Young Version — April 1998

There are tests one after another lately, and I’m in a great mood getting to drive a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive car! The start of the motorsports season is almost here. These days I’m spending every other week tearing around the circuits at tests for the Japanese Touring Car Championship and the All-Japan GT Championship. It’s tough balancing that with my other work, and I’m busy with video and magazine interviews, too. But after all, my real job is being a racing driver.

No matter what else is going on, once I climb into a car, the motivation comes naturally. By the way, did you see the previous page? I look pretty good driving the Supra, don't I? As announced here last time, this year I’m racing the DENSO ADVAN Supra. So far I’ve only driven it in testing, and because it’s my first time in this car, I haven’t pushed it to 100 percent. But it feels really good. It’s easier to drive than I expected, and above all, it’s fun. FR really is great! Still, we won’t know its true potential until we race the other cars for real. I think we can run near the front…

…and I think we can run in a good position! At Le Mans, Ukyo Katayama and Toshio Suzuki will be my teammates. We’ll definitely make a fight of it among the front-running group. The Chaser in the touring-car series is the same: I intend to drive aggressively. That’s my policy; results will come later. If the fans who come to watch enjoy themselves and say Tsuchiya’s driving is cool, that’s enough for me. And it’s now officially confirmed: I’ll take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans! The car will be Toyota’s TS020, with Ukyo Katayama and Toshio Suzuki as my teammates. I want to show what we can do at Le Mans. It’ll be my first time racing alongside Ukyo, and honestly I’m really happy. I’ve known him since before he went pro, and I think of him as a close friend. He’s a great person, too. He’s been testing since February…

I’m not sure how our different setup preferences will work out, but I’m sure we’ll make it work. It’s also my first time teaming up with Toshio. We’ve raced together in Group A and GT, so I know I can trust him. He’s a real gentleman: even in the closest battles, he always leaves me a car’s width of room. That’s the kind of driver Toshio is. With three teammates, I’m sure we’ll work together perfectly. Now it’s a matter of how far we can develop the car… I’m scheduled to test it at Paul Ricard in France in April. Since this will be my first Le Mans, I’d at least like to finish. If I can drive flat-out and enjoy it all the way to the end, that would be fantastic. Changing the subject, my new personal car—the NSX Type S—finally has its aero parts fitted, and it looks great. Sports cars ought to be flashy! At first I thought I might work on the suspension, but honestly it’s so well finished that it hardly needs any changes. Now, what should I do with it? See you next issue—look forward to it!