Three-time SUPER GT Series GT500 Drivers’ Champion Yuji Tachikawa announced on Friday that he will retire from the series at the end of the 2023 season, after competing in the premier class of the series for over 25 years.
The 48-year-old driver is one of only four drivers to win three GT500 championships during his hall-of-fame-calibre career, in 2001, 2005, and 2013. He is the all-time leader in pole positions (24) and points scored (1,245.5) in the top flight of SUPER GT and also ranks second all-time in career wins (19) and podium finishes (47).
His final race at Mobility Resort Motegi on 5 November will be his 214th race (205 championship rounds and nine non-championship events), the most of any driver to have raced exclusively in GT500. It will also bring an end to a historic 25-year tenure as the ace driver of TGR Team ZENT Cerumo which began in 1999, his first full GT500 campaign.
“I would like to announce that I will retire from SUPER GT driving at the end of this season,” Tachikawa said in a post shared to his social media accounts.
“First of all, I would like to thank the many people who have supported me. Thank you for your support and the strength you have given me at all times.”
“I have been able to come this far with the support of Toyota, TCD (TRD), Cerumo, ZENT, Bridgestone, and many other friends and family members. I would also like to thank you for respecting my feelings until the very end. I am filled with gratitude.”
“I would also like to thank the GTA (GT Association) for always providing me with a wonderful stage in SUPER GT. It is an honour for me to have been able to compete on this stage.”
“I wanted to make sure that all of my supporters would be able to see my final race, so I decided to make this announcement at this time.”
“I will do my best in the remaining races, so please support me until the end.”
After beginning his racing career in karts, Tachikawa left for France at just 18 years old to take part in the Formula Renault Campus Cup before returning to Japan, where he won the Formula Toyota West Japan Championship in 1995, and spent the next two seasons in All-Japan Formula Three where he finished runner-up in the 1997 series.
By 1996 he had made his All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) debut driving an ex-IMSA GTO Nissan Fairlady Z32 for Team LeMans, where he entered six races through 1997 when a free practice accident at Fuji Speedway ended the team’s season. And by 1997 he made his debut in the Formula Nippon (now Super Formula Championship).
1999 would see the beginning of Tachikawa’s long and successful relationship with Toyota Team Cerumo, his first full season in both JGTC and Formula Nippon. It didn’t take long for Tachikawa and veteran co-driver Hironori Takeuchi to find success in GT500 – they stood on the podium in Tachikawa’s second race with the team at Fuji, Tachikawa would win his first career pole at Fuji in the summer of 2000, and the following round at Okayama would see him capture his first win.
In 2001, Tachikawa rode a wave of mid-season consistency to win his first GT500 title, despite not winning a race – three podiums and five top-six finishes would suffice. Tachikawa would go on to sweep the two races at Fuji in 2002, the beginning of Tachikawa’s “Fuji-meister” legend.
As the JGTC morphed into SUPER GT in 2005, Tachikawa teamed up with ex-Formula One and IndyCar national hero Toranosuke Takagi at Cerumo. The first-year duo swept both races at Fuji, then, in a rain-soaked final round at Suzuka, Tachikawa drove masterfully to win the race and overturn a 14-point deficit going into the final round to win his second title.
After runner-up finishes in the 2008 and 2012 seasons, Tachikawa, now partnered with young Toyota prodigy Kohei Hirate, would make another late rally for the championship. Sitting 11th in the standings with three races to go, Tachikawa and Hirate finished first, second, and third in the last three rounds, enough for Tachikawa to win his third championship and join the elite company of his peers Satoshi Motoyama and Juichi Wakisaka (later joined by Ronnie Quintarelli, the series’ only four-time champion).
Through his experience, Tachikawa has also taken a hands-on role in the development of several generations of Toyota GT500 racing vehicles including the fourth-generation Supra, Lexus SC430, Lexus RC F, Lexus LC500, and the fifth-generation GR Supra.
Tachikawa’s 19th career GT500 win at the 2019 Fuji Golden Week race was his ninth career SUPER GT win at Fuji Speedway – and he’ll have one more chance to earn his tenth win at the historic circuit, a few more chances to finally reach 25 career pole positions – and perhaps, one more chance at a record-equalling fourth championship alongside co-driver Hiroaki Ishiura.
In addition, Tachikawa has also excelled in the biggest stages of endurance racing, as a two-time winner of the Suzuka 1000km (2001 and 2016), and the Tokachi 24 Hours (1998 and 2000). In 2008, he made his one and only venture to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing a respectable 11th in the LMP2 class aboard the Japanese-built Dome S102.
While Tachikawa’s single-seater pedigree never translated into victories or championships in Super Formula, he has found success in single-seaters as the team director of Cerumo/INGING, leading Ishiura and Yuji Kunimoto to a combined three consecutive Drivers’ Championships from 2015-2017, and back-to-back Teams’ Championships in 2016-17. Tachikawa also briefly served as both the driver and team director for Cerumo in SUPER GT from 2019 to 2021.
Images © Toyota
