2016 GT500 Drivers’ Champion Heikki Kovalainen has announced his departure from the Autobacs Super GT Series after racing for seven seasons with Toyota Team SARD.
Kovalainen made the announcement earlier today in a video posted to his YouTube channel, confirming that this past weekend’s Fuji 300km was his last race in Super GT. He leaves the series after recording five victories, ten podiums, one pole position, and
“I’ve been there for seven years, and I’ve decided to call it a day in the Super GT series,” Kovalainen said. “I actually decided earlier this year, in August, when I went to Finland for a couple of weeks – I decided that this was going to be my last season.”
“The main reason, really, is the corona[virus]. The last two years, I’ve spent most of the years in Japan due to travel restrictions. The border control in Japan is pretty strict. With a working visa you can get there and get out. But my wife, of course, couldn’t do that. So I was forced to stay away from my family and friends, and my wife, for periods of time. And I wasn’t prepared to do that again next year. So that’s the main reason for this decision.”
Along with a desire to be closer to his family in Finland, Kovalainen also cited a drop in form this past season as a reason for his departure. Kovalainen and Yuichi Nakayama finished 13th in the Drivers’ Championship, while TGR Team SARD finished ninth in the Teams’ Championship and did not finish on the podium this season.
“Obviously this season has been tough for us, we haven’t been as competitive as we would like to be. We haven’t been able to do the results, really. At times, it’s been tough to race in the middle or the back of the pack.”
While he was not as competitive in his final season, Kovalainen found new life in Japan after a seven-year run in Formula One from 2007 to 2013, which included a solitary Grand Prix victory at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix for McLaren.
“The whole journey in Japan with Toyota, it is something that I will never forget. It’s a big part of my career. Actually, as long a part of my career as the Formula One period, those seven years. So, that’s a significant part of my career.”
Next season, Kovalainen plans to shift his focus towards rallying. He has been a frequent competitor in the All-Japan Rally Championship since 2016 – and this season, he won the JN2 class title, winning all six rallies that he entered in his Toyota GT86.
“When one chapter is closing, another opens. You won’t get rid of me, quite yet – I’m still passionate about motorsport, and the passion towards rallying has really grown. As you may know, I’ve done a few rallies this year, and it’s always something I’ve been really interested [in]. I know I won’t be a WRC champion anymore, but it’s something that I want to do a bit more. I want to improve.”
“The plans, for next season, revolve around a rally programme. At the moment the plan is to rally in Japan, move up to the four-wheel drive category, hopefully, with a little bit of a faster car.”
“The rally schedule is much easier compared to the GT schedule, much less testing, less events. So it won’t require of myself being all the time in Japan. So it’ll give me time to spend with family, and especially my wife. At this point in my life, it’s also an important part of my decision.”
“I want to thank SARD Racing for these seven years. It’s a long time – SARD Racing, and the whole SARD company has been like a family for me. The President of SARD Corporation, Mr. Shin Kato, I want to personally thank him for all of the support over all these years. He’s been very friendly, very supportive, for all of my activities in Japan. So I’m grateful for him, for that.”
“Obviously, all of the SARD team members, most of the team members have actually stayed the same period of time as myself. Big thanks to all of the team for all the hard work. We’ve had some great results over the years. We won the championship in 2016, – I mean, obviously, that’s the highlight of this period.”
“I want to thank TCD, Toyota Racing Development company. They have been designing three great cars that I’ve driven over these years – the Lexus RC F first, which we won the championship with, the Lexus LC 500, and now the Supra the last couple of years. All great cars, and it’s a great company. A big company with some super talented people – engineers, designers, mechanics, and also great management. Really great relationship with all of them, I’ve got, and I’m grateful, being a part of that team over these years – and hopefully, I’ve contributed, at least a little bit to the development of all those cars.”
“Most importantly, I want to thank the President of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Mr. Akio Toyoda, for his support over all these years, over these seven seasons. He’s actually a petrolhead himself, he’s a great driver. And he’s been super supportive, super friendly always, to me. And I’m grateful for all of the goodwill he’s shown towards me these last seven seasons. I will always be grateful for that.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing will announce their 2022 motorsports activities on Monday, 6 December at 13:00 JST (4:00 GMT, 5:00 CET).
