Just a few short weeks after it was first teased, and then spotted conducting a shakedown test at Fuji Speedway, apr officially launched their new GT300 class Lexus LC500h GT at the Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday.
The #31 apr LC500h GT, in its white and black livery, replaces the Toyota Prius as apr’s flagship hybrid SUPER GT Series race car after eleven seasons across three different generations. As a GTA-GT300 original vehicle, the LC500h GT is built from the frame of the road-going Lexus LC500h (GWZ100), and boasts an exceptionally long wheelbase of 2,870 millimetres compared to its peers.
Carried over from its predecessor are the 5.4 litre, naturally-aspirated 2UR-GSE V8 engine, which powered the last-generation Prius GT, and the capacitor-driven hybrid system derived from Toyota’s successful top-flight endurance racing programmes in the World Endurance Championship. This hybrid powertrain will run through a Hewland six-speed sequential gearbox and an Ogura racing clutch. Bridgestone will also continue to supply tyres to the #31 apr team, continuing a partnership which began in 2015.
Along with the formal unveiling of their new car, apr also announced the drivers of their flagship entry. 39-year-old veteran Koki Saga (pictured left-centre, next to apr president Hiroto Kaneso) will begin his 14th season with the team. The 2016 GT300 championship runner-up has been a part of apr’s hybrid racing efforts ever since the debut of the first GT300 Prius in 2012.
Kazuto Kotaka (right-centre) returns to full-time SUPER GT racing as the second driver of the #31 apr LC500h GT. The 23-year-old is a graduate of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) academy and has raced full-time with apr in Super Taikyu and part-time last season in SUPER GT. He won the 2022 Super Formula Lights championship and with it, secured a promotion to the Super Formula Championship this season.
26-year-old Yuki Nemoto (right) will make his series debut as apr’s third driver, for the longer semi-endurance races. Nemoto is a Lamborghini Young Professional Driver, who won the Italian GT Sprint Championship in 2020 and the Endurance Championship in 2022. He also won the 2020 Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours for Team HIRIX Racing, who went on to win the series title that same year.
Images courtesy of Yuki Nemoto and apr Racing Team
