Honda Veteran Izawa Calls Time on GT500 Career

Honda driver Takuya Izawa has announced he will call time on his tenure in SUPER GT’s top GT500 class at the end of the current season.

The 41-year-old published a statement on social media on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s fifth round of the season at Suzuka confirming the decision, bringing down the curtain on a spell at the top level of Japanese competition dating back to 2008.

“I’ve decided that this season will be my last in the GT500 class,” Izawa wrote.

“As my four-wheel racing career began at the Suzuka Racing School, and I made my SUPER GT debut in the Suzuka 1000km in 2007, I wanted to make this announcement before my final outing at Suzuka.

“I am truly grateful to all the fans who have supported me, to all the team staff I have worked with, and to all the good friends I have fought alongside until now.

“I am proud to have represented Honda and HRC in the GT500 class for such a long time.

“I will do my best in these final four races to aim for victory together with the team [Nakajima Racing] and [tire supplier] Dunlop.

“Finally, I’m really glad that I could race with [Satoru] Nakajima-san!”

Izawa made his full-time GT500 debut for Honda in 2008, replacing Daisuke Ito alongside Ralph Firman at the defending champion ARTA team, with the pair finishing runner-up in the standings the following season with two victories.

He then moved to Team Kunimitsu, where he would spend four seasons before an unexpected move to contest the GP2 Series in Europe in 2014, and rejoined the team for a further three seasons upon his return to Japan in 2015.

Two more seasons with ARTA in 2018-19 would follow, with his seventh and most recent GT500 win coming at Okayama in 2019 alongside Tomoki Nojiri.

Izawa switched to Nakajima Racing in 2020, and has remained there since, and currently partners Riki Okusa in the squad’s Dunlop-shod Honda Civic Type R-GT.

Outside of SUPER GT, Izawa is also a race winner in Super Formula and also made a one-off appearance in the World Touring Car Championship at Suzuka in 2013.

Izawa’s decision to step down from GT500 at the end of the year follows a similar announcement from Toyota driver Hiroaki Ishiura, which was made last month prior to the most recent SUPER GT round at Fuji Speedway.

Like Ishiura, Izawa did not specify he will be retiring from competition completely, keeping open the possibility of continuing as a driver in other categories.