Makino Excited For First GT3 Race Since 2019 at Suzuka

Honda factory driver Tadasuke Makino says he is excited by the prospect of vying for overall victory in next month’s Suzuka 1000km as he prepares to make his first GT3 race appearance in seven years as part of the PONOS Racing Ferrari team.

Makino will share the No. 45 PONOS Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo with fellow SUPER GT regulars Seita Nonaka and Takuro Shinohara as part of the Prancing Horse’s only Pro class effort for the Intercontinental GT Challenge fixture on Sept. 11-13.

The 29-year-old, who races a Honda HRC Prelude-GT in SUPER GT’s top GT500 class and also represents the brand in Super Formula, has two previous starts in the Suzuka 1000km/10 Hours to his name, the last of which came in 2019 when he raced for Team UpGarage in a Honda NSX GT3 Evo, finishing 14th.

That remains Makino’s last race in a GT3 car, but his work with PONOS in the SRO Japan Cup as an advisor to Am pairing Yorikatsu Tsujiko and Yusuke Yamasaki, who were originally slated to race, opened the door to a return to the discipline.

“Since the start of this season I have been working as an advisor to PONOS in Japan Cup, so that’s how it came about,” Makino told reporters. “I’ve already driven the Ferrari a few times this year in paid practice sessions in Japan Cup.

“GT3 is very different to what I am used to, so I’m still in the trial-and-error stage with my driving, and I am also working on helping them improve the set-up.

“It was all decided upon fairly suddenly. At first I thought it would be in Pro-Am, but in the end it turned out to be all-Pro, and we are all drivers who either won or took pole in the most recent SUPER GT round at Fuji, so all three of us are in good form.

“I’m looking forward to it a lot. I don’t have much experience in GT3 cars, but I watch a lot of that type of racing, and it looks fun just based on the drivers confirmed.

“There will be a lot of factory drivers from overseas coming, people like Laurin Heinrich and Alessio Picariello [of AO by Absolute], who are fast.

“It’s a race with a festival-type feel, and hopefully we can make it even more exciting.”

Nonaka, who like Makino is coming off a win in the most recent SUPER GT race at Fuji, will be tackling the Suzuka 1000km for the first time in a car that is very different to the Toyota GR Supra GT that he normally races for the Saitama Green Brave squad.

The GT300 points leader is hoping that his Pirelli tire knowledge gained from contesting the Japan Cup with the TOM’S-run Toyota Gazoo Racing Indonesia team in Toyota GT4 machinery could be of some help for his GT3 race debut.

“We’ve had a relationship for a few years now,” Nonaka told Sportscar365. “When I raced in Super Formula Lights, PONOS sponsored me, and this year I am working as a driver coach for their Formula Regional Japan team, so that led to the drive.

“The car and the team lineup are extremely strong. All three drivers come from different manufacturers, so we will all be working together directly for the first time, but I think there is a lot I can learn from [Makino and Shinohara].

“I have basically no experience of GT3 cars, and although I’ve tested the Ferrari, it will be my first race with it. I’ve also never done the Suzuka 1000km.

“I did two seasons in Japan Cup in GT4, so I have experience of the Pirelli tire, so I am hoping I can at least make use of that. But there is a lot for me to learn.”