Mika Häkkinen will return to the Suzuka circuit in Japan later this year at the wheel of a McLaren, 20 years after claiming his second Formula 1 world championship title with the brand that has collapsed into an also, also ran on F1 circuits during the past couple of years. McLaren confirms that the Finnish driver will contest the Suzuka 10-Hour endurance race in a customer racing McLaren 720S GT3. (See AutoInformed.com on Honda Title Sponsor of Formula One Japanese Grand Prix)
Häkkinen will make his debut start at the Suzuka 10 Hour alongside two-time Super Formula champion Hiroaki Ishiura and Japanese Formula 3 racer Katsuaki Kubota. The trio will drive the new 720S GT3 for the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli on 23-25 August. Further information on the entry, including details of the customer team running the car, will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Changing the type of racing to GT so sponsors will follow?
Häkkinen won consecutive Formula 1 titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999, securing both championships with wins at the Suzuka circuit. The ‘Flying Finn’ was reunited with his championship-winning MP4/13 car last year, driving several demonstration laps of the Japanese Grand Prix venue Suzuka to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his first title success.
The 2019 season marks the debut season for the 720S GT3, which is now racing with customer teams in championships globally following a development program. The car started its competitive career, securing pole position and victory, during the debut customer race event in Melbourne, Australia.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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