Mika Hakkinen at the wheel of a McLaren
The double Finnish world champion, Mika Hakkinen, will make his grand return to motorsport at the wheel of a McLaren 720S GT3 during the 10 Hours of Suzuka.
It took nearly 7 long years to see the ‘Flying Finn’ compete in the championship again. The McLaren ambassador will indeed participate in the 10 Hours of Suzuka aboard a McLaren 720S GT3, the latest sports car from Woking.
The double Formula 1 world champion will be accompanied on this adventure by another double champion, but this time from Super Formula, as it is Katsuaki Kubota. The Japanese driver also raced in F3 and Super GT500, where he finished in fourth place in the championship in 2018.
Hakkinen is no stranger to the Suzuka circuit as this is where he won his two world titles in 1998 and 1999 at the wheel of his McLaren, which was powered by a Mercedes engine at the time.
A return to competition that was long overdue because, as previously mentioned, you have to go back to 2011 to see the Finnish driver race. It was during the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round in Zhuhai. And until 2007, Mika raced in DTM following his retirement from the top tier of motorsport.
Hakkinen seems to be excited by this new challenge: « Thus, this year, I decided to return to racing for the first time since the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round in Zhuhai in November 2011, and I chose the Suzuka circuit as the venue for my return. Suzuka was also the place where I won the Formula 1 World Championship for the first time and where I have so many enthusiastic Japanese friends. I am very grateful to Katsusan and Mobilityland for making this wonderful project possible. And I hope to see the Japanese fans again in August. »
Hakka’s Backa in a Macca! 🙌
Yes, double @F1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen will race a McLaren 720S GT3 with Hiroaki Ishiura and Katsuaki Kubota at #Suzuka10H on August 23-25.
➡https://t.co/ZtKyiQ4FU0#IntGTC | @suzuka_event 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/PM4PlCEO60
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) April 9, 2019
