Hiroaki Ishiura – It’s just another proof of our ability.

Every team and their drivers were highly competent again in 2017 and the fight for the championship was tough. But everybody in my team did a great job without making any major mistake, which resulted in the championship title.

Until last year, I delivered good results only when I’ve got a favorable starting grid. So I though I should get better finishing positions even if the qualifying results weren’t ideal. And I am happy about fulfilling this personal mission, besides winning the title itself.

With this result, this team has had the champion drivers for three years running, and became the team champion for two years running. It’s safe to say we didn’t win it by chance this year, it’s just another proof of our ability. Team Manager, Tachikawa-san, set a goal for us that “to be stronger than us of last year.” Everybody in this team has made effort to achieve this every year and I believe it led to this title.

By the way, 2017 was Yokohama Tires’ 100th year anniversary. I am very proud of winning the championship in such a memorable year.

For last year, they have developed the soft tires since last winter to make the races even more interesting and those two specifications, the soft and the medium, were used during the races at Motegi and Autopolis. And just as inteneded, we had more strategic options and there were more battles throughout each race, which must be fascinating for the fans.

For me personally, I had more chance to fight back after a bad qualifying result and a lot of points I collected in those two races contributed to the championship title. I am really grateful to Yokohama Tire for supplying tires from the standpoint of making the races more intriguing not only for competitors but also for race fans.

I will make every effort to boost the popularity of motorsport for years to come, in cooperation with Yokohama Tires. For 2018, I will try to be a stronger and faster driver than last year’s myself and continue to work together with the team. I truly thank you for your continued support to us.

Yuji Tachikawa, Team Manager – I am proud of our team and drivers.

The competition between very competent drivers were so tough this year and they didn’t make our life any easier. But thanks to unceasing efforts by Ishiura, Kunimoto and everybody in the team, we could win the drivers’ title for three consecutive years and defend our team title from 2016.

I believe this was made possible because everybody has done a better job relative to last year and the year before by putting more effort into it, even though the fight for the title was so close. I am proud of our team and drivers.

For SUPER FORMULA, this was the second year to race with Yokohama Tires. We are grateful to Yokohama’s attitude and enthusiasm to develop the tire from year to year to supply better products in terms of performance, quality and safety. They haven’t compromised in any of these aspect, despite the fact there is no tire competition.

Yokohama Tire is an integral part of the world of motorsport. I wish the company will continue to support motorsport globally for many years to come.

Last but not least, I would like to thank to everybody who supported P.MU/CERUMO•INGING team in 2017.