Bertrand Baguette announced today that this past Sunday’s Super GT Fuji 300km was his final race as a Honda factory driver, after eight years with the manufacturer between the GT500 class of Super GT, as well as a two-year stint in Super Formula and appearances in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Baguette made the announcement via social media. “After 8 years together, Fuji was my last race as a Honda driver,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot, made good friends and I’ll take with me many great memories.”
“A page turns and I will keep you posted about my plans for the future very soon.”
“Thank you to Honda, Nakajima Racing, JAS Motorsport and Real Racing for taking good care of me and I wish you all the very best for the future.”
He is the second foreign driver to leave their post in GT500, after 2016 GT500 Champion Heikki Kovalainen announced yesterday that he would be leaving Super GT after seven seasons – in order to spend more time with family and take on a less demanding schedule in rallying.
Baguette joined the Honda factory in 2014 and spent his first five seasons with Nakajima Racing.
Baguette and Kosuke Matsuura won the 2017 Suzuka 1000km, the last iteration of the Suzuka summer endurance classic to be sanctioned solely by Super GT. It was a monumental triumph for a team that had not won a race in Super GT for nearly ten years.
In 2019, Baguette joined Real Racing, where he enjoyed his most successful period as a GT500 driver.
Driving Honda’s new front-engined NSX-GT, Baguette and Koudai Tsukakoshi won two of the first four races in the COVID-affected 2020 season. They finished third in the Drivers’ Championship, which was Baguette’s best-ever ranking in the table.
This year, they won the Fuji 500km and gave Honda their first win in the Fuji Golden Week event since 2000. Tsukakoshi and Baguette entered this season’s final round as one of six teams that had a chance at the title, but they were forced to retire from damage sustained in an accident early in the race.
In total, Baguette won four races, six podiums, and 31 top-ten finishes over 64 races as a Honda GT500 driver.
He also drove for two seasons in the Japanese Super Formula Championship with Nakajima Racing, recording a best finish of fifth in his final outing at the 2016 JAF Grand Prix Suzuka.
Baguette would also represent Honda and JAS Motorsport in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, beginning at the 2018 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Driving the Honda NSX GT3 for JAS Motorsport, Baguette ran four races in 2019 with a best finish of sixth overall at Spa. In his lone 2020 appearance at the Kyalami 9 Hours, Baguette finished fourth, after team mate Mario Farnbacher qualified on pole position.
Baguette has not confirmed his own plans for the 2022 season. Meanwhile Honda are anticipated to confirm their full range of motorsports activities for 2022 in January, during the annual Tokyo Auto Salon event.
