43 Car Entry List For Fuji GT 450km Race

The GTA (GT Association) published the entry list for this year’s running of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series’ Golden Week race at Fuji Speedway, officially titled the FAV Hotel Fuji GT 450km Race. It will be held on the traditional dates of Tuesday 3 May and Wednesday 4 May.

There are no changes of drivers in the 15-car GT500 entry list.

Success Ballast enters the equation from this second round of the SUPER GT season. Okayama winners Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita (#14 Eneos X Prime Toyota GR Supra) will carry 42 kilogrammes of Success Weight in this race, 2kg per point earned this season. The #100 Raybrig Honda NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) will carry 30kg, and the #23 Motul Autech Nissan Z (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli will carry 22kg of Success Weight.

As expected, all 28 teams will be on the grid in GT300 – but the entry list reveals a major shake up at Team LeMans!

Three-time GT500 Champion and four-time Super Formula Champion, Satoshi Motoyama, has been dropped from the team. The move comes as an enormous shock, after he and Yoshiaki Katayama finished fifth in the opener at Okayama, giving them their first points-paying finish since the team returned to GT300 last season.

The name of the team has also been changed from “Motoyama Racing with Team LeMans” back to “Team LeMans”, reflective of Motoyama’s departure – a development which caught the 51-year-old driver by surprise, according to posts from his social media.

His place within the team will be filled by none other than Formula 1 and FIA World Endurance Championship alumnus, Roberto Merhi, who makes his Japanese racing debut at the Fuji 450km. In addition to his career in formula cars and DTM super silhouettes, Merhi has also competed frequently in LMP2, making three starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Merhi recently drove the Audi R8 LMS GT3 at the 2021 GT World Challenge Australia meeting in Bathurst, a year that also saw him race in the Tasman S5000 Series and the European Le Mans Series.

Officially entered under his full name, Roberto Merhi Muntan, he will aim to pass his GTA Rookie Test during the practice session and compete in the 450km main event race.

Joining Merhi alongside Yoshiaki Katayama, two-time GT300 race winner Shintaro Kawabata makes his return to SUPER GT after the departure of his former outfit Audi Team Hitotsuyama. The 29-year-old won last year’s penultimate round in Motegi.

They are one of six GT500 teams that have brought a three-driver rotation for the 450km race. As anticipated, reigning Super Taikyu Series ST-X champion Tsubasa Kondo will join Seiji Ara and Augusto Farfus at BMW Team Studie x CSL. Rookie Yusuke Shiotsu will make his series debut in the #10 TanaX Gainer Nissan GT-R GT3, partnering Ryuichiro Tomita and Riki Okusa.

Another debuting driver is 34-year-old Takeshi Suehiro, the 2019 TCR Japan Sunday Series champion and former Nissan Driver Development Programme member will join Masaki Kano and Ryohei Sakaguchi in the #50 Arnage Racing MC86.

2020 FIA F4 Japanese Champion Hibiki Taira returns to GT300, driving the #30 apr Toyota GR86 GT alongside Hiroaki Nagai and Manabu Orido. Taira ran three races in 2021, recording a best finish of sixth at Okayama. He recently took his first Super Formula Lights win in Fuji.

And grassroots racing legend Yusaku Shibata is also back in SUPER GT, returning to Tomei Sports to pilot the #360 RunUp Rivaux GT-R with Takayuki Aoki and Atsushi Tanaka.

Finally, Max Racing will make their anticipated return to action after taking a hiatus due to the death of team owner Tsuyoshi “Go Max” Oono. The #244 Hachi-Ichi Toyota GR Supra of Kimiya Sato and Atsushi Miyake is expected to have a strong race.

The Special Balance of Performance used in Okayama has been removed as anticipated, and teams will once again be allowed to make their compulsory pit stops without the obligation to change all four tyres.

The #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R (Kiyoto Fujinami / João Paulo de Oliveira) will be on 60kg of Success Weight, 3kg for points earned after winning the opening round in Okayama.

UPDATE: Togo Suganami replaces Hiroki Yoshida at Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave.

Images © GTA / Audi Japan