41 Entries For SUPER GT Okayama Test

Official pre-season testing for the 2025 Autobacs SUPER GT Series begins in two weeks, at the Okayama International Circuit on 15/16 March. 41 cars will attend the first of two official tests with the second at Fuji on 29/30 March.

All 15 cars and teams will be present in GT500 with their regular drivers, plus one: Kazuto Kotaka will share driving duties in the #19 WedsSport Advan Toyota GR Supra with Yuji Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi. Kotaka will serve as Toyota’s GT500 Reserve Driver after spending the last two seasons driving with apr in GT300.

In GT300, 26 out of the 28 committed entries will attend the Okayama test. Saitama Green Brave will not attend, and neither will the new CarGuy MKS Racing team with its Ferrari 296 GT3. PONOS Racing’s Lilou Wadoux will also miss the test due to a clash with the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring on the same weekend, and Ryo Ogawa is omitted from the entry list of the #30 apr Toyota GR86.

But seven x seven Racing will make its first public test appearance with its #666 Porsche 911 GT3 R, as will the revamped Anest Iwata Racing and the #26 Lexus RC F GT3, now receiving technical support from championship-winning team Gainer. LM corsa will roll out its #60 Lexus LC 500 which had its first shakedown at this circuit earlier in January.

Team Mach is one of a handful of teams which has not yet confirmed its drivers for the 2025 season. But at least for the Okayama test, Yusuke Shiotsu will return to drive the #5 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86.

He’ll be joined by former Honda factory driver Iori Kimura, a past GT300 race winner with ARTA who has raced in GT500 and Super Formula. Also driving the #5 Mach MC86 is 24-year-old SUPER GT newcomer Aruga Tomita, who arrives with three seasons of experience in Super Taikyu – including last year, his first driving a Toyota GR Supra GT4 for Team Noah.

NILZZ Racing will have incumbent drivers Taiyo Ida and Yusaku Shibata testing the #48 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, as well as another new face, 25-year-old Daiki Fujiwara. Fujiwara was a race winner in the SRO Japan Cup GT4 class last year, and will return to the series for his second season at the Sunrise BLVD team in 2025.

Tomei Sports has made changes to its lineup in recent weeks. Originally, Nissan announced Takayuki Aoki and Atsushi Tanaka as the drivers of the #360 RunUp Rivaux GT-R. On 25 February, Tomei Sports announced altered plans – Aoki will instead race alongside sophomore Rin Arakawa, and rookie Hironobu Shimizu – while Tanaka would race exclusively in SRO Japan Cup alongside team director Masaaki Nishikawa.

But for this test at Okayama, all four drivers – Aoki, Arakawa, Shimizu, and Tanaka – will drive, with Aoki/Arakawa appearing on Saturday and Sunday respectively, and Tanaka/Shimizu running both days.

Shimizu, 19, is a graduate of the FIA F4 Japanese Championship and a protegé of Honda racing legend Ryo Michigami. He finished sixth in the F4 standings and won his first race at Fuji Speedway in August.

Another F4 graduate getting his first official testing opportunity is Tosei Moriyama of HELM Motorsports, in the #62 HELM GT-R. 22-year-old Moriyama finished fifth in last year’s F4 championship driving for HELM, and also represented Japan in the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games.

Shunji Okumoto will drive the #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku Mercedes-AMG GT3 in preparation for his debut with the team at Sepang in June, while K2 R&D LEON Racing team director Haruki Kurosawa is signed up to drive his #65 LEON Pyramid AMG.

Two sessions are scheduled for each day: Saturday 15 March at 9:30—11:30 and 14:00—16:00 JST (local time), and Sunday 16 March at 9:00—11:00 and 14:00—16:00.

Images © GTA