Pro-Am GT300 team Arnage Racing announced a heavily revised programme for this year’s Autobacs Super GT Series on Friday, headlined by a change of vehicles to the Dome-constructed Mother Chassis 86 (MC86).
Two weeks ago, Arnage Racing had sold their existing Mercedes-AMG GT3 – the car which they’d run for the last four years – to R’Qs Motor Sports. But their subsequent switch to the 4.5 litre V8-powered MC86 comes as quite a surprise.
The Mother Chassis platform, introduced as a cost-effective GT3 alternative for privateer teams, has fallen to the wayside in part due to a dwindling supply of engines, a lack of manufacturer support, and no concrete progress on an updated version of the platform. muta Racing INGING recently announced that they would replace their aging Lotus Evora MC with the new Toyota GR86 GT300 built by apr, consigning the Evora MC to retirement after seven years in GT300 competition.
But with Arnage Racing believed to be taking over the MC86 chassis previously used by INGING in 2020, and with Team Mach likely to keep fielding their own MC86, the agile Mother Chassis machines will still have a presence on the grid going into 2022.
Along with the new car, comes a refreshed driver line-up. Masaki Kano, a tenured amateur driver who’s been a mainstay at Arnage Racing since their first season in 2013, returns from last season. Ryohei Sakaguchi, who was Arnage Racing’s third driver back in 2013, rejoins the team on a full-time basis after two seasons at muta Racing INGING. The 47-year-old journeyman driver finally scored his first GT300 victory at Motegi last July, and his recent experience driving the Mother Chassis cars will be invaluable during this transition. He is also the uncle of Toyota GT500 driver Sena Sakaguchi.
Nominated as the third driver is Ryosei Yamashita, a true young amateur driver who also supports the team behind the scenes. Yamashita last drove for Arnage from 2019 until the second half of 2020, when he stepped away to tend to his family’s company. He returned to the cockpit as the third driver for R’Qs in last year’s Fuji 500km.
Yusuke Matsuura, the former Chief Director at arto Team Thailand – and brother of driver Kosuke Matsuura – has taken over as the team director, working alongside chief engineer Yasushi Matsuyama. The appointment of Matsuura comes amidst reports from auto sport Magazine of Japan that arto Team Thailand are likely to suspend operations in 2022.
Elsewhere in the GT300 field, a number of teams have confirmed their 2022 lineups within the last few days, none of which have changed from the previous season.
JLOC (Japan Lamborghini Owner’s Club) will continue to field two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOs; the flagship number 88 for 2010 GT500 champion Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima, and the number 87 of the aforementioned Kosuke Matsuura and Natsu Sakaguchi.
On Thursday, apr Racing confirmed that Koki Saga and 2013 GT300 champion Yuhki Nakayama will return to pilot their Bridgestone-clad, #31 Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT. The hybrid-powered, front-engine layout Prius won from pole at Autopolis, the first victory for this generation of Prius since its introduction in 2019.
LMcorsa。今年はスープラ #SUPERGT #大阪オートメッセ pic.twitter.com/vX8bduexbl
— ryuu (@ryuu_ms) February 11, 2022
And just unveiled today from the floor of the Osaka Auto Messe convention, LM Corsa have revealed a new silver and aqua livery for their #60 Syntium LM Corsa Toyota GR Supra GT300. Veteran Hiroki Yoshimoto, and rapidly improving youngster Shunsuke Kohno, have been retained for 2022 – their names are shown above the window of the car.
