Fagg Eyes GT500 Test Chance After Solo D’station Win

D’station Racing’s Charlie Fagg has outlined ambitions of testing a GT500 car after earning victory in a rare chance to drive solo in last weekend’s Fuji SUPER GT sprint.

Fagg came through from fourth on the grid to win Saturday’s opening leg of the fourth round of the season aboard the No. 777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, before co-driver Tomonobu Fujii took a dominant win from pole on Sunday.

It marks the British driver’s second victory in GT300 after he and Fujii won last year at Suzuka in what was Fagg’s second-ever outing in SUPER GT.

Fagg said he hoped his performance on Saturday, as he held the battling Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos of Tatsuya Kataoka and Naoya Gamou off to secure the win in the closing stages, would help get him on the radar for a chance in the top class.

“It is cool, because as GT drivers, you never really get the chance to drive solo,” Fagg told Sportscar365. “That was nice from a personal standpoint.

“The last time I raced solo was in an old touring car at Anglesey in 2017, and I finished second then, so I think this was my first-ever win as a solo driver!

“It’s hard as a non-Japanese speaker to try and show myself, but you just have to keep trying to put the car on pole and win races and hopefully somebody will notice you.

“Let’s see if I can continue it and keep the momentum going.”

Asked specifically about an opportunity to step up to GT500, Fagg added: “I would love to at least get a test in one in the near future.

“It would be amazing just to feel the grip they have because they make us look like we are standing still! That would be cool, even just to drive it once.”

Fagg is in his second season of SUPER GT with D’station, having been brought in last year when Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorensen was forced to drop out due to the high number of clashes with the FIA World Endurance Championship.

He previously drove in the WEC with D’station in 2022 in the GTE-Am class, before spending a season racing McLaren GT3 machinery for Optimum Motorsport in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and International GT Open in 2023.

“I’m enjoying it a lot in SUPER GT, and I would love to continue with these guys at D’station,” Fagg added. “It’s a great place to race and work. I love racing in Japan, the fans are great, the cars are awesome and the racing is super-fair and honest.

“We’ll see. Whether it’s this or GT500, I’d love to have a long career out here.”

D’station’s double victory at Fuji means that Fujii and Fagg are now up to second in the GT300 title standings behind LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG pair Gamou and Togo Suganami, who both finished third in their respective races.

The gap stands at only 4.5 points with four races to go, although Fagg believes that the upcoming circuits may be more favorable towards the Bridegstone-shod LEON car over the D’station Aston that uses Dunlop rubber.

“I think it will be tough if I’m being completely honest,” admitted Fagg. “The LEON car with the Bridgestone tire is so consistent over a stint, in both my race and on Sunday, in the last 10 or 15 minutes they looked really strong.

“I think Suzuka should be ok for us, but then the last three rounds [Sugo, Autopolis and Motegi], we historically haven’t been as strong there. They are more suited to the JAF [GTA-GT300] cars and the LEON car seems to be more on a par with them.

“I like to think that myself and Fujii-san are one of the best lineups on average, so we’ll give it a go and try to stay in the fight until the end.”