Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO became the first SUPER GT GT300 team to announce its plans for the upcoming season, as has become a custom for the fan-favourite squad.
In a press conference held at Akiba CO Gallery in Tokyo, Goodsmile Racing announced no change to the core driving duo of three-time GT300 Champions Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka, who have raced together since 2012 – winning two of their respective three championships, seven race victories, and 25 podiums. It will be their 14th consecutive season racing together in SUPER GT.
They’ll continue to drive the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 running on Yokohama Advan tyres. Ukyo Katayama will continue in his role as Team Director working with Team Owner Takanori Aki, and engineer Takao Kohno and his RS Fine garage will continue to provide technical support and vehicle maintenance.
But along with confirmation of another season in GT300, Goodsmile Racing has announced that it will also compete in two rounds of the 2025 SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge with Taniguchi and Kataoka leading the way, joined by Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC driver and Team Principal, Kamui Kobayashi (appearing via video recording at the press conference).
‘NOB’, ‘TK’, and Kamui will enter the 77th annual 24 Hours of Spa on 28/29 June – marking their return to the race for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – and will be a part of the long-awaited 49th running of the Suzuka 1000km on 14 September.
They raced at Spa together for the first time in 2017, and again in 2019 with Adam Christodolou taking Kobayashi’s place. But both races saw the Japanese team retire before the chequered flag.
Goodsmile Racing was also present in the previous two editions of the Suzuka Summer Endurance Race – then the Suzuka 10 Hours – where they enjoyed a somewhat better record: Fifth place overall in 2018, and tenth in 2019.
Kobayashi’s stellar endurance racing record needs little exposition to Western endurance racing fans – headlined by his two FIA World Endurance Championship titles, back-to-back Daytona 24 Hours victories, and a 2021 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Taniguchi rose to racing stardom in Japan after beginning his driving career through street racing and regional drift competitions as a youth, before progressing to sanctioned motorsport. He debuted in Super Taikyu and eventually SUPER GT at the turn of the century, winning multiple championships in each. Taniguchi was also the inaugural champion of the D1 Grand Prix drift championship, and his worldwide profile has also been elevated through his appearances in video car magazines like Best Motoring and Hot Version.
Before arriving at Goodsmile Racing, Kataoka spent six seasons in GT500 and four in Super Formula as a Toyota works driver. And he still works closely with Toyota to this day – as the Principal of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) programme which has trained the likes of Ritomo Miyata, Sho Tsuboi, and Kenta Yamashita. He also competes as a driver/manager for ROOKIE Racing in the Super Taikyu Series.
However, the team’s return to Spa in June means that Taniguchi and Kataoka will not take part in SUPER GT’s return to Petronas Sepang International Circuit on the same weekend. It means that both drivers will miss their first JGTC/SUPER GT race since 2004. Goodsmile Racing will nominate two reserve drivers to take their place in Sepang.
As usual, the world-famous virtual idol Hatsune Miku will adorn Goodsmile Racing’s cars – this year’s edition of Racing Miku was illustrated by Kei Mochizuki, and the livery for the 2025 cars will be presented later this winter.
Feature image © GTA
