely motivated, especially when we look at the title fight as a whole. Moreover, this is a special round for us, as it is the home-round of our title partner Petronas and we hope we can give our fans something to look forward to.”

André Lotterer: “I am looking forward to coming back to Malaysia, especially as this is the one round that takes us out of Japan. Not only does the entire Super GT fraternity get to come out and experience a different culture and environment, it is also a nice break from the routine we’re used to in Japan. For us, this round is very special because in the past couple of years, we now see it as our ‘home’ track, because of the relationship with our team partners, Petronas . The feeling and level of support is different and that makes Sepang a really nice experience for us. It also gives us an additional boost of motivation to perform at our best, especially coming here with a massive handicap! So, we will definitely give it everything for our home fans here.”

Juichi Wakisaka: “Although I have been Sepang many times over the past few years since 2008, coming to Sepang now is like coming back to our ‘home’ race because of our partner, Petronas . So, this makes it very special to everyone on the team. This year, we come back to our ‘home’ race with a significant disadvantage
because of the heavy weight handicap. For sure it makes a tough round for us, but this does not stop us from putting up a good fight, as always. On top of that, I like racing at the Sepang track as it is quite varied. It has a nice mix of really fast and slow corners. While this is interesting for us drivers, it’s also interesting for the spectators.”