B-Max Explains Motivation for Nissan Suzuka 1000km Entry

B-Max Racing says its decision to enter the Suzuka 1000km under the ‘Team Handwork Challenge’ banner stems from a desire to test itself against international opposition.

Last month, the Ayase, Japan-based team named NISMO SUPER GT stars Daiki Sasaki and Atsushi Miyake as well as Iori Kimura as the drivers for its solo Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 for the Intercontinental GT Challenge event on Sept. 12-14.

B-Max has a long history of racing in SUPER GT with Nissan machinery in both the GT500 and GT300 classes, but the team has focused largely on single-seater racing in recent years, making only sporadic outings in GT3 competition.

This included a one-off outing in last year’s Okayama Super Taikyu round, which marked the first time the team had used the ‘Team Handwork Challenge’ banner.

Explaining the background behind racing at Suzuka, B-Max team owner Ryuji Kumita said he was eager to seize a rare chance to benchmark his team against the mostly international field that is set to take part in the revived IGTC fixture.

Kumita told Sportscar365: “B-Max hasn’t been involved in SUPER GT for the past few years and we’ve been focusing mostly on creating a strong team in Super Formula.

“We’ve always maintained an interest in GT racing, and because we no longer really know where we stack up against other teams competing on the world stage, we wanted to give it another try and see to what extent we can fight.

“Of course, if we compete, we are doing so to fight for top positions. We’ve put together this driver lineup with the aim of challenging for a place on the podium.

“The only thing I’m slightly concerned about is the fact we haven’t really done any testing, and we don’t have experience of the Pirelli tire.

“But I am hoping that the experience of the engineers and of the drivers of racing in Japan will help make up for this, so I still want to set ambitious goals.”

Kumita explained that he wanted to use drivers with links to Nissan, with Sasaki proving to be an obvious choice owing to his long-time association with B-Max, while Kimura was a candidate due to having driven for the team in Super Formula last year.

“Sasaki is somebody we’ve known for a long time; he raced for us in Formula 3 when he was a Nissan junior, and he still works for us a driver coach now,” said Kumita. “He knows the car well from racing in GT300 last year, so he is a kind of team leader for us.

“Miyake is Sasaki’s co-driver in GT500 and is a trusted friend of his, so it was a straightforward choice to have him in the car as well.”

The Handwork Challenge GT-R was originally slated to take on a full season of Super Taikyu in 2025 after making its debut last year at Okayama, but in the end these plans were shelved in favor of a one-off appearance at Suzuka.

“We wanted to run the full season in Super Taikyu, but were having trouble assembling the crew considering this year’s schedule,” Kumita explained. “There weren’t enough staff members with the flexibility to take on an extra category.

“But we still wanted to participate at Suzuka, so we decided just to focus on that.”

B-Max uses Honda engines in Super Formula, and despite its past connection with Nissan, Kumita was keen to stress that entering the Suzuka 1000km with the GT-R does not signify the beginning of a new partnership with the brand.

“Generally speaking, we are a Honda-aligned team, and originally we actually wanted to participate with a Honda NSX, but there was no car available,” he said.

“We wanted to use a domestic manufacturer and Nissan was willing to support us, plus the GT-R’s Balance of Performance doesn’t seem to be too bad.

“GT3 racing is customer racing, and it isn’t really about the manufacturer so much. It just so happens we’re using the GT-R this time, but it doesn’t go further than that.”