Fenestraz’s Sugo Victory Bid Stymied by Fuel Shortage

Sacha Fenestraz has revealed that Toyota squad SARD’s bid for victory in Sunday’s Sugo SUPER GT round was compromised by a fuel shortage in the latter part of his stint, which he feels cost him a chance to attack the winning Real Racing Honda in the closing laps.

Together with his co-driver in the No. 39 Toyota GR Supra, Yuhi Sekiguchi, Fenestraz scored a first podium of a troubled 2026 campaign in second place, making a memorable charge up the order after Sekiguchi slipped as low as 12th in the first stint.

Fenestraz passed Tadasuke Makino’s Team Kunimitsu Honda HRC Prelude-GT with a bold move at Turn 1 on lap 66 of 84, at which point the Franco-Argentine driver appeared to be in a strong position to close on Koudai Tsukakoshi in the Real Honda.

But that was until Fenestraz had to begin saving fuel on instruction for the team, which he believes took a risk on under-fuelling the car, allowing Makino to come back in the fight for second.

“The reality is that we made the wrong choice on the tires from the beginning of the weekend,” Fenestraz said post-race. “It was good in free practice, but we had only set of that tire. In qualifying we struggled a lot and then Yuhi had to start with that tire.

“When Yuhi pitted we were able to come back to the tire that we used in free practice, and the performance was very strong all the way. We took advantage of that, but unfortunately with 17, 18 laps to go the team became very worried about the fuel level for the rest of the race. I had to back off and be careful.

“I think we could have challenged for the win without this issue. It’s difficult to say we would have definitely won, but the pace was very strong and we were only 4.2 seconds away from the top and I was fuel-saving like crazy.

“I think at least I would have been there to challenge in the last five or six laps.”

Fenestraz and Sekiguchi have moved up to fifth in the standings, second best of the Toyota teams behind the table-topping No. 36 TOM’S car of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita, with three races to go.

Their podium follows a Suzuka race in which they failed to finish due to a stuck wheel nut that forced the car into the garage during its mandatory pit stop.

Asked about the significance of the result, Fenestraz replied: “We have made quite a few wrong choices this year. Qualifying performance has been terrible this year. We made it to Q2 this weekend, but only because other cars are heavier than us.

“It’s good for the motivation and the whole team after a tough season. This result is definitely helpful for that.

“Honestly I was not expecting this comeback. My mind was already in Autopolis, I was thinking it would be a good chance because we will be light and it’s a track where the weight makes a big difference. But actually we’ll be pretty heavy now!”

“Today was a special set of circumstances. I wouldn’t say we got lucky, because we did a very good job, but we still have to maximize everything to get the win. With SARD there is always some little issue, and today could have been the chance without the fuel thing.

“I think it will be hard to win a race for the rest of the year, but hopefully I am wrong.”