Super GT - Round 1 - Toyota's Podium lockout in Okayama

The opening round of the 2025 Super GT Series provided close battles in changeable conditions, as the defending champions #1 Team Au TOM'S took a commanding victory in GT500, while the #65 LEON Mercedes won in GT300 after late race contact.

QUALIFYING

GT300 Q1 Group A

Takashi Kobayashi in the #18 Team UpGarage Mercedes set the early benchmark with a 1:26.562, while debutant Zak O'Sullivan in the #7 CarGuy MKS Racing had a snap out of Mike Knight corner as the British driver nearly lost the car with two wheels on the grass but managed to gather it up and went fastest. Yoshiaki Katayama set the fastest lap of the session at the dying moment and put his #6 Velorex Ferrari 296 GT3 on top. Surprise for last season’s Okayama winner, with the #2 Hyper Water Racing Inging Toyota GR86 as Hibiki Taira’s time was only good enough for eleventh, therefore eliminated along with the #30 apr Toyota, #48 Nilzz Nissan GTR and the #87 JLOC Huracan.

GT300 Q1 Group B

Seita Nonaka in the #52 Saitama Green Brave Supra set the early pace with a 1:25.419, while a problem for the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage saw the bonnet pin detach from the car, but Charlie Fagg managed to set the fourth fastest time of the session. With thirty seconds left, Ryuichiro Tomita in the #11 GAINER Z Nissan went ninth fastest and just managed to escape the elimination zone by seventy-five-hundredths. Meanwhile, Togo Suganami in the #65 LEON Mercedes-AMG GT3 went to the top late on with a 1:25.237. #96 K-tunes Racing Lexus just missed out on advancing to qualifying two along with the #22 R’Qs Mercedes, #25 Hoppy Team Supra, #26 Anest Iwata Racing Lexus and the #360 Tomei Sports GTR.

GT500 Q1

Kenta Yamashita in the #1 Team au TOM’S Toyota Supra set the fastest lap of the session with a 1:17.157, while a rollercoaster session saw the Nissan teams lack pace in the early part. However, all four Nissans just managed to advance through to qualifying two with late improvements as they locked out seventh to tenth position. Despite setting the fastest time with a minute left on the clock, Kousai Tsukakoshi in the #17 Astemo Real Racing Honda Civic was eliminated along with the #8 ARTA Mugen Honda, #37 Team Deloitte TOM’S Toyota, #39 Team SARD Toyota and #64 Modula Nakajima Honda Civic, with the times incredibly tight with less than eight tenths separating all fifteen GT500 cars.

GT300 Q2

The #61 R&D Sport Subaru BRZ looked strong early on as Hideki Yamauchi set a 1:24.579 and went top of the timing sheet, meanwhile Tomonobu Fujii in the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin surpassed that by forty-three-hundredths. Tatsuya Kataoka in the #4 Goodsmile Racing Mercedes went even faster in the dying minutes with a 1:24.420, and took pole position for the GT300 class. Reigning champion in the #0 JLOC Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Yuya Motojima was only able to set a time good enough for fifteenth position.

GT500 Q2

Sho Tsuboi was undoubtedly the man to beat as the reigning champion unsurprisingly went fastest on his first flying lap with an impressive 1:16.516 in his #1 Team au TOM’S Toyota. Tsugio Matsuda in the #24 Kondo Racing Nissan was one of the first surprises of the session as the two-time champion went second fastest despite the Nissan struggling for the majority of the weekend. However, the biggest surprise was Nirei Fukuzumi in the #14 Team ENEOS ROOKIE Toyota which went faster than Tsuboi and took a surprising pole position in GT500, seeing Toyota lock out the front row, with both cars beating the previous lap record time.

RACE

The race started behind the safety car due to torrential rain conditions, with Yuki Nemoto in the #31 apr Lexus spinning  under safety car conditions, but managed to continue, but was awarded a drive-through penalty for this. The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap four as racing began with Nirei Fukuzumi leading the restart in the #14 Team ENEOS ROOKIE Toyota. However, green flag racing only lasted for a few corners as Hiroaki Ishiura in the #38 Team KeePer Cerumo Toyota spun at the exit of the first corner which collected Ren Sato in the #16 ATRA Honda and Bertrand Baguette in the #12 Team Inpul Nissan. The red flag was deployed as all three cars were forced to retire due to heavy damage.

The race resumed after a thirty minute red flag period, with a safety car restart at the end of lap ten, which saw Katsumasa Chiyo in the #23 NISMO Nissan spin at turn four, but managed to gather it up and continue. At the same time, Sho Tsuboi in the #1 Team au TOM’S Toyota overtook Fukuzumi on the inside of Redman Corner for the overall race lead, while Daiki Sasaki in the #3 NISMO NDDP Nissan went off the road and got stuck in the gravel trap at turn one which caused another safety car period.

Once the safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap eighteen, Tsuboi led away for the restart, but there was drama in the midpack, seeing Riki Okusa in the #64 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda going off at turn one after Ukyo Sasahara in the #37 Team Deloitte TOM’S Toyota moved across the nose of the Honda at the braking zone. The #37 was later given a ten second time penalty for the incident, as Okusa continued after dropping to the back of the GT500 train. Meanwhile in GT300, Tomonobu Fujii in the #777 D’Station Aston Martin led from the pole sitting #4 Goodsmile Racing Mercedes of Tatsuya Kataoka, but Kataoka was the faster of the two at that stage and eventually challenged Fuji with a dive at Piper Corner. Unfortunately, contact between the Aston Martin and Mercedes sent the #777 off-track and facing the wrong way as a full course yellow was deployed to retrieve the stricken Aston Martin. The stewards later deemed Kataoka at fault, and handed the Goodsmile Racing Mercedes a drive-through penalty. 

Togo Suganami in the #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes overtook Takuto Iguchi in the #61 R&D Sport Subaru at turn five for second position in GT300, though in GT500, Sasahara was on a mission as he overtook the #100 Stanley Team Kunimitsu Honda of Tadasuke Makino for third position, having started from fourteenth on the grid. A problem for the #24 Kondo Racing Nissan saw the front brakes catch on fire during their pitstop which ultimately forced the Nissan to retire. In GT300, a strong debut for the #666 Seven X Seven Porsche saw Tsubasa Kondo overtake Yuto Nomura in the #18 Team UpGarage Mercedes for second position with a committed dive on the inside of Revolver Corner as GT300 leader #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes pitted with Suganami handing the car to teammate and reigning GT300 champion Naoya Gamou. 

As the track began the dry up, the GT300 teams that had not pitted opted to change to slick tyres with #4 Goodsmile Mercedes being the first car to do so. Meanwhile in GT500, Mitsunori Takaboshi in the #23 NISMO Nissan overtook Nobuharu Matsushita in the #8 ARTA Honda with a stunning move around the outside of turn one for sixth position as #100 Stanley Team Kunimitsu Honda took the gamble and pitted for slick tyres. A scary moment for Sacha Fenestraz saw the Argentinian make a mistake and went off at Piper Corner, but just missed the barrier and carried on with no visible damage. Meanwhile in GT300, the race leading #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes pitted for the slick tyres, and rejoined in the lead but was overtaken soon after by Takashi Kobayashi in the #18 Team UpGarage Mercedes which pitted for the dry tyres earlier on.

With the #100 Stanley Team Kunimitsu Honda setting some fast lap times, more GT500 teams opted to pit for slick tyres as race leader Kenta Yamashita in the #1 Team au TOM’S Toyota pitted for slick at the end of lap sixty-three. Contact between Nobuharu Matsushita in the #8 ARTA Honda and Sena Sakaguchi in the #19 Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota at Mike Knight Corner while navigating GT300 traffic, but more drama occured seeing the #19 Toyota as Sakaguchi go off-track at Attwood Curve on the next lap and got stuck in the gravel trap which would cause another safety car period.

As the safety car returned to the pits, Yamashita led the restart with just ten laps to go, seeing a battle for the GT300 lead turn into disaster as Naoya Gamou in the #65 Mercedes made contact with Takashi Kobayashi in the #18 Team UpGarage Mercedes at Attwood Curve in an attempt to overtake which sent the UpGarage Mercedes wide and losing several positions. The #65 was later given a five second time penalty for the incident, while Sacha Fenestraz in the #39 Team SARD was on a charge after the restart as he overtook Naoki Yamamoto for sixth position with two laps to go. Disaster struck for Honda as Nobuharu Matsushita in the #8 ARTA Honda and Syun Koide the #17 Astemo Real Racing Honda collided on the final lap while batting for fourth which sent the #17 off into the gravel as Fenestraz benefited and overtook both in the process. It eventually converted into third place for the #37 Team Deloitte TOM’S Toyota, due to their time penalty.

Out front, Kenta Yamashita in the #1 Team au TOM’S Toyota secured victory alongside teammate Sho Tsuboi. Kazuya Oshima in the #14 Team ENEOS ROOKIE Toyota finished second along with pole sitter Nirei Fukuzumi as Toyota locked out the podium. In the GT300 class, Naoya Gamou in the #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes along with teammate Togo Suganami took victory despite the time penalty, while Igor Fraga finished a surprising second in the #26 Anest Iwata Racing Lexus alongside teammate Hironobu Yasuda. The #56 Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R rounded out the podium in third.

FUJI SPEEDWAY AWAITS

Round two of the Super GT Series heads to Fuji Speedway in Oyama from the 3rd - 4th May, seeing the defending champion of the #1 au Team TOM’S Toyota leading the GT500 standings after a dominant result in Okayama, while the #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes leads in GT300 after their victory.

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