Otsu hadn’t even planned to be at Autopolis until a sudden call at around 4pm on Friday afternoon. With Tomoki Nojiri out of action after being diagnosed with a collapsed lung earlier that day, Team Mugen was in need of a substitute.
With minutes to spare, Otsu caught the last available flight to Kumamoto, the city that sits to the west of Autopolis, just over an hour away by car. His seat was provided by Dandelion Racing, the team he drove for in 2022, and his previous stint in a Red Bull-liveried Mugen car in 2021 meant the title-winning outfit was able to provide his old overalls for the occasion.
