Hakkinen to make racing return at Suzuka 10 Hours

Two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen will make his competitive return to racing in August, racing in a McLaren at the Suzuka 10 Hours sports car race.

1998 and 1999 F1 champion Hakkinen has been retired from competitive motorsport in 2007, bar one Intercontinental Le Mans Cup appearance in 2011, but will get back behind the wheel at Suzuka later this year.

Hakkinen will race a McLaren 720S GT3 alongside two-time Super Formula champion Hiroaki Ishiura and accomplished amateur racer Katsuaki Kubota on August 23-25, with the race acting as the penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

"I visited Suzuka Circuit for the first time in 16 years in March 2017 and was able to meet Japan’s enthusiastic fans once again,” Hakkinen said.

"Then, last year, I drove the MP4/13 and enjoyed Suzuka's unique figure-of-eight track layout. So, this year, I decided to return to racing for the first time since the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round at Zhuhai in November 2011, and I chose Suzuka Circuit as the place for my comeback.

“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 Kubota-san and Mobilityland for making this wonderful project possible. And I hope to see the Japanese fans again in August."

Following his McLaren demo run at Suzuka last September, Hakkinen said that he was interested in returning to racing, but only wanted to do so if he could be competitive.

"I thought about it quite often actually if I would do some type of racing,” Hakkinen said. “To be a brand ambassador for McLaren, I think it would be exciting to do something.

“I think it could be quite possible for me quite easily. I’ve done driving for so many years. I’m also a brand ambassador for Hintsa Performance, so I think they would help me a lot because they’re taking care of many, many grand prix drivers in the field. All those kind of aspects are in the right place, so it would not be too difficult.

“But of course when you go out there, you want to win. You’re not going to go there for second or third place. You want to win and kick some butt!”