Friday saw two Super GT team announcements for the price of one. Hoppy Team Tsuchiya and Max Racing each confirmed their 2022 GT300 class entries, both of which will be prepared by the legendary Tsuchiya Engineering shop.
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya will field a brand-new version of the Toyota GR Supra GT300 that will be constructed internally by Tsuchiya Engineering. The livery for the #25 Hoppy GR Supra GT has yet to be revealed, but is expected to be the familiar shades of white and pink which have graced recent Hoppy-sponsored machines from Team Tsuchiya.
2016 GT300 Drivers’ Champion, Takamitsu Matsui, returns as the ace driver for the #25 team. The 34-year-old veteran finished 14th in last year’s GT300 standings, and hopes to end a long winless drought for Tsuchiya Engineering, dating back to the 2017 season.
Joining him for the 2022 season is the reigning FIA F4 Japanese Champion, Seita Nonaka. Nonaka, 21, collected six victories to win last year’s F4 title. He also finished seventh in last year’s Super Formula Lights series, with three podiums in 14 races, and he raced in the Super Taikyu Series ST-2 class, winning four races for Kobe Toyopet Motorsports.
Ownership of the team will once again be shared between Takeshi Tsuchiya, the second-generation president of Tsuchiya Engineering, and Mina Ishiwatari, the third-generation president of title sponsor Hoppy Beverage Co. Tsuchiya will continue to serve as team director and technical director on the track, while Ryunosuke Kino, who is tasked with developing their newest GR Supra race car, will be the chief engineer.
With Nonaka joining Hoppy Team Tsuchiya, Kimiya Sato has moved over to Max Racing, joining the rapidly improving Atsushi Miyake in a strong lineup for the third-year team. The new-look #244 Hachi-Ichi Toyota GR Supra GT300, with its new livery courtesy of cosmetic label 81Mattera, is the same car that scored Max Racing’s first victory at Suzuka this past August.
Miyake, who turns 23 in March, was a hot commodity this off-season – even taking part in the Nissan post-season ‘shootout’ test at Fuji Speedway. But the despite the interest, Miyake will stay for a third season in GT300 with Max Racing, together with Sato, 32, who is still searching for his first GT300 victory after seven seasons.
The team will be led by president Tsuyoshi Oono, who has raced in Super Taikyu under the pseudonym “Go Max”, and team director Tetsuya Tanaka, himself a successful former driver in Super GT.
Both Hoppy Team Tsuchiya and Max Racing will be supplied by Yokohama tyres.
Images courtesy of Max Racing and Hoppy Team Tsuchiya
