Reigning SUPER GT Series GT300 champion Yuya Motojima will drive for Team 5Zigen in the 49th edition of the Suzuka 1000km on 14 September, making his fifth consecutive appearance in Japan’s oldest endurance sports car race.
Motojima will pilot the #500 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 alongside the already announced pairing of Yu Kanamaru, 5Zigen’s full-time GT World Challenge Asia driver, and fellow SUPER GT GT300 champion Takayuki Aoki. The entry is one of three cars entered in the Silver class.
Today’s announcement also confirms all 99 drivers in the Suzuka 1000km (barring any last-minute changes or withdrawals).
The 34-year-old driver helped give SUPER GT mainstay JLOC its first-ever series title last year, collecting an astonishing four wins in eight races alongside co-driver Takashi Kogure, on their way to their first GT300 championships.
Although JLOC has been unable to replicate last year’s success, Motojima has found individual success in other series this year; he won the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours, the crown jewel of the Super Taikyu Series – and he also helped Max Racing win in its return to professional motorsport, during the opening round of the SRO Japan Cup at Sugo.
Motojima also has previous racing experience behind the wheel of a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, as recently as 2021 when he ran the Fuji 24 Hours for MP (Magic Project) Racing.
He’ll join a 5Zigen (pronounced “Go-jigen”) team that supported JLOC during Motojima’s first seasons with the team in 2017-2018. Team 5Zigen claimed a landmark overall victory in Race 1 of the 2024 GT World Asia Suzuka round, Nissan’s first in any GT World Challenge series since 2021.
This season, Team 5Zigen has recorded three sixth-place overall finishes and two Silver-Am Cup class wins (one each at Buriram and Fuji).
Images courtesy of Yuya Motojima, SRO Motorsports Group
