I never had any financial support or sponsors, and so I always had to, at every level, prove myself the hard way. I was five years in Japan before I got my debut at Le Mans. And I think this is a humble way to get through as a racing driver.

Any finish at Le Mans is great but every time I go to Le Mans my mission is to win.

Five years from now I see myself still working hard to get where I want to be, because I think big.

The trick at Le Mans is to get the car 'in the window.' Everything is critical: the tyre pressure, the brake temperature, and that means you have to push the car a lot to get it into the window - it's about getting everything to work right and getting the car to flow through the corners.

I write in a very melodic way, so that will never leave. I think my records will always tend to be approachable.

Am I famous in Japan? I don't know, and I don't really think of myself in that way.