TOM’S Pair Tsuboi, Yamashita Clinch Title With Suzuka Pole

TOM’S Toyota pair Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita clinched the SUPER GT title by scoring pole position for this weekend’s delayed finale at Suzuka.

With an 18-point lead over Team Kunimitsu Honda drivers Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino, Tsuboi and Yamashita had the chance to put the championship beyond the reach of their rivals on Saturday with the bonus points on offer in qualifying.

And that’s exactly what they did, as Tsuboi and Yamashita both set the third-fastest times in their respective sessions to record an aggregate lap time of 3:27.008, exactly two tenths clear of the field, and take three bonus points for pole.

With Yamamoto and Makino only fifth on aggregate, it means Tsuboi and Yamashita now have an unassailable lead of 21 points with only 20 on offer in the race.

It marks a third GT500 title for Tsuboi, who joins the ranks of Juichi Wakisaka, Satoshi Motoyama and Yuji Tachikawa as the youngest ever three-time champion at only age 29.

He also follows the footsteps of his former teammate Ritomo Miyata by becoming only the sixth driver in Japanese motorsport history to win both the SUPER GT and Super Formula championships in the same year.

For Yamashita, it’s the second GT500 title after his 2019 crown, which he won alongside Kazuya Oshima at Team LeMans, while it also marks the third title for the Toyota GR Supra – all won by the No. 36 TOM’S outfit since 2021.

The cool December weather, with temperatures of around 14 degrees Celsius, opened the door for a record-shattering qualifying session, with multiple drivers beating Yuji Kunimoto’s old GT500 pole record of 1:44.112 from 2022.

At first it looked like Kakunoshin Ohta would take honors with a 1:43.220, which was enough to put the No. 17 Real Racing Honda Civic Type R-GT on the front row following Koudai Tsukakoshi’s fourth-fastest time in Q2.

But it was Nirei Fukuzumi in the No. 14 Rookie Racing Toyota who beat Ohta in the last second by doing a 1:43.143 – the fastest ever recorded sports car lap at Suzuka Circuit. 

That was enough to put the No. 14 car Fukuzumi shares with Kazuya Oshima third provisionally, but Fukuzumi was handed a five-place grid penalty for impeding Impul Nissan driver Kazuki Hiramine and causing him to spin at the chicane.

Best of the Nissan Zs was the No. 24 Kondo Racing entry, as Teppei Natori surprisingly took top spot in Q1 with a best lap of 1:43.670 despite a spin at Nippo corner (Turn 7).

Tsugio Matsuda’s 1:43.935 in Q2 was good enough to put the Kondo pair fourth, third after the penalty for the Rookie Toyota, ahead of the Kunimitsu Honda and the No. 16 ARTA Honda of Hiroki Otsu and Ren Sato.

Ronnie Quintarelli finished his final SUPER GT qualifying run in 15th after he had to abort his final attempt, although the No. 23 NISMO Z was 11th on aggregrate times after Katsumasa Chiyo took over for Q2.

JLOC Boosts GT300 Title Hopes with Pole

In GT300, a combined effort of 3:50.338 by Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima put the No. 88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on pole position in a major boost to their hopes of overhauling the points-leading LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG.

Kogure set the stage by setting the fastest time in Q1, a 1:55.132, which Motojima followed with the second-fastest time in Q2 to give the pair their second pole position of the season and three vital bonus points.

It means the team’s championship deficit now stands at eight points, as the No. 65 LEON Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Naoya Gamou and Takuro Shinohara only managed to take 10th with a combined time of 3:52.837.

Second-fastest was the Subaru BRZ of Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi with a combined time 0.458 seconds slower than the No. 88 Lamborghini.

Hibiki Taira caused a dramatic moment in Q1 when he lost control of his No. 2 Inging Toyota GR86 GT at Degner Curve, but recovered to set the fourth-fastest time of the session.

Yuui Tsutsumi’s best time of 1:55.326 in Q2 meant the Inging pair qualified third on aggregrate, taking one bonus point and keeping their mathematical championship hopes alive with a 19-point deficit to the LEON crew.

As in GT500, the old lap record in GT300 set by Yuichi Nakayama back in 2018 (1:55.531) was broken by multiple drivers, with Joao Paulo de Oliveira setting a new benchmark with the fastest time in Q2 of 1:55.092.

That puts the No. 56 Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 that de Oliveira shares with Daiki Sasaki fifth on the grid based on aggregate times behind the apr Lexus LC500h of Kazuto Kotaka and Jin Nakamura.

Sunday’s 300km finale is due to begin at 12:40 p.m. local time (Saturday 10:40 p.m. EST).

RESULTS: GT500/GT300