SHADE Racing has announced that it will not compete in the upcoming SUPER GT Malaysia Festival at Petronas Sepang International Circuit due to damages sustained during a GT Entrants Association sanctioned test at Suzuka Circuit last month.
On the afternoon of 13 May, the #20 SHADE Racing Toyota GR86 suffered heavy fire damage. Veteran driver Katsuyuki Hiranaka pulled the car over at Spoon Corner and got out just before the fire engulfed the car. Hiranaka was uninjured and even assisted in the firefighting efforts.
#SUPERGT #スーパーGT #鈴鹿サーキット#SHADERACING pic.twitter.com/mlG4kVLwhY
— ひろき (@hiroki_2000_816) May 13, 2025
After assessing the damage at the team’s Fuji Speedway factory, the #20 SHADE GR86 could not be repaired in time for the car to be shipped to Malaysia, and on Monday the team announced it would withdraw from Sepang.
SHADE Racing earned its place on the GT300 grid for Sepang by finishing in the top 18 of the 2024 GT300 Teams’ Championship and earning priority “A” Seed Rights that guaranteed an entry into every race.
It is unclear if any of the remaining GT300 teams with B/C/E Seed Rights will replace them in the entry list, to be joined by the other 17 A Seed teams from Japan, and EBM which appears as a local one-off entry.
In the meantime, SHADE Racing has stated that it will explore all possibilities to return to the track, perhaps as soon as the upcoming Fuji GT Sprint Race on 2/3 August. Hiranaka, Eijiro Shimizu, and Yuki Sano finished 17th at the most recent Fuji GT 3 Hour Race in May.
Feature image © Toyota
