Professional Racing Driver
Naoki Yokomizo
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KAWASAKI WAY
PROFILE
Naoki Yokomizo
Professional race car driver. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1980. Won his first championship in his debut race in 1993. Has raced in the Formula Toyota race series, the All Japan Formula 3 Championship, and the Super GT series. Won the final race of the season to claim the championship in the GT300 Class in 2012.
STORY
In 2012, I won the GT300 Class auto racing championship and I can say that it’s a championship that Mr. Kawasaki and I won together.
When I first met Mr. Kawasaki, I wasn’t on a team and had spent a year without a car. For a race car driver, not racing for a year is synonymous with retirement. It’s difficult to come back from there and even if you do, it’s even more difficult to achieve a better performance than before you were reduced to being without a spot. But Mr. Kawasaki told me that“If we are going work together, let's aim to drive in the world’s best races. Let’s win the GT300 Class championship,”and with the goal set that high, he started to give me treatments.
I suppose that the effects of the treatments can differ depending on the individual, but in my case I have seen two big changes and they were the driving force behind my triumph in the series championship.
One is increased concentration. In summer, the temperature inside a race car can reach 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and on top of that we wear a helmet and an inflammable racing suit. After a race we’re exhausted and it’s possible to lose as much as 5kg. Under such extremely harsh conditions, even a tiny lapse in concentration can lead to a crash and at the very least it doesn’t help your performance. Now that I receive treatments from Mr. Kawasaki, my concentration lasts throughout a race lasting an hour and a half and I’m able to tap my potential to the maximum.
The other big change is an improved field of vision. Clear vision is a requirement for a racer and Mr. Kawasaki’s treatments have sharpened my vision and widened my field of vision. I was most astonished when I recorded the same lap times at night as during the day. Normally, lap times are worse in night races because of poorer vision.
Lastly, although this may be hard to believe, it’s really true that when Mr. Kawasaki treats my head, it becomes smaller.
Race car drivers wear helmets every time they go out on the track and after I get treated by Mr. Kawasaki, my head is smaller and it swims in my usual helmet. I have to put extra foam pads in my helmet to get it fit to my smaller head.
Frankly, I don’t have any negative feelings about myself at the moment. Thanks to Mr. Kawasaki, my motivation is very high and I’m a very positive thinker. I feel like nothing is impossible for me. I want to continue to work with Mr. Kawasaki with the aim of becoming the world champion.