SUPER GT Preparing For 2026 Fuji Golden Week Special

SUPER GT and the GT Association have released the entry list for the upcoming renewal of the Golden Week special, the Fuji GT 3 Hours Race on Monday, 4 May.

It’s the 31st edition of the JGTC/SUPER GT Fuji Golden Week race, dating back to the very first race of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship’s inaugural 1994 season. It also commemorates the 60th anniversary of the very first major motor race at Fuji Speedway, the 3rd Japan Grand Prix.

And now, with the recent postponement of Sepang to 2027, the Fuji 3 Hours will also be the last race before a three-month layoff for SUPER GT.

GT500 has no driver or team changes to note, though Success Ballast is now in play. As the Okayama race winners and championship leaders, the #36 au TOM’S Toyota GR Supra GT500 of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita will come into the race carrying an additional 40 kilogrammes of Success Weight on board.

Last year’s winning car, the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra (Toshiki Oyu/Rikuto Kobayashi), will have +32kg after its second-place run at Okayama.

This leads into a look at the GT300 class, where several teams have added third drivers, and one team has made a change to its regular two-driver crew.

Two GT300 drivers will make their SUPER GT debuts: For CarGuy MKS Racing, 18-year-old Toyota young driver Kiyoshi Umegaki makes his first start in the #7 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, and for apr, second-generation driver Charlie Wurz (son of Alex) will drive the #31 Lexus LC500h that recently finished third at Okayama.

Others are coming back to the series after long layoffs, like 2023 GT300 Champion Kohta Kawaai (#87 JLOC), back in the series for the first time since his title-winning campaign, and Rintaro Kubo (#9 Pacific Racing Team), making his first start since 2020.

Some other familiar faces returning to action are Masaki Jyonai and Yuma Shoji (#22 R’Qs Motor Sports), Daiki Fujiwara (#48 NILZZ Racing), Natsu Sakaguchi (#88 JLOC), and Atsushi Tanaka (#360 Tomei Sports). 2018 GT300 Champion Haruki Kurosawa (#65 K2 R&D LEON Racing) is also on the entry list as a driver, but only in a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ capacity as he’ll likely continue in his managerial capacity.

And in apr’s #30 Toyota GR86, legendary two-time GT300 Champion Manabu Orido makes his return, though it’s as a straight replacement for Bronze driver Hiroaki Nagai. Nagai will honour his GT World Challenge Asia commitments in Mandalika that weekend.

The #777 D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (Tomonobu Fujii/Charlie Fagg) carries a nominal 52kg of Success Ballast into Fuji: This includes the 50kg of ballast weight, as well as the first stage of Success refuelling restrictors that will result in longer pit stop times for the Okayama winners.

Practice and Qualifying will take place on Sunday, 3 May, followed by the three-hour race on Monday.

Images © GTA