Porsche Center Okazaki & NK Racing unite as two-car team
This week, reigning GT World Challenge Japan Cup champion team Porsche Center Okazaki announced a partnership with NK Racing (Nihon Kizai), expanding the team into a two-car unit for 2024.
Defending Japan Cup GT3 Champions Hiroaki Nagai and Yuta Kamimura will return to pilot the red #18 Porsche 911 GT3 R with backing from Nagai’s ARN Racing label. The duo won both the Overall and Pro-Am titles last year, picking up two overall podiums at Suzuka and Motegi – and also finishing as the top Japan Cup team in both Motegi races.
Nagai will supplement his SRO Asia activities with another full-season entry in the Autobacs SUPER GT Series at apr, one of the few remaining amateur drivers in the GT300 class.
The NK Racing-sponsored #25 also retains its 2023 lineup of Kiyoshi Uchiyama and 2021 Super Taikyu Series ST-X (GT3) Champion Tsubasa Kondo. Uchiyama and Kondo finished sixth in the Japan Cup GT3 Overall standings and fourth in GT3 Pro-Am. Their best overall result was an eighth place at Fuji.
Both cars will be taking part in both the GT World Challenge Asia and Japan Cup series this year – as Japan Cup races will now be run separately from GT World Challenge Asia races.
LM corsa debuts new Ferrari 296 GT3
During the Osaka Auto Messe convention in February, LM corsa, the racing division of Osaka Toyopet Group, confirmed its participation in the Japan Cup with a new Ferrari 296 GT3.
Veteran driver Shigekazu Wakisaka is the first driver announced to drive the #60 Ferrari 296 GT3. His co-driver for the season will be announced at a later date.
Wakisaka and Kei Nakanishi finished ninth in the Japan Cup GT3 standings and seventh in the Japan Cup Pro-Am Class with the team’s previous Ferrari 488 GT3.
K-tunes Racing expands to three cars in two classes with new 296 GT3
Then, earlier this week, K-tunes Racing announced its expanded Japan Cup efforts, adding a Ferrari 296 GT3 of its own, joining the returning Lexus RC F GT3 and Toyota GR Supra GT4 which raced in 2023.
The new Ferrari will be driven by 2020 Super Taikyu Series ST-X Champion Daisuke Yamawaki, and two-time SUPER GT GT300 Champion Shinichi Takagi.
It will race in Pro-Am alongside the #96 Lexus driven by three-time GT300 Champion Morio Nitta and K-tunes Racing owner Kazunori Suenaga – who finished joint-14th in the Japan Cup GT3 overall standings (11th in Pro-Am) last year.
The #97 Toyota GR Supra GT4 will feature a newcomer to the series, Bronze driver Yoshichika Nagai.
UPDATE: K-tunes Racing previously announced 2021 GT300 Champion, Hideki Yamauchi, as Nagai’s co-driver – the team has now had to retract that announcement as Yamauchi, an FIA Gold-graded driver, does not satisfy the requirements for a Silver-Am or Am line-up.
GT3 Am field taking shape with RunUp Sports GT-R return
RunUp Sports will return to the Japan Cup with its #360 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Am category, retaining drivers Masaaki Nishikawa and Atsushi Tanaka. With the backing of Tomei Sports, consistent finishes allowed Tanaka and Nishikawa to finish second in the Japan Cup Am standings last year.
This ensures that two Nissan GT-Rs will be running in the Japan Cup this year, after the confirmation from Nissan in February that Team 5Zigen will also bring back its #500 Nissan GT-R for drivers Hiromasa “Hirobon” Kitano and Yu Kanamaru.
It also gives the Japan Cup GT3 Am field a solid foundation for 2024. Comet Racing, Yorikatsu Tsujiko, and Yusuke Yamasaki are set to defend their titles in the #7 Ferrari 296 GT3 – and D’station Racing adding a second Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Super Taikyu veterans Tatsuya Hoshino and Kenji Hama.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group, Porsche Center Okazaki, K-tunes Racing
