The 46th International Suzuka 1000km last weekend was destined to be an instant classic, however, it isn’t the end of the sports car endurance racing season in Japan!
The fifth round of the 2017 Super Taikyu Series, Japan’s longest-running endurance racing championship, is the biggest race of their calendar, the Fuji Super TEC, a ten-hour endurance race featuring 59 cars from seven different classes of vehicles.
Fans of the Creventic 24H Series and VLN can find many similarities in Super Taikyu, with its collection of GT3 and TCR racing cars, mixed in with a wide variety of lightly tuned production sports cars, driven by every type of racing driver, from accomplished champions and factory racing superstars, to true hobbyists and gentleman drivers.
Best of all, you can watch the race in its entirety free on Super Taikyu TV, the series’ new in-house live streaming channel.
DSC takes a look at the Fuji Super TEC, and with the 2017 Super Taikyu Series already in progress, also brings potential first-time viewers up to speed with the season thus far entering the penultimate round of the season.
ST-X: FIA GT3
At the top of the food chain is the GT3 class, ST-X. Each team requires at least one gentleman driver, and one pro driver, to anchor their lineups.
Nissan have been the dominant manufacturer in ST-X for the past two seasons, winning every race last year. They started 2017 on a similar run, winning three in a row to open the season, and factory-supported Kondo Racing are the defending series champions at the top of their game.
However, going into the Super TEC, it’s the new-for-2017 ARN Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 that leads a close fight for the title, after four pole positions and a win in the most recent round at Autopolis. At least 30 points are on offer for the winning team in every class, and 26 points cover all six full-time teams in ST-X with two rounds to go.
CarGuy Racing carry extra momentum on their side from a win in Blancpain GT Asia two weeks ago, also at Fuji Speedway, they could again be an intriguing dark horse pick to win.
The driver roster isn’t short on star power, including Le Mans winner Seiji Ara, GT500 star Tomoki Nojiri, second-generation driver Kazuki Hoshino, plus other top stars from GT300 like Tomonobu Fujii, Hideki Yamauchi, and Hiroki Yoshimoto.
#1: Kondo Racing, Nissan GT-R GT3, Yuudai Uchida/ Tomonobu Fujii/ Kazuki Hiramine
#3: Endless Sports, Nissan GT-R GT3, Yukinori Taniguchi/ Hideki Yamauchi/ Yuya Motojima
#8: ARN Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3, Hiroaki Nagai/ Kota Sasaki/ Tsubasa Mekaru
#25: K’s Frontier, Porsche 911 GT3-R (996), Tetsuo Ogino/ Taiyou Iida/ Tomoki Nojiri
#89: HubAuto Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3, Morris Chen/ Hiroki Yoshimoto/ Yuya Sakamoto/ Shunsuke Kohno
#99: GTNET Motor Sports, Nissan GT-R GT3, Tadao Uematsu/ Kazuki Hoshino/ Kiyoto Fujinami
#112: Rn-sports, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Atsushi Sato/ Ryosei Yamashita/ Nobuo Kubo/ Masayuki Ueda
#777: D’station Racing, Porsche 911 GT3-R (991), Satoshi Hoshino/ Seiji Ara/ Tsubasa Kondo
#999: CarGuy Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, Takeshi Kimura/ Naoki Yokomiz/ Afiq Yazid/ Kei Cozzolino
ST-TCR
ST-TCR is new for 2017, a new category officially endorsed by the TCR International Series. Even with only four full-time entries, ST-TCR has delivered great racing, and an intriguing story arc for its first season.
The #98 Honda Civic TCR is eleven points in front of the championship, blending a mixture of youth and experience together in their full-time driver lineup of Takuya Kurosawa, Keishi Ishikawa, and Hiroki Katoh (recently seen at Le Mans with Clearwater Racing).
The Audi RS3 LMS has superior one-lap pace to the Honda’s, Audi Team DreamDrive have won four of four pole positions in their class, but each time, the high-level experience and preparation from Dome Racing Team’s Hondas have overcome the nascent Audi challenge.
A number of high-profile drivers have raced in ST-TCR’s pilot season, Ryo Michigami, Shinji Nakano, Keiichi Tsuchiya among them, but this race adds two more Japanese racing legends to the docket: Three-time GT500 champion Juichi Wakisaka will drive the Adenau Volkswagen Golf GTI, and Audi Team DreamDrive welcomes rally legend Toshi Arai.
#10: Adenau, Volkswagen Golf TCR, Philippe Devesa/ Shogo Mitsuyama/ Juichi Wakisaka
#19: Birth Racing Project, Audi RS3 LMS, Kouichi Okumura/ Kei Akiyoshi/ Daisuke Yamawaki/ Yoshizo Ueno
#45: Audi Team DreamDrive, Audi RS3 LMS, Shozo Tagahara/ Takuya Shirasaka/ Naoto Takeda/ Toshihiro Arai
#97: Modulo Racing Project, Honda Civic TCR, Shinichi Ito/ Hidenori Kouuchi/ Ryo Michigami/ Shinji Nakano
#98: Motul Dome Racing Project, Honda Civic TCR, Takuya Kurosawa/ Keishi Ishikawa/ Hiroki Katoh/ Hiroki Yoshida
ST-1: 3501cc and above
This was once Super Taikyu’s top category. It’s currently eligible to all non-GT3 racing and production cars with bigger engines. However, in recent years, ST-1 has been in decline, the above picture captures the full class entry for 2017.
The #31 apr Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will be guaranteed to win the ST-1 championship as the only team to run every round. With former GT500 champion Masami Kageyama, and young Ryuichiro Tomita as their pro drivers, another class victory at the Super TEC seems almost a foregone conclusion.
However, in the only other race that featured Team BEND, the part-timers stole the class win at Motegi from the Porsche, in a V8-powered BMW Z4 Coupe that’s served in the championship in some form for nearly ten years.
#31: apr, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Katsuhito Ogawa/ Masami Kageyama/ Ryuichiro Tomita
#51: BEND, BMW Z4M Coupe, Shinya Hosokawa/ Masamitsu Ishihara/ Daisuke Ikeda/ Atsushi Yogo
ST-2: 2001-3500cc, all-wheel drive
ST-2 might appeal to rally enthusiasts, it’s a class for all-wheel drive sports sedans like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza WRX STI, evoking memories of a WRC rivalry of yesteryear.
The top dogs in ST-2 have been four-time and defending champions TOWA INTEC Racing, who are 24 points up in the championship, meaning they can clinch the title if they just finish the race. They went over the top in recruiting 8-time Super Taikyu champion Nobuteru Taniguchi (see our feature on Taniguchi here) as their guest driver for the Super TEC.
It will be up to the three Lancers of Shinryo Racing and RS Ogawa to try and stop the Subaru from clinching a fifth straight title at Fuji, but they’ll need every ounce of speed they can get from their car and drivers.
#6: Shinryo Racing Team, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Tomohiro Tomimasu/ Yasushi Kikuchi/ Masazumi Ohashi
#7: Shinryo Racing Team, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Soichiro Yoshida/ Atsushi Ishizaki/ Masato Narisawa/ Genki Nishimura
#20: RS Ogawa, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Kazuya Shimogaki/ Takeshi Matsumoto/ Sesshuu Kondo/ Junji Ueda
#59: TOWA INTEC Racing, Subaru WRX STI, Manabu Osawa/ Hitoshi Goto/ Nobuteru Taniguchi
ST-3: 2001-3500cc, two-wheel drive
ST-3 cars comply to the same engine capacity rules as ST-2, but with a key difference: ST-3 is for two-wheel drive cars only, which are much more readily available on the market.
Lexus sports sedans versus Nissan Fairlady Z cars are the primary rivalry in ST-3, a closely-fought class where the top four teams are separated by just 17 points, led by a trio of Lexus, then a Toyota Mark X sedan.
Lots of star drivers are on hand for ST-3 – led by the likes of three-time GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama, former Spa 24H winner Naoki Hattori, and Toyota young factory star Kenta Yamashita. GT500 driver Hironobu Yasuda, and legendary GT300 champion Morio Nitta, only add more firepower to an already-potent category.
#14: Okabe Jidosha Motorsport, Nissan Fairlady Z34, Manabu Yamazaki/ Yasuhiro Arai/ Toshiaki Koshimizu/ Yoshinobu Masuda
#15: Okabe Jidosha Motorsport, Nissan Fairlady Z34, Masaaki Nagashima/ Tetsuya Tanaka/ Toru Tanaka/ Kazuomi Komatsu
#23: Okabe Jidosha Motorsport, Nissan Fairlady Z34, Mitsunori Atake/ Masaya Koro/ Manabu Oohara/ Takahiko Shimazawa
#17: Team Nopro, Mazda Axela Diesel Turbo, Tatsuya Tanigawa/ Tatsuya Nogami/ Toshihiko Nogami/ Kouki Yamada
#34: Techno First, Nissan Fairlady Z34, Satoshi Motoyama/ Masaki Kano/ Satoshi Matsubara/ Hironobu Yasuda
#35: Techno First, Lexus RC350, TBA/ TBA/ TBA
#38: Tracy Sports, Lexus IS350, Makoto Hotta/ Ryohei Sakaguchi/ Morio Nitta
#39: Tracy Sports, Lexus RC350, Yuya Tezuka/ Syuji Maejima/ Akira Suzuki/ Taketoshi Matsui
#62: Le Beausset Motorsports, Lexus RC350, Koki Saga/ Yuichi Nakayama/ Kenta Yamashita/ Yuya Hiraki
#68: Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave, Toyota Mark X, Naoki Hattori/ Shigekazu Wakisaka/ Takayuki Hiranuma
ST-4: 1501-2000cc
ST-4 is Super Taikyu’s largest category, sixteen cars strong, of which ten are Toyota 86es and Subaru BRZs.
TOM’s Spirit have a commanding eighteen-point championship lead after winning three times this year, and a podium finish would clinch the title for them. Their driver lineup is loaded with top talent including Suzuka 1000km class winner Naoya Gamou, Toyota protege Sho Tsuboi, and GT300 Drivers’ Champion Takamitsu Matsui.
The only other teams that have scored podiums are the defending class champions Endless Sports, led by Ryo Ogawa (son of the late Toyota racing legend Hitoshi), and the Honda S2000 of SKR Engineering, with lead driver Masahiro Sasaki carrying the team all season long.
ST-4 saw the closest finish in last year’s Super TEC, with Endless Sports beating TOM’s Spirit by just eight-tenths of a second.
#12: RIKU, Honda Civic Type-R FD2, Takayuki Matsui/ Riku/ Hayato Date/ Shigekazu Namiki
#13: Endless Sports, Toyota 86, Ryo Ogawa/ Tsubasa Takahashi/ Masaya Hanazato
#18: Asano Racing Service, Toyota 86, Takeo Asano/ Masataka Inoue/ Kazunori Nishimura/ Tomoyuki Kasahara
#26: Tarmac Pro Racing Team, Toyota Vitz GRMN Turbo, Tobio Ohtani/ Kazuhiko Kawanago/ Mitsuaki Matsuo
#27: Makiguchi Engineering, Subaru BRZ, Isao Ihashi/ Masaki Baba/ Takahiro Muraji
#29: T’s Concept, Toyota 86, Tohjiro Azuma/ Daisuke Matsunaga/ Yasuhiro Ogura/ Tetsuya Moriyama
#40: Tracy Sports, Toyota 86, Ryuju Fujita/ Teruhiko Hamano/ Akiya Yoshimoto/ Yukihiko Yamamoto
#54: TC Corse, Mazda Roadster NC, Teruaki Kato/ Yuui Tsutsumi/ TBA
#55: AutoFactory, Toyota 86, Jun Tashiro/ Takashi Ito/ Masayuki Tanaka
#60: G-motion with KRP, Honda Integra Type-R – Kazuyuki Matsumoto/ Takahiro Matsuzawa/ Toshiro Tsukada/ Yoshikazu Suwu
#77: Cusco Racing, Toyota 86, Eiji Yamada/ Koji Endo/ Yasunori Nakajima
#86: TOM’s Spirit, Toyota 86, Takamitsu Matsui/ Naoya Gamou/ Sho Tsuboi/ Takuto Iguchi
#93: SKR Engineering, Honda S2000, Yuya Ohta/ Masahiro Sasaki/ Yusaku Shibata
#74: amuse & SPV Racing, Ryuta Ukai/ “Kenny Lee”/ TBA
#100: amuse & SPV Racing, Takashi Shibuya/ Tadashi Watanabe/ TBA
#333: GloryRacing with A-ONE, Honda Civic Type-R FN2, Kizuki Hirota/ Yuya Nakajima/ Kazuhisa Shimoyama/ Tomohiro Inoguchi
ST-5: 1500cc and below
The flyweight class is ST-5, predominantly for subcompact cars, but it’s been a Mazda Roadster that’s led the way this year.
Murakami Motors can clinch the title even if they fail to finish the race, that’s how great the bright orange Roadster’s advantage is in 2017.
Toyota GT500 star Kazuya Oshima is a stunning recruit for Team Blood Sports’ Toyota Vitz, he’ll be one to watch. So too will Keiko Ihara’s Love Drive Racing project, the first all-female driving crew in Super Taikyu history, and the racing division of the Mazda Women in Motorsport Project.
It’ll certainly be interesting with the 100+ km/h difference in top speeds between the ST-5 and ST-X classes!
#2: Team221, Mazda Roadster ND, Katsuhiko Tsutsui/ Junichiro Yamashita/ Koji Yamanishi/ Takahiro Tanaka
#4: Team Bride, Honda Fit 3 RS, Junzo Shibatani/ Susumu Nakamura/ Toshiya Ito/ Souichi Kurosu
#11: Team Blood Sports, Toyota Vitz RS, Takao Ohnishi/ Koki Oiwa/ Takahiro Miki/ Kazuya Oshima
#32: apr, Mazda Roadster ND, Akihiro Harashima/ Tatsuya Okahara/ Akie Iinuma/ Hideki Kobayashi
#37: Team Nopro, Mazda Demio Diesel Turbo, Yutaka Seki/ Go Umeda/ Kaoru Ijiri
#48: Dijon Racing, Honda Fit 3 RS, Zene Okazaki/ Keiichi Inoue/ Hiroshi Takamori
#50: Love Drive Racing, Mazda Roadster ND, Marie Iwaoka/ Anna Inotume/ Hiroko Komatsu/ Yumiko Sekizaki
#57: M&K Management, Honda Fit 3 RS, Mitsuhiro Endo/ Ryusuke Masumoto/ Shinichi Morimoto/ Kenta Harada
#66: Over Drive, Mazda Demio, Riku Hashimoto/ Ryuichiro Otsuka/ Takeyuki Takechi/ Takashi Nishiyama
#69: J’s Racing, Honda Fit 3 RS, Takahisa Ohno/ Junichi Umemoto/ Hirokazu Takahashi/ Tomomitsu Senoo
#700: J’s Racing, Honda Fit 3 RS, Hirobon/ Seiji Imuta/ Leo Teranishi/ Yusuke Ohga
#88: Murakami Motors, Mazda Roadster ND, Hiroyuki Murakami/ Takeshi Wakitani/ Masanobu Kato/ Keiji Amemiya
#213: Apros Racing, Toyota Vitz RS, Takashi Azuma/ Yuichi Yoko/ TBA
The Fuji Super TEC begins on Sunday, 8:00 AM JST (Midnight London time).
Images courtesy of the Super Taikyu Organisation.
