Tsuchiya Engineering will celebrate its 55th anniversary of racing with a refreshed line-up in the upcoming Autobacs SUPER GT Series season.
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya has announced that 2016 GT300 Drivers’ Champion Takamitsu Matsui and rookie driver Ryota Horachi will drive the #25 Hoppy Schatz Toyota GR Supra GT, affectionately known as “Hopico”, which is constructed at Tsuchiya Engineering’s shop in Fujisawa, Japan.
2026 will also mark the tenth anniversary of the team’s championship run with the Toyota 86 Mother Chassis. Since then, the team has won only one race in the last nine seasons. Last year, Matsui and previous co-driver Kimiya Sato could only collect two 15th-place finishes, scoring two points in the Drivers’ championship thanks to the expanded points system in GT300.
Horachi, 19, graduates to SUPER GT after spending four seasons in the FIA F4 Japanese Championship. This included a brief spell as a Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP) driver that saw him finish second in the 2024 championship to Yuto Nomura, who has since graduated to Honda’s fleet of GT500 drivers. Horachi signed with PONOS Racing in 2025 and finished fifth in last year’s standings. He is managed by veteran driver Hironobu Yasuda’s company, Hirotex.
He’ll be partnered with Matsui, a mainstay of Tsuchiya Engineering even before his SUPER GT debut in 2015. He will be aiming to give Hoppy Team Tsuchiya its first win as a team since 2017, and first with the GR Supra that was introduced in 2022, and rebuilt after a 2023 fire.
The Hoppy GR Supra will continue to use Yokohama Advan tyres in 2026, with Takeshi Tsuchiya, the second-generation driver, engineer, and Team Director continuing in his role as the manager of the programme.
“As we approach the 2026 season, we extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported us in competing on this stage,” said Tsuchiya.
“This year marks the 55th anniversary of Tsuchiya Engineering’s founding. Over the past few years, the team has navigated an unprecedented period of decline. Yet we cannot allow the spirit of ‘Tsuchiya,’ built by our predecessors, to be extinguished here. We firmly believe we cannot simply step down from this stage now.
“For the new season, we will challenge with a renewed structure and the resolve to leave no room to retreat. We ask for your continued support for Hoppy Team Tsuchiya’s battles this season. We will race with everything we have.”
Feature image © Toyota
