Honda Vows to Pile Pressure on TOM’S as Title Race Tightens

Honda has vowed to keep up the pressure on TOM’S and Toyota after its hopes of a first-year SUPER GT title were given a significant boost by a fourth victory in a row for the HRC Prelude-GT in last weekend’s Autopolis round.

Team Kunimitsu pair Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino recorded their second triumph of the 2026 campaign to close the gap to championship-leading TOM’S pair Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita with just next month’s Motegi double-header to go.

It has given both the team and Honda a strong opportunity to claim a first GT500 title since 2020, as for the past two seasons with the Civic Type R-GT Yamamoto and Makino have gone into the finale with only the faintest chance to catch Tsuboi and Yamashita.

Speaking to reporters post-race at Autopolis, Honda’s GT500 project leader Tomohiro Onishi acknowledged that Team Kunimitsu will need a flawless weekend to get the job done, pointing out its other squads all had difficult races at the Kyushu track.

The next-best Honda at the finish was the No. 8 ARTA car of Kaku Ohta and Hiroki Otsu in sixth, while the sister No. 16 car had its undercut strategy ruined by the safety car and the Real Racing machine stopped on the final lap with an engine issue.

“The ideal scenario would have been if we had several Preludes at the head of the field lapping faster than the cars of our competitors,” Onishi told reporters.

“But this time, the car that was in the best shape managed to get the win, but the others were not able to follow behind. In fact, some of our rivals at one point were able to get very close to the leading car, which made me think, ‘oh no, not this again’.

“In the remaining two races, there’s no way to make our car dramatically faster, so we have to focus on extracting the performance we have now. If we avoid making any mistakes or suffering any time losses, we can have this kind of battle like we saw here.

“For the last two years, the [No. 100] Civic was able to finish the year second in the rankings, but the gap to the lead car was a lot wider. We haven’t headed to the final weekend being this close to the top for some time.

“So everyone in the team needs to prepare to make the most of this chance.”

Unlike Autopolis, which uses a three-hour endurance format, the two Motegi races will be run over 250km only, reducing strategic options, while the Tochigi Prefecture venue is also renowned for being hard to pass around.

Onishi emphasized that getting most of its five Preludes towards the front of the grid will be crucial to its hopes.

“If we make the most of the car’s strengths, I think we can fight at Motegi on a level playing field as well,” said Onishi. “If one car is in particularly good shape, it’s entirely possible they can win both races, so we’ll do all we can to make sure it’s a Prelude.

“We need to avoid careless errors in qualifying and occupy the front of the grid.

“While it’s unlikely we will be able to win the title with any car besides the No. 100 unless the No. 36 doesn’t score, it’s important to put pressure on the No. 36.”

Kunimitsu Drivers With “Nothing to Lose” After Strategic Triumph

Yamamoto and Makino were able to get the upper hand at Autopolis thanks to a long first stint for Yamamoto, as the second of two safety car periods eradicated the time loss of its first mandatory pit stop and enabled a very quick second stop.

Makino was then able to undercut his way to the head of the field and resisted pressure from several rivals, including the TOM’S Toyota GR Supra of Tsuboi — who later dropped to eighth with a drive-through penalty — to hang on to the win.

Yamamoto, who is gunning for a third GT500 title to go after winning alongside Jenson Button in 2018 and then again with Makino in 2020, said his motivation has been boosted by drawing so close to the No. 36 TOM’S crew in the points.

“Our rivals are strong, and at Motegi qualifying is extremely important, so I want to focus on setting up the car to perform in qualifying and give it everything,” he said.

“The opening two races were tough, but since we won at Fuji the Preludes have always shown strongly. We’ve been able to seize that chance and come this far, although the engine failure [that triggered a penalty] at Suzuka, was painful in that regard.

“Things like this happen in racing, and we are still in the role of pursuer going into the final two races. We’ve nothing to lose, and the No. 36 car is in our sights, so my desire to win the title with the team in the Prelude’s first year is now stronger than ever.”