PONOS Racing, a regular competitor in the Autobacs SUPER GT Series and SRO Japan Cup, has announced its entry into the 50th Suzuka 1000km on 11–13 September with a Pro class Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
2020 SUPER GT GT500 Champion and Honda works driver Tadasuke Makino will headline the #45 Ferrari’s line-up, alongside regular PONOS Racing GT300 driver Takuro Shinohara and Seita Nonaka, the most recent GT300 class winner earlier this month at Fuji.
PONOS Racing has also struck a technical alliance with established Japanese super-privateer team D’station Racing for its bid to win the Suzuka 1000km. Both organisations boast experience competing in SUPER GT, SRO Japan Cup, and various ACO-managed endurance series.
“Last year, PONOS Racing took on the Suzuka 1000km for the first time, and we gained valuable lessons along with a real sense of progress,” said PONOS Racing team owner Yorikatsu Tsujiko, who drove in last year’s revival of the race. “Building on that experience, this year we’re welcoming three outstanding, top-tier drivers from Japan – Makino, Nonaka, and Shinohara – and the entire team is moving forward with thorough, race-ready preparations.
“In addition, with the support of D’station Racing, we’ve put a structure in place to back up vehicle operations and race engineering. It’s a demanding race with elite competitors from around the world, but we’re not just aiming for a strong finish – we’re seriously setting our sights on the win beyond that.”
Tsujiko shared the #45 Ferrari last year with Kei Cozzolino and Yusuke Yamasaki, competing for Pro-Am Cup honours. Plans were announced in February for the same trio to return, but in May, Cozzolino and the team parted ways amidst a disappointing start to its 2026 season in GT300.
Last weekend at the SUPER GT Fuji 300km, all three drivers of the #45 Ferrari played a significant part in the final outcome.
Makino, making his third Suzuka 1000km start this year, won the race in GT500 for Stanley Team Kunimitsu. He made his sports car racing debut at this event ten years ago, driving Cars Tokai Dream28’s Lotus Evora MC (Mother Chassis). The 29-year-old driver also boasts a feature race victory in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and several wins in the Super Formula Championship.
Nonaka, likewise, won in GT300, scoring his first official victory in SUPER GT. A graduate of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) academy, Nonaka is the reigning Japan Cup GT4 champion, the 2021 FIA F4 Japanese Champion, and finished third in the 2024 Super Formula Lights standings. He has driven in Super Formula, spending the first half of 2026 with KCMG.
And while Nonaka ultimately defeated Shinohara and PONOS Racing in GT300 last weekend, a pole position and fourth-place finish still constituted the team’s best finish of 2026. Shinohara joined PONOS Racing last season after finishing as the 2024 GT300 championship runner-up; previously, he has won titles in the Super Taikyu Series and the defunct TCR Japan Championship.
Nonaka and Shinohara will make their first Suzuka 1000km starts this year.
The #45 PONOS Racing crew has been nominated to score IGTC Manufacturers’ Championship points for Ferrari, which sits fourth in the standings ahead of Ford and Chevrolet. Ferrari has never taken an overall win at the Suzuka 1000km, but has finished as high as second in 1996, and third in 1995.
Feature image © SRO Motorsports Group
