The Latest Breaking News from Hirakawa

Team Impul's Hirakawa could manage no better than sixth in the final race of the 2023 campaign, after qualifying ninth and then spending the first half of the race stuck behind the slower KCMG machine of Yuji Kunimoto.

Hirakawa, who currently races in both Super Formula and the World Endurance Championship as a Toyota driver, was unveiled as the latest addition to McLaren’s pool of reserve drivers at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Toyota star Hirakawa finds himself a distant fifth in the championship with four races to go, trailing leader Ritomo Miyata by 47 points, with a best finish so far of third place in both the opening race at Fuji and the third round at Suzuka.

The Japanese driver was installed at the wheel of the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid with around two hours left on the clock, taking over from Brendon Hartley, and was around 16 seconds in arrears of the Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi.

It was announced earlier this month by the organisers of the WEC, the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, that the new-for-2023 ban on tyre pre-heating would be temporarily suspended for the centrepiece race at La Sarthe, after a number of accidents in the previous race at Spa prompted…

Hirakawa has scored two podium finishes from the opening three races of the 2023 season, with third-place finishes in both the opening race at Fuji and the most recent round at Suzuka.

Hirakawa was one of the most consistent performers in the Japanese single-seater series during the SF19 era, having finished in the top four of the championship standings in each of the past three seasons.

The Japanese manufacturer has unveiled a revised version of its GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar for the 2023 season as it gears up to defend its WEC crown from new Hypercar class rivals in the form of Ferrari, Porsche and Cadillac.

The introduction of an updated Super Formula car for the 2023 season is not a significant enough change to “reset” the field this season, believes Team Impul's Ryo Hirakawa.