Japan Notebook, Beginning of February Edition

GT300 and Super Taikyu team announcements have continued to roll in since our last Japan notebook published after Daytona.

Racing constructor apr have already taken the covers off their new Lexus LC500h GT300 machine, the successor to three generations of the Toyota Prius.

This past Friday they also officially confirmed the line-ups for their #30 Toyota GR86 that races in SUPER GT, and their #31 Lexus RC F GT3 that runs in the top class in Super Taikyu.

In the #30 apr GR86, gentleman racer Hiroaki Nagai will once again be partnered alongside two-time GT300 champion Manabu Orido. The team have also signed a pair of auxiliary drivers for long-distance races: Yuta Kamimura, who relieved Nagai in last year’s Suzuka 450km race, and three-time and defending Porsche Carrera Cup Japan (PCCJ) champion Ryo Ogawa.

Orido and Kamimura, along with Hibiki Taira, gave the apr GR86 its first podium finish at Suzuka – in fact, the third-place finish was the best result for apr’s Pro-Am squad since Nagai joined them in 2016. Nagai himself could not take part in that race due to illness.

Ogawa, the son of Toyota racing legend Hitoshi Ogawa, has won championships in Carrera Cup and Formula 3 during his career. But despite previously running the SUPER GT rookie test twice for two different teams, and being an on-air presenter for the series’ digital video content, Ogawa has yet to start a race in the series. That should, hopefully, change later this year.

apr’s Super Taikyu programme will also see Hiroaki Nagai replace his younger brother Hideki in the driver line-up alongside Kazuto Kotaka and Koki Saga, the two full-time drivers of the #31 LC500h in SUPER GT.

On the same day, Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave also announced their programmes for the upcoming SUPER GT and Super Taikyu seasons.

There’s been no change in personnel as Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai will return to drive their #52 Toyota GR Supra in GT300. The 2020 GT300 championship runners-up went winless in 2021, but got back on track with a win in the penultimate round at Autopolis. Kawaai finished fourth in last year’s championship, and Yoshida finished fifth after missing the Fuji Golden Week race due to COVID-19.

Similarly, Yoshida and Kawaai will be joined by the legendary Naoki Hattori – and a fourth driver to be named later – for a full-season campaign in Super Taikyu, but now in a new class with a new vehicle.

After retiring their ST-3 class Toyota Crown RS at the end of 2022, GreenBrave will step up a few classes into the GT4-based ST-Z category, running the Toyota GR Supra GT4. GreenBrave follow reigning ST-TCR champions Team Noah in changing classes with the GT4 Supra this off-season.

On 5 February (2/5) Hoppy Team Tsuchiya (Tsuchiya Engineering) announced their refreshed line-up for the 2023 season.

TGR-DC top prospect Seita Nonaka returns for his second season driving the #25 Hoppy Schatz GR Supra, constructed and developed in-house by Tsuchiya Engineering under the supervision of Takeshi Tsuchiya.

With long-time driver and company employee Takamitsu Matsui on excursion at Team Mach, Tsuchiya have recruited Togo Suganami to join the team full-time from 2023. Suganami first broke into SUPER GT with K2 R&D LEON Racing halfway through the 2019 season, and won a race with them in 2020.

また、HOPPY team TSUCHIYAファンの皆様、宜しくお願い致します
昨日は今年の相方の誠太@nonanonaseita とホッピーでハッピーでした pic.twitter.com/v9PpXin0Xw

— 菅波 冬悟/Togo Suganami (@s_togo_rcd) February 5, 2023

After being replaced by Takuro Shinohara last year, Suganami turned his attention towards a full-time drive in Super Formula Lights. But Suganami did receive the call to replace an ailing Hiroki Yoshida at GreenBrave last May at Fuji Speedway, where he recorded a ninth-place finish in a shortened race.

Hoppy Team Tsuchiya had a difficult year as they tested and developed their new race car, then had to rebuild it after a hard testing accident. Matsui and Nonaka did salvage a tenth-place finish for them at Sugo.

There is another announcement that is awaiting official confirmation but is all but known by now through photos captured in testing: Arnage Racing will switch to the Lexus RC F GT3 this upcoming season in GT300, after selling their Dome-built Toyota 86 MC to Team Mach.

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