Kamui Kobayashi appointed “Sports Tourism Master”
Talented young driver Kamui Kobayashi is as excited as he could ever be not only because he is heading for his home-race next week but also because of the latest recognition that he has received.
Kobayashi has been appointed as the country’s ambassador after receiving the title of “Sports Tourism Master” in Tokyo on Wednesday. The Japan Tourism Agency honoured him with the title in an honourable ceremony. The agency belongs to the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism representing the Government of Japan and was proud to have Kobayashi amongst the list of talented people who are helping to create a softer image of the country in the rest of the world.
The event was timely arranged as Japan is going to host the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka next week on October 10th.
Following the ceremony, the 24-year-old racer talked to the media expressing his gratitude for the honour. Moreover, the driver spelled his aspirations for the upcoming home race in a few weeks time.
He started off by telling, “Returning to race in Japan as a Formula One driver means a lot to me. I had a taste of it last year when I stepped in for Timo Glock at Toyota for the Friday practice sessions. This was at short notice, but for this year’s race
a lot of supporters are going to be there.” A special “Kamui Kobayashi” fans’ corner has been made on turn 2 and 3 where most of the 2000 seats have already been sold.
Kobayashi hopes to provide his fans with a great racing spectacle. The driver agreed that Race Day in Singapore last week was disappointing for him especially because he did pretty well in qualifying.
While expressing his feelings regarding Suzuka, he revealed that since he has not had a lot of races in Japan, he is not very familiar with the track. The last race he had in Suzuka was in 2003 with Formula Toyota. However, that was when he was only 17 years
old.
The Japanese started racing at the age of 9 in 1996. His early expeditions started off from karting where he finished third in his first season.
Kobayashi continued with karting for another seven years till he joined Toyota's Driver Academy in 2004, and it was not very long before he took up open wheel racing. He started his professional racing career with Formula Renault where he won two races in
the Italian Championship. In 2006, he perched into Formula Three Euroseries, and took three podiums right in the first season. During the same year, Kamui Kobayashi had his first test drive in Formula One with Toyota. At the same time, he was signed with Formula
Three Euroseries as well.
2008 saw him shift to GP2 Asia Series. In just one season, the driver powered into the GP2 Series. Kobayashi received a lot of successful in winning the second race of the season which was surely a big achievement for him.
In 2009, saw him in his first Formula One race in Brazil teamed with Toyota.
While talking to reporters in Tokyo, Kobayashi exclaimed that he is glad to be a part of Formula One and is looking forward for good race finishes in the times to come.
Kobayashi was open while explaining that where he stands today is not a destination he had always thought or planned to reach. He plainly added that as a child he wanted to be a comedian, “But I found I wasn’t talented enough.”
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