Fuji 500km Entry List Published
The GT Association (GTA) has published the entry list for the second round of the 2021 Autobacs Super GT Series, the Takanoko Hotel Fuji GT 500km Race – scheduled to take place during its traditional date in Japan’s Golden Week holiday period on Tuesday, 4 May.
As the only race with a scheduled distance longer than 300 kilometres on this year’s calendar, five teams across the 44-car grid have registered three drivers for the Fuji 500km. That includes defending GT500 Champions Team Kunimitsu, who are expected to welcome back reigning co-champion driver Tadasuke Makino as a third driver alongside Naoki Yamamoto and Hideki Mutoh in the #1 Stanley Honda NSX-GT.
23-year-old Makino has been sidelined from racing in Super GT and Super Formula since early December when he was admitted to hospital with meningitis. But he recently signaled his return to action last week, when he took part in a private tyre test for Super GT teams at Suzuka Circuit. As the third driver, Makino is not bound to any minimum driving time – meaning that if he still feels unwell enough to drive a stint in the 110-lap race on 4 May, Team Kunimitsu can opt to only run with Yamamoto and Mutoh during the race.
Yamamoto and Mutoh, the latter of whom has been Makino’s substitute since the first pre-season test, finished 7th at Okayama International Circuit to open the season.
Sena Sakaguchi will continue to drive for TGR Team KeePer TOM’s in the #37 KeePer TOM’s Toyota GR Supra. 21-year-old Sakaguchi had a fantastic race at Okayama, qualifying on pole position, and finishing 3rd for his maiden GT500 podium in just his second premier class race.
In the GT300 class, four out of the twenty-nine teams have opted for a three-driver rotation at the Fuji 500km.
The #2 muta Racing Lotus Evora MC will feature their third driver, Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) Kazuto Kotaka, alongside the full-time duo of Hiroki Katoh and Ryohei Sakaguchi.
Kotaka drove full-time for Advics muta Racing INGING last season – at the wheel of their previous Toyota MC86, Kotaka scored two pole positions and a podium finish across the four races held at Fuji last season. This year Kotaka was expected to forgo Super GT to focus on a Super Formula Lights title challenge, but has now been pushed up to Super Formula proper as Kamui Kobayashi’s replacement at KCMG.
Fresh off a Super Taikyu overall victory at Sugo, 25-year-old Yuta Kamimura will make his Super GT debut in the #30 Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV GT for apr Racing, joining the pro-am crew of Hiroaki Nagai and two-time GT300 Champion Manabu Orido. Kamimura is a four-time championship runner-up in the Porsche Carrera Cup Japan – he won the season-opening race at Okayama, a support event for Super GT in the first weekend.
Ryosei Yamashita, one of the few true young amateur drivers in sports car racing, will make his return with R’Qs Motor Sports in the #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Hisashi Wada and Masaki Jyonai. This marks the 29-year-old’s return to racing for the first time since declaring a sabbatical following the September race at Twin Ring Motegi.
Tomei Sports will also use all three of their drivers in the #360 RunUp Rivaux Nissan GT-R GT3 – pro driver and 2001 GT300 Champion Takayuki Aoki will join gentleman drivers Atsushi Tanaka and rookie Yudai Uchida. This will be Tanaka’s first race of the season, having sat out at Okayama in place of the debuting Uchida.
Rookies Hibiki Taira and Giuliano Alesi will be in action once again aboard their Lexus RC F GT3s – Taira continues to fill in for GT500-bound Sena Sakaguchi at K-Tunes Racing, while Alesi is expected to drive the full season at arto Ping An Team Thailand.
NILZZ Racing will revert to the all-am lineup of Yuki Tanaka and the returning Taiyou Iida in the #48 Shokumou/K’s Frontier GT-R.
Images courtesy of the GT Association (GTA)
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