SUPER GT selects tyre allocations for long-distance rounds
During the two-day official pre-season test at Okayama International Circuit, the Autobacs SUPER GT Series has confirmed the number of dry tyre sets that will be brought to its longer-distance rounds.
Six sets of dry tyres will be allowed for the three-hour races at Fuji Speedway (4 May), Suzuka Circuit (2 June), and Autopolis (20 October), the same number that was allowed during the 450-kilometre rounds in 2023. Five sets will be permitted at the 350-kilometre races at Fuji (4 August) and Suzuka (1 September).
Teams can register up to three drivers for these five races – and in addition, teams are now able to register a reserve driver in case of a sudden injury or illness for one of its regular drivers.
Honda junior Mitsui secures Team UPGarage third driver role
Team UPGarage has appointed Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP) driver Yusuke Mitsui to be its third driver for the 2024 season.
Mitsui, who turns 22 next month, will share the car with full-time drivers Takashi Kobayashi and Syun Koide at select races throughout the year.
He has primarily spent the last two years in the FIA F4 Japanese Championship where he won his first race in the series and finished second in the 2022 championship behind Koide. Last year he was the top Honda-backed driver and finished third in points behind Toyota-supported Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura.
Mitsui has no plans to go single-seater racing this year but he will be running in the Eneos Super Taikyu Series, driving Team Spoon’s new Honda Civic Type R in the ST-2 class.
Nissan’s GT300 privateers firm up 2024 plans
Nissan GT300 customer teams Tomei Sports and NILZZ Racing made separate announcements to confirm their plans for the 2024 season.
This past week Tomei Sports officially announced that long-tenured amateur driver Atsushi Tanaka will return, sharing third driver duties with 24-year-old rookie Rin Arakawa. Takuya Otaki and Takayuki Aoki were already confirmed as the full-time drivers of the #360 RunUp Rivaux Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in February.
Arakawa was the 2021 FIA F4 Japanese Championship runner-up and finished third in the 2022 championship, with the backing of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) programme. He left TGR-DC in 2023 and finished sixth in points. Arakawa will also run part-time in Super Formula Lights this year.
Meanwhile, NILZZ Racing announced that eight-year GT300 veteran Yusaku Shibata will partner Taiyo Ida for the full season. Second-year driver Takumi Sanada will return as the team’s third driver.
The #48 Nissan GT-R also has a new livery that prominently features the images of two independent VTubers who will be collaborating with the team this year: Nachoneko, (alter-ego of illustrator Natsuki Amashiro), and Tororo Nekomugi.
Originally thought to be a typo when the 2024 entry list was published, the vehicle’s registered name from “Shokumou” (hair transplant) GT-R to “Datsumou” (hair removal) GT-R, reflecting a change in strategy from title sponsor Arts Ginza Clinic.
Harmony Racing reveals Ferrari 296 ahead of full-season programme
Harmony Racing will run full-time in the GT World Challenge Asia series with a new Ferrari 296 GT3, driven by the all-Chinese, all-Silver lineup of Alex Liang Jiatong and Luo Kailuo. The team revealed its entry ahead of this weekend’s Sepang 12 Hours.
Liang drove for Harmony Racing during last year’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia series and, before that, the Chinese Endurance Championship. He made his SUPER GT debut with GT300 team Pacific Racing Team and boasts race-winning experience in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe and International GT Open series.
Luo makes the step up to GT3 competition after an impressive run in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series. He was the 2022 series runner-up and finished third in points last year.
Both Liang and Luo raced in the Sepang 12 Hours for Harmony Racing alongside Jason Loh and Xu Zheyu.
Team Macchina announces solo-driver Japan Cup entry with previous-generation McLaren
Another new Fanatec Japan Cup entry that’s been announced is Team Macchina, which is partnering with 2022 Japan Cup GT3 Am Champion Team Uematsu to run a 2021-spec McLaren 720S GT3.
Team Macchina owner Masato Otsuka has appointed Tadao Uematsu (namesake of Team Uematsu) as the only driver of its car.
Before winning the first Japan Cup GT3 AM title alongside Yudai Uchida, Uematsu also won five Super Taikyu Series championships across three classes and spent six seasons racing in JGTC/SUPER GT.
Hojust Racing partners with Wakayama Toyota; five drivers signed to share GR Supra
Another new entry into the Japan Cup comes from Wakayama Toyota and Hojust Racing, entering together with a single Toyota GR Supra GT4.
The new team has signed five drivers for its Japan Cup campaign – three amateurs and two pros, who will rotate throughout the campaign.
The Ams are Toshiyuki Ochiai, a three-time Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia champion; as well as Kiyohide Shirakihara and Noriyuki Higuchi, who drove in the MEC 120 Endurance Series – a grassroots-level series which features the Vita-01 and V.Granz light prototypes.
The pros are four-time Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia champion Afiq Yazid of Malaysia – who won two of his titles alongside Ochiai – and Takeshi Suehiro, a former SUPER GT GT300 driver who has won championships in Super Taikyu and TCR Japan – and also raced with Ochiai in Super Trofeo, under his maiden name Takeshi Matsumoto.
Refreshed lineups for two Porsche ST-Z teams
Porsche will have a continued presence in the Eneos Super Taikyu Series’ ST-Z (GT4) class in 2024 as Birth Racing Project (BRP) and Porsche Team EBI announced their 2024 programmes, each featuring the newest Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport models.
Birth Racing Project will have former Hitotsuyama Racing driver Yuki Fujii splitting “A” Driver duties with BRP’s tenured amateur driver Kenji Suzuki.
They’ll share the car with the aforementioned Suehiro – who now has two GT4 gigs this season – and two newcomers: Reigning TCR Japan Series undisputed champion Anna Inotsume, and 26-year-old Kazuya Oshima from Neyagawa, Osaka – a two-time ST-3 Class Champion.
Porsche Team EBI will welcome back Porsche brand ambassador Shota Kitazono as its full-time “A” driver alongside team owner Naoya Yamano.
New to the team are Rintaro Kubo, the 2020 ST-4 Class champion and 2020 Toyota 86/BRZ Professional Series champion; and Yugo Iwasawa, who drove for Yogibo Racing in SUPER GT last season. Katsumasa Chiyo left the team after five seasons to focus exclusively on his SUPER GT duties at Nissan and NISMO.
Feature image © GTA
