Today, Nissan has announced its GT500 teams and drivers for the upcoming Autobacs SUPER GT Series. Fitting of a year in which Nissan announced cost-cutting redundancies and closures, the embattled manufacturer has also confirmed that it would downsize from four to three Nissan Z NISMO GT500s in 2026.
The second NISMO car, the #3 run under the NISMO NDDP racing banner, will not continue on as the flagship NISMO team scales back to a single car effort. With only three cars, it is the smallest Nissan entry since 2010 – and with no known plans for Toyota and Honda to expand their efforts, the GT500 grid is also set to shrink to just 14 cars, also the fewest for SUPER GT since 2010 (when 13 cars ran the full season).
Two-time GT500 Championship runners-up Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi will remain as the drivers of the #23 NISMO Z, their second season together in the ace #23 car and their fourth season together as co-drivers in GT500.
Tsugio Matsuda, SUPER GT’s all-time career wins leader in the premier class and a two-time GT500 Championship-winning driver, has been appointed as the new Team Director of the #23 NISMO Z, succeeding his former Chief Engineer Takeshi Nakajima in the role. Matsuda retired from driving in the series after the 2025 season, spending his final two seasons at Kondo Racing.
There is also no change at Team Impul, who have retained 2022 GT500 Champions Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette for a fifth straight season in the #12 Impul Z. Kazuki Hoshino will continue in his role as Team Director, with his father Kazuyoshi Hoshino still involved as the team’s General Manager.
At Kondo Racing, Atsushi Miyake moves from the shuttered #3 NISMO NDDP car to replace Matsuda and join Teppei Natori in the #24 car. Both Miyake and Natori will begin their third GT500 seasons, under the supervision of Team Owner Masahiko Kondo.
With room for only six drivers, Daiki Sasaki will not continue as a Nissan GT500 driver in 2026. He returned to the top flight last season to join Miyake at NISMO NDDP, his 11th year in GT500. Sasaki recorded 12 podiums, including three victories, and three pole positions driving for Kondo Racing, Impul, and NISMO NDDP.
“SUPER GT is a key activity for Nissan/NMC (Nissan Motorsports & Customising Co. Ltd), and our passion for motorsports remains unwavering,” said Yutaka Sanada, president of NMC. “For the upcoming season, we will enter SUPER GT with a three-car lineup, with Tsugio Matsuda assuming the role as Team Director for NISMO. All teams are energized for the new season as they aim for victory with their Nissan Z NISMO GT500 racecars. We sincerely appreciate the continued and unwavering support of our fans.”
The Z NISMO GT500 is expected to be updated for the 2026 season, the first of a four-year aerodynamic development freeze in the top class.
More details of Nissan’s GT500 programmes, as well as details of the manufacturer’s customer racing efforts in GT300 and elsewhere in Japan and Asia, will be announced at a later date.
Feature image © GTA
