Couto gets podium on Fuji 24-hour race

André Couto

Macau racer André Couto has finished third in the Number 81 J-Fly Racing Audi R8 in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours race held over the weekend at Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Couto was co-driving with Taiwan’s Jeffrey Lee, Japan’s Shintaro Kawabata and Belgium’s Alessio Picariello.

The four-driver team finished the demanding round-the-clock race behind their teammates at Phoenix Racing Asia, who were in the number 83 Audi R8 driven by Keong Wee Lim, Marchy Lee, Melvin Moh and Max Hofer.
The race was won by the Number 99 Y’s Distraction GTNET  Nissan GT-R, which was shared by Teruhiko Hamano, Kazuki Hoshino, Kiyoto Fujinami, Hironobu Yasuda and Sun Zheng.

This is the first time in a decade that Japan has hosted a 24-hour race, and also the first time in 50 years that such a race has taken place at the Fuji Speedway, one of the most iconic circuits of Japan situated in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

The Fuji 24-Hour Race is one of the major events in the return of the “Super Taikyus” (Super Endurance Races) to Japan, a format abandoned when Japan plunged into deep recession and energy crisis back in 2008 leading to the shuttering of the Tokachi circuit at Hokkaido, famous for such events.
24-hour races such as Le Mans (France), Daytona (USA), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), the Nurburgring (Germany), and more recently Dubai (UAE), have been historic races upon which every team, driver, or manufacturer wishes to leave their footprint.

This time in Japan, 52 pro-am (professional combined with amateur) teams from eight classes joined the event to become the champions of this year’s Super Taikyu Series’ biggest race.  RM