62 Entries For Super Taikyu Fuji 24H

The STMO (Super Taikyu Mirai Organisation) has published the entry list for the 11th running of the NAPAC Fuji 24 Hour Race, the crown jewel race of the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series Empowered by Bridgestone. This race takes place next weekend on Saturday and Sunday, 6/7 June, with Qualifying scheduled for Friday 5 June.

62 cars have entered, headlined by seven GT3 cars in the ST-X (GT3) category including four Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs. Defending Fuji 24 Hour winners TKRI and the driving quartet of Daisuke Matsunaga, Tatsuya Kataoka, Yuhki Nakayama, and Yuya Motojima return in search of back-to-back victories, with Kataoka in pursuit of a record fourth consecutive overall win in this race.

Mercedes-AMG is also represented by Craft-Bamboo Racing, Team Pop Race, and newcomer R Zero Racing, which is supported by veteran team Hitotsuyama Racing. Craft-Bamboo Racing has once again recruited star talent from overseas, namely Mercedes-AMG Junior Drivers Tom Kalender and Jayden Ojeda, to support the team – they’ll also have to help fill the void left by Kakunoshin Ohta, who’ll be in Le Mans preparing for his first start in the famous Grand Prix d’Endurance.

Two-time D1GP champion Daigo Saito and 2017 Le Mans 24H runner-up finisher Tung Ho-Pin headline the entry in the #44 Pop Race car, while R Zero Racing features 2018 SUPER GT GT300 series runner-up Sean Walkinshaw as its star driver, helping to get a cast of mostly amateur drivers that are new to GT3 racing get up to speed.

GTNET MotorSports’ #81 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, carrying the famous Team Daishin orange, makes its first appearance of 2026. The Daishin GT-R has a pair of past Fuji 24H winners on-board, namely three-time winner Kiyoto Fujinami, and 2021 winner Natsu Sakaguchi. Former Honda works driver Iori Kimura and second-generation amateur racer Ryuichiro Oyagi are also among the notable drivers in the #81 Daishin GT-R, going for Nissan’s sixth Fuji 24H win.

Tsubasa Kondo rejoins D’station Racing to drive its new #777 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, while, the #31 apr Lexus RC F GT3 will be anchored by Hideki Nagai (his brother Hiroaki was set to miss the race due to GT World Challenge Asia commitments, but is now available) and also features Toyota works driver Sena Sakaguchi.

Of the 11 entries in ST-Z (GT4), the class features a raft of strong guest drivers. Nissan customer squads Team ZeroOne and Team Impul are stacked with luxurious drivers. For defending class winner Team ZeroOne, Ronnie Quintarelli and Masataka Yanagida will come out of retirement to drive the #25 Nissan Z NISMO GT4. Bertrand Baguette returns to Team Impul to drive the #20 Nissan.

Other notable guest stars include 2020 GT500 Champion Tadasuke Makino in the #34 Techno First Audi R8 LMS GT4, and Joshua Berry (son of FIA WEC driver and Super Taikyu alumni Martin) in the #77 Team YUK Mercedes-AMG GT4.

ST-TCR has just two entries, one of which (the #430 Audi Team Show Apex RS3 LMS) features three-time Gran Turismo World Series champion Takuma Miyazono, who’s been successfully applying his esports skills to real-world motorsport in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) and last month’s Nürburgring 24H.

Five prototypes will feature in the ST-Q exhibition class, built by Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru. Toyota’s fleet features the #28 GR Yaris M Concept, a mid-engined concept version of the GR Yaris; as well as the famous #32 GR Corolla H2 Concept running on liquid hydrogen fuel, and the #104 GR Yaris DAT (direct automatic transmission) concept. Of note, four-time and defending GT500 champion Sho Tsuboi will be one of the guest drivers in the #28 GR Yaris M, and Nirei Fukuzumi will drive the #32 GR Corolla H2 alongside a cast including Akio “Morizo” Toyoda.

Mazda Spirit Racing brings the biodiesel-fuelled #55 Mazda3 Future Concept, and Team SDA Engineering will again feature the Impreza/Crosstrek-derived High Performance X Version II.

In total, cars from 11 different classes will race, down to the various production car classes (ST-2, ST-3, ST-4, and both splits of ST-5). 319 drivers including drivers from 12 countries outside Japan (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and Brazil) have already been revealed though the entry list will be finalised once the weekend begins, with the potential to add more.

One week before this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Fuji 24 Hours will start Saturday 6 June at 15:00 JST / 7:00 BST. Live coverage of the race will be available for free on the official Super Taikyu YouTube channel (with Japanese commentary).

Images © STMO