TOM’S: No Concerns for Finale After Double Autopolis DNF

TOM’S SUPER GT team boss Jun Yamada has expressed confidence that the engine cooling troubles that caused the Toyota flagship team to retire both cars at Autopolis won’t have any impact on its title chances in this weekend’s Motegi finale.

Neither of the TOM’S Toyota GR Supras made the finish in the penultimate round of the season amid apparent overheating issues, as both the No. 1 and No. 37 machines made unscheduled stops to have debris cleared from their front grilles before the decision was made to retire the cars to preserve their engines.

It followed a strong start for the team, as Ukyo Sasahara led in the No. 37 car immediately prior to the first round of mandatory pit stops, with both TOM’S machines running third and fourth in the middle stint before appearing to lose performance suddenly early in the third stint of the three-hour race.

Despite failing to score at Autopolis, defending champions Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita take a six-point lead over Rookie Racing Toyota drivers Kazuya Oshima and Nirei Fukuzumi into this weekend’s title decider as they bid to secure a fourth GT500 title in the space of five years for TOM’S.

Reflecting on the events of Autopolis, Yamada said he believes the chance of similar issues occurring at Motegi are low due to both the track characteristics and the shorter 300km length of the final race.

“It was an extremely frustrating result at Autopolis, but the car was working well and I think either car could have finished on the podium had they been able to make it to the finish,” Yamada told Sportscar365.

“Regarding the trouble we had,  the conclusion seems to be that the airflow to the engine became blocked. Autopolis is a track where we get a lot of gravel dust, and being a long race, there is more tire debris on the circuit than usual.

“It’s odd that the same problem happen to other cars within the Toyota stable, but both our cars had a lot of close battles with the cars ahead and had to go off line quite a few times. I think this was another reason we had this issue.

“Had the race been two hours I think we would have been ok to make it to the finish. With that in mind, Motegi is a shorter race, and the circuit is not as dusty as Autopolis. So I am thinking positively about the finale.

“The No. 1 car is still at the top of the rankings, while the No. 37 car is also not out of the championship fight, so we’ll go to Motegi with the same mindset as always.”

The retirement of the two TOM’S cars at Autopolis followed a Turn 6 collision between Sasahara and Tsuboi while they were dicing for third, but Yamada said the evidence suggested this contact did not have a significant impact on the final outcome.

“That doesn’t seem to be directly the cause,” he said. “But even so, contact between the two team cars is something that should never happen, so the drivers were warned about that strongly to ensure that it doesn’t happen again in future.”

Following the demise of the two TOM’S cars, Honda scored a surprise podium lockout at Autopolis as Team Kunimitsu pair Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino came through from 12th on the grid to score the team’s first win since 2022.

That has elevated Yamamoto and Makino to third in the standings heading to Motegi, 8.5 points behind Tsuboi and Yamashita with 21 points up for grabs this weekend.

Yamada highlighted both the resurgent Kunimitsu Honda and the Rookie Racing Toyota of Oshima and Fukuzumi as rivals to be wary of at Motegi.

“I have to admit, the No. 100 [Honda] did a great job with an aggressive strategy at Autopolis,” said Yamada. “It was a reminder of what a strong team they are. 

“The No. 14 [Rookie] Toyota has also been in good shape lately, so I hope we can have a clean and fair fight, and I’m sure Toyota feels the same way. Hopefully we can put on a title-deciding race that excites the fans, and we’ll give it our best shot.”