Cozzolino: PONOS Yokohama Move “Third Time Lucky”

Kei Cozzolino has said he hopes PONOS Racing switching to Yokohama tires in SUPER GT this year will be “third time lucky” for the team, after it officialized its plans last week.

While PONOS goes into into its third season with an unchanged lineup of Cozzolino and Takuro Shinohara, who replaced Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux on the eve of the 2025 campaign, it has switched from Dunlop to Yokohama tires.

It means it will be running the same tire manufacturer as fellow Ferrari teams Velorex and CarGuy MKS Racing — although it looks set to be the only team of the three to have its 296 GT3 in Evo spec ready in time for the start of the season.

Speaking after GT Entrants’ Association (GTE) testing at Fuji Speedway last Wednesday, where the team’s brand new chassis was shaken down for the first time and was second-fastest, Cozzolino said he was impressed by the new package.

“Now it feels like we are back,” Cozzolino told Sportscar365. “Last time I raced with Yokohama was with the [Pacific Racing] 488 in 2022, and that same feeling is back.

“You can tell the Yokohama works well with the Ferrari. We were struggling to get the tires in the window last year. This year, you can see by the lap times [at Fuji on Wednesday], it’s spot on, and thanks to the Evo it’s even better.

“This test is just a shakedown. We are really just running basic setups. We are not fine-tuning the car yet. But as a first rollout, it has been quite competitive.”

As well as a change in tire brand and an updated car, PONOS has invested in new personnel, signing Kengo Moritou as track engineer from K-tunes Racing and Jun Okada as performance engineer from Anest Iwata Racing.

Additionally, the team has recruited Dario Armellin, who was part of AF Corse’s LMGT3 squad in the FIA World Endurance Championship last year, as technical director.

“We have new people in the team, new cars, new tires,” said Cozzolino. “I also think doing Asian Le Mans in a prototype really helped me to brush up my driving.

“We started two years ago with Michelin, then we switched to Dunlop — I don’t think any other team has changed tire manufacturers as we have!”

“It should be third time lucky! We are so hungry to win this series.”

PONOS Confirms SRO Japan Cup, Suzuka 1000km Plans

As per last year, PONOS will continue to field a car in the SRO Japan Cup alongside its SUPER GT efforts, and has also confirmed plans for a Suzuka 1000km entry.

Cozzolino and team owner Yorikatsu Tsujiko will once again share the No. 45 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in the four-round Japan Cup that kicks off in May at Sportsland Sugo, after finishing second overall in last year’s series with two wins.

For the Suzuka 1000km, Cozzolino, Tsujiko and Yusuke Yamasaki will again share the PONOS car as they did in the Intercontinental GT Challenge fixture last year.