Former Super GT racer Ryo Michigami will make his World Touring Car Championship début for Honda at the Twin Ring Motegi this weekend, despite the 43-year-old admitting that he has ‘kind of retired’.
The Japanese racer will drive a fourth works Honda Civic for the JAS Motorsport-backed team this weekend, marking only the second time that the factory Honda team have put a local driver in one of their cars, following Takuya Izawa’s outing in 2013.
Michigami has been preparing for his outing by using the Honda simulator, as well as testing the car in person in Spain during the Summer.
“I haven’t really been racing for three years so it’s really fantastic to be back,” said Michigami, who now runs his own team, DRAGO CORSE. “I’ve kind of retired and now I manage teams in Super Formula and Super GT.
“Now I’m coming back to the racing world and I’m honoured to be racing against these drivers from all over the world. I really appreciate that and I’m really looking forward to having a lot of fun this weekend.”
Michigami admits that he is reasonably optimistic ahead of the weekend, despite his lack of experience in racing in touring car championships.
“I tested the Civic WTCC at Barcelona in the summer and I was impressed with how consistently fast it felt. I was reasonably pleased with my own pace, both in qualifying simulations with new tyres, and on race runs, and I have done more work since then on the Honda simulator.
“I will race with my heart and soul and put all my experience to best use.”