Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced its GT300 programmes for the upcoming 2025 Autobacs SUPER GT Series, featuring nine cars out of an expected 27-car field in GT300.
Toyota will support two GR Supra GT300s, three GR86 GT300s, and two Lexus LC 500s built according to the GTA-GT300 regulations, plus two Lexus RC F GT3s.
LM corsa will field a second Lexus LC 500 in GT300, changing from their previous Toyota GR Supra which had raced from 2021-2024. However, unlike the original variant of this car built and developed by apr, LM corsa’s LC 500h will not have a hybrid component.
All other components remain the same from previous years, with Dunlop tyres and the driver pairing of Hiroki Yoshimoto and Shunsuke Kohno returning for the 2025 season.
The #31 apr Lexus LC 500h GT will have a new driver line-up featuring former Hertz Team JOTA WEC driver Oliver Rasmussen and Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) academy member Miki Koyama. For Rasmussen, it locks in a full-time commitment to Japanese motorsport following the news of his appointment to a seat at Team Impul in Super Formula.
For Koyama, it’s a promotion to a full-time GT300 seat after impressing in part-time stints at Arnage Racing and R’Qs Motor Sports, a successful run with apr in the Super Taikyu Series – where she became the first woman to score an overall win in the series since 1993 – and some other impressive feats abroad in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia and Toyota GR Cup North America.
Yuki Nemoto will continue as the third driver of the #31 apr LC 500h.
Hiroaki Nagai and two-time GT300 Champion Manabu Orido will run the full season in the #30 apr Toyota GR86 GT300. However this year the #30 team will switch from Yokohama to Michelin tyres.
Then there’s the new-look Anest Iwata Racing, which has formed its own stand-alone racing unit after partnering with Arnage Racing for the past two years.
The team will retain its previous Lexus RC F GT3, and Gran Turismo World Series champion Igor Fraga will continue to lead the team – having also been signed by Nakajima Racing to drive a Honda-engined Super Formula car!
Alongside Fraga, 2008 GT300 Champion and longtime ex-Nissan works driver Hironobu Yasuda will make a welcomed return to SUPER GT, driving the #26 Anest Iwata Racing RC F GT3. Yasuda spent last year primarily racing in the Super Taikyu Series for Techno First Racing Team, alongside a cast of young drivers managed by Yasuda’s Hirotex company.
At INGING Motorsport, the primary pairing of Yuui Tsutsumi and Hibiki Taira remains together in the #2 Toyota GR86 with Bridgestone tyres. They’ll be joined at select events by Kazuhisa Urabe, TGR-DC alumni, Japanese F4 race winner – and the son of INGING founder Haruhisa Urabe.
Car wash equipment manufacturer Hyper Water has also become the new title sponsor of “Hyper Water Racing INGING” starting in 2025, upping their commitment from an associate partner in 2024.
Urabe’s TGR-DC team-mate from last season, Yuki Sano, will also get his first GT300 opportunities as the third driver at SHADE Racing, where he joins incumbents Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Eijiro Shimizu in the #20 SHADE GR86. Sano will also step up to Super Formula Lights as a team-mate to fellow series newcomer Esteban Masson.
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya will continue with its home-built #25 Toyota GR Supra, as Kimiya Sato returns to a full-time role alongside 2016 GT300 Champion Takamitsu Matsui.
And at Saitama Green Brave, 2023 GT300 Champion Hiroki Yoshida and TGR-DC top prospect Seita Nonaka return, while Rikuto Kobayashi – another real-world/sim racing crossover star and TGR-DC prospect – will join as the third driver of the #52 Toyota GR Supra. Kobayashi raced full-time for apr last season and was the runner-up in Super Formula Lights.
K-tunes Racing has made no changes – at least on the SUPER GT side – as three-time GT300 Champion Morio Nitta and two-time GT300 Champion Shinichi Takagi return to drive the #96 Lexus RC F GT3.
Nitta and Takagi will race together for a 16th season, forming the most successful and experienced driver line-up in the series.
Images © GTA, Toyota Gazoo Racing
