Japanese racer Hiroshi Hamaguchi returns to the Michelin Le Mans Cup for his first full season campaign in the series for seven years.
Hamaguchi is racing a Lamborghini Huracan with former team champions Iron Lynx and is looking forward to returning to Le Mans next month, where he won back-to-back races on the full La Sarthe circuit in 2020 with Andrea Calderelli. He also finished on the podium in the very first Road to Le Mans race in 2016, finishing second in a McLaren 650S alongside Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.
Hiroshi Hamaguchi has been racing GTs in Asian and Europe since 2010, with some notable success, including winning the GT Cup for Japan in the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games.
So, what persuaded the 46-year-old from Tokyo to return to the Michelin Le Mans Cup thisseason? “One main reason for me to come back to MLMC is its race format,” he said. “The series is built for AM drivers and not like other pro/am series or categories. MLMC asks more responsibility to AM drivers and it focuses us with respect. After racing for many other series, I thought this format is the best for me.”
The first race in Barcelona didn’t go as well as the Japanese driver would have liked, with Iron Lynx Lamborghini finishing 7thin class. But how did Hiroshi Hamaguchi see the race and what were the positives he took away from Spain? “We did what we could do the best at the time. Neither Vince (Abril) or I made any mistake in the race, the car and the strategy was great, however we were 13 kph down compared to other cars in the short straight line of Barcelona Circuit, which put us nowhere. Iron Lynx did a great job supporting me in every aspect and I can only see the positive with the team from here.”
As a double race winner at Le Mans, the circuit has a special place in Hiroshi’s heart. In the 100thanniversary year, we asked him what is special about racing at Le Mans. “Le Mans is such an iconic circuit. If you are in motorsport it has to be in your bucket list to drive there. The atmosphere of the track and the whole city on that weekend is purely different from any other event. I will be just happy to be back on the full La Sarthe circuit but hopefully I will have the third winning trophy of the race in June.”
The 2023 Road to Le Mans is round 2 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Series. The two 55-minute races take place on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th June on the full 13.6km La Sarthe circuit on the same weekend as the 100thAnniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans on 10/11 June.
