Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced its GT300 teams and drivers for the upcoming Autobacs SUPER GT Series season. The brand will be represented by nine entries fielding four different models from the Toyota and Lexus labels.
After winning the 2023 GT300 Championships, Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave will defend its championships with the #52 Toyota GR Supra GT300. But it will do so with a refreshed driver line-up pairing reigning champion driver Hiroki Yoshida with a new team-mate, 23-year-old Seita Nonaka.
It will also do so under a new name – simply known as “Green Brave” from 2024 onwards.
Nonaka, the 2021 FIA F4 Japanese Champion, replaces Kohta Kawaai for the upcoming season. He joined Green Brave for a pair of one-off appearances, including an ST-Z (GT4) class win at the Super Taikyu Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours, and as a third driver in the SUPER GT Autopolis 450km. Nonaka did not drive during the Autopolis race – though he did join the victory celebrations as Yoshida and Kawaai took their second win of a title-winning 2023 season.
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya (Tsuchiya Engineering) will make its much-anticipated return to SUPER GT this year after its #25 Toyota GR Supra – affectionately nicknamed “Hopico” – suffered critical damage in a vehicle fire at Fuji Speedway in August, forcing Takeshi Tsuchiya’s squad to miss the second half of 2023.
A rebuilt version of Hopico will be driven by Togo Suganami, back for his second season with the team – and the 2016 GT300 Champion, Takamitsu Matsui, who is returning to Hoppy Team Tsuchiya after a year away from the organisation.
Also returning with a Toyota GR Supra is LM corsa, back with an unchanged lineup of Hiroki Yoshimoto and Shunsuke Kohno, beginning their fourth season together.
INGING Motorsport will enter one of three Toyota GR86es. The driver line-up of the #2 GR86 remains unchanged, led by Yuui Tsutsumi and Hibiki Taira for the full season, and team director Hiroki Katoh in a third driver/reserve role. Tsutsumi and Taira finished runner-up in the GT300 standings last year with three second-place finishes.
SHADE Racing has also confirmed the return of Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Eijiro Shimizu as its drivers, along with the change to Michelin tyres.
Meanwhile, apr has restructured the driver lineups of its two entries – and given Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) academy members Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura their first drives in the SUPER GT Series.
18-year-old Kobayashi, the 2023 FIA F4 Japanese Champion and a top driver in the Gran Turismo World Series esports events, will pilot the #30 apr GR86 full-time alongside gentleman driver Hiroaki Nagai. Two-time GT300 champion Manabu Orido will step back to a third driver role for the series’ long-distance events.
Nakamura, who will turn 18 in February, will drive apr’s #31 Lexus LC 500h – the team’s “ace car” – alongside Kazuto Kotaka, who drove the car full-time last season. After an impressive first season in the five semi-endurance rounds, Yuki Nemoto will continue as the third driver of the hybrid-powered Lexus.
With these changes, Koki Saga, the 2016 GT300 championship runner-up, will end a 14-year run with apr in GT300.
Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage will retain Brazilian Igor Fraga and Japanese Yuga Furutani for its second season with the #50 Lexus RC F GT3.
And the second Lexus RC F GT3, entered by K-tunes Racing, will again be driven by three-time GT300 champion and SUPER GT Series iron man Morio Nitta, and two-time GT300 champion Shinichi Takagi.
All nine of Toyota’s GT300 entries will be equipped with versions of Toyota’s 5.4-litre 2UR-GSE V8 engine.
Bridgestone will supply tyres to Green Brave, INGING, and the apr LC 500h, Yokohama will supply the apr GR86 and Anest Iwata Racing, and Dunlop will supply LM corsa and K-tunes.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will also continue to support privateer entries and factory-supported innovative concepts in the 2024 Eneos Super Taikyu Series Supported by Bridgestone.
One of these entries is from GR Team Spirit, a new team entering a “racing concept” version of the Toyota GR Supra. The car will be driven by the aforementioned Matsui and Kohno, plus Toyota GT500 driver Kenta Yamashita, and Toyota employee/mechanic Keizo Kato.
Further details of this entry, and the plans of ROOKIE Racing’s involvement in Super Taikyu, will be revealed at a later date.
Miki Koyama, who made her SUPER GT Series debut last year with Anest Iwata Racing, will also be part of the TGR-DC academy for the 2024 season. She will drive for apr in their ST-X class #31 Lexus RC F GT3.
Images © GTA and Toyota
