After 19 seasons as a Honda GT500 factory driver, Takuya Izawa has announced his decision to retire from the premier class of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series at the conclusion of this season.
Izawa, 41, announced his decision heading into this weekend’s race at Suzuka Circuit – where, in 2007, he made his SUPER GT debut in the Suzuka 1000km driving for Real Racing. He then went on to race full-time for ARTA, Team Kunimitsu, Dome Racing, and most recently Nakajima Racing, collecting seven victories and 28 podiums in 135 championship races, making him Honda’s most experienced GT500 driver of all time.
Izawa finished second in the GT500 Championship for ARTA in 2009, and third in 2015 and 2018.
“I have decided to end my racing activities in the SUPER GT GT500 class at the end of this season,” Izawa said. “As I approach the race at Suzuka, a place that holds particularly fond memories for me from my (Honda) Racing School days and throughout my career as a racing driver, I wanted to share this news with my fans at this time. I will continue to strive for the best possible results in the remaining four races, alongside the team and my co-driver Okusa.”
While outright success has been limited during his six-year tenure at Nakajima Racing, Izawa has been a mentor to future generations of Honda factory drivers, working alongside Kakunoshin Ohta (2023), Hiroki Otsu (2020-2022), and most recently Riki Okusa (2024-2025) as they began their GT500 careers. And in Honda’s press release issued today, the manufacturer highlighted Izawa’s reputation for providing “accurate and clear technical feedback, which has made a significant contribution to the development and speed of Honda’s GT500 vehicles.”
Izawa recently succeeded team founder and namesake Satoru Nakajima as the acting Team Principal of Nakajima Racing in the Super Formula Championship; Izawa spent 11 years in Japanese Top Formula racing, taking three wins and finishing third in the 2012 Championship.
He emerged on the scene after winning the coveted Honda Racing School Formula scholarship in 2002. He then spent two seasons in Formula Renault 2000 Germany (2003-04) and three seasons in Honda’s Formula Dream championship (2003-05), before graduating to the All-Japan Formula 3 Championship in 2006, and eventually becoming a full-time factory driver in 2008.
In 2014, Izawa raced in the GP2 Series (now the FIA Formula 2 Championship) as a teammate to Stoffel Vandoorne at ART Grand Prix. Izawa’s participation came as Honda prepared to return to Formula 1 as a power unit constructor, in partnership with McLaren. He paved the way for Honda prospects such as Yuki Tsunoda, Nobuharu Matsushita, Nirei Fukuzumi, Tadasuke Makino, and Ayumu Iwasa to pursue single-seater racing opportunities in Europe and pursue their own Formula 1 dreams.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) President, Koji Watanabe, said: “We would like to express our gratitude to Takuya Izawa for his many years of dedication and outstanding achievements, and extend our heartfelt thanks for his hard work.
“After graduating at the top of his class from the Honda Racing School Suzuka (then known as SRS-F) in 2002, he went on to challenge overseas formula racing and has consistently been a key figure in Honda’s domestic top categories such as Super Formula and SUPER GT. While his departure is bittersweet given his deep understanding of Honda’s racing activities, we will continue to give our all alongside him until the end of this season.”
Izawa joins Toyota’s Hiroaki Ishiura as the second tenured GT500 driver to announce their retirement after the 2025 season. Both drivers will make their final starts at the season-ending Motegi GT 300km Race in November.
Feature image © Honda
