Tsuchiya Engineering (currently operating as Hoppy Team Tsuchiya) will construct their own version of the Toyota GR Supra GT300, and will field it in the 2022 Autobacs Super GT Series.
Takeshi Tsuchiya, the second-generation manager of Tsuchiya Engineering, has told Japanese publication auto sport Web that the decision was made in part to honour the memory of his late father, team founder Haruo Tsuchiya.
According to an interview published Thursday, the younger Tsuchiya decided that he and his team were going to construct a new car – in the last conversation that he had with his father before he passed away on the morning of 11 April.
The new car has already received the support of Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda, GAZOO Racing President Koji Sato, as well as fellow GTA-GT300 runners apr Racing and their director Hiroto Kaneso.
Tsuchiya’s primary objective in constructing a new car by themselves will be to train future generations of engineers and mechanics. Chief engineer Ryunosuke Kino and chief mechanic Yoshiaki Mutoh have been entrusted with the design and construction of their new car. A roll cage has already been built in the Tsuchiya Engineering shop in Fujisawa.
The team will draw from the experience used in providing technical support to Max Racing, who currently field a customer version of the existing GR Supra GT300.
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya have won three GT300 titles, most recently in 2016 with the V8-powered Toyota 86 Mother Chassis, a car whose development was spearheaded by Tsuchiya.
After the 2019 season, Tsuchiya changed from the ageing 86 MC to the Porsche 911 GT3-R (991 II). Since the switch, they have recorded just one top-five finish in 15 races, that was in the most recent race at Motegi, where Takamitsu Matsui and Kimiya Sato finished fifth.
Images courtesy of Tsuchiya Engineering and the GT Association (GTA)
