TOM’S Brushes Off Handicap for Fuji Golden Week Victory

TOM’S Toyota pair Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita brushed off their 40 kg success handicap to make it back-to-back wins to start the SUPER GT season, defeating the pole-sitting Rookie Racing car in the Golden Week fixture at Fuji on Monday.

From second on the grid, Tsuboi and Yamashita outduelled their Toyota GR Supra stablemates Nirei Fukuzumi and Kazuya Oshima over the course of a three-hour contest that was interrupted by just a single full-course yellow period.

Completing the podium behind the two lead Toyotas was the works No. 23 Nissan Z NISMO of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi.

Rookie’s Fukuzumi led the way from pole in the opening stint from Yamashita, quickly opening up a five-second buffer over the TOM’S car, while Takaboshi kept the Cerumo Toyota of GT500 rookie Rikuto Kobayashi bottled up in the early phases.

The order at the head of the field remained static until Kobayashi made contact with Takaboshi at the final corner on lap 14 of an eventual 115, which tipped Takaboshi into a spin and earned the Cerumo squad a drive-through penalty.

By the time he stopped to make way for Oshima on lap 40, Fukuzumi had stretched a 20-second advantage over Yamashita, who pitted on the same lap to hand over to Tsuboi.

During the second stint, Tsuboi steadily closed the gap to Oshima, with the gap down to 13.5 seconds by the halfway point, and reduced it further to around six seconds by the time the crucial second and final pit stop phase began.

Tsuboi took the initiative by pitting on lap 76, staying on board the No. 36 car, while Oshima handed back to Fukuzumi on lap 78, but the undercut effect and a faster stop for TOM’S put Tsuboi in position to attack as Fukuzumi exited the pits.

The critical pass arrived on lap 79 as Tsuboi passed a defenseless Fukuzumi at the fast Turn 4 left-hander, from which point Tsuboi pulled away to the tune of 8.7 seconds to secure his 12th career victory and an 11th for Yamashita.

It leaves Tsuboi and Yamashita 16 points clear at the head of the standings heading into SUPER GT’s enforced three-month break.

NISMO survived Takaboshi’s early spin and a late challenge from the SARD Toyota of Sacha Fenestraz to secure third, Chiyo finishing 41 seconds off the lead.

Despite missing out on the podium by one second, SARD pair Fenestraz and Yuhi Sekiguchi made an impressive comeback from 12th, cycling into the lead during the second pit stop phase and making a short final stop to consolidate their gains.

Cerumo looked to be in a position to salvage a top-five after its earlier drive-through, but front-left bodywork damage eventually forced the car Kobayashi shared with Toshiki Oyu into the pits for repairs, and ultimately into retirement.

That promoted the best of the new Honda HRC Prelude-GTs into fifth, with ARTA pair Ren Sato and Tomoki Nojiri again leading the brand’s charge as Sato held off Atsushi Miyake in the Kondo Racing Nissan Z in an entertaining battle.

Completing the scorers were the Team Impul Nissan — after Bertrand Baguette was nudged wide by Yuto Nomura’s Real Racing Honda at Turn 1 on lap five — the Team Kunimitsu Honda, the Real Honda and the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota.

A strong opening stint from Giuliano Alesi in the No. 37 TOM’S Toyota went to waste when co-driver Ukyo Sasahara stopped on track with a lack of power just after taking over the car, causing the one and only full-course yellow of the race.

Kondo Racing Scores First Victory in Three Years in GT300

In the GT300 class, victory went the way of Joao Paulo de Olivera and Iori Kimura aboard the No. 56 Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, as the pair ended a winless run for the team dating back to the 2023 Fuji Golden Week race.

From sixth on the grid, a strong opening stint for de Oliveira was the foundation for the win as the Brazilian quickly made his way up to fourth in the early laps as the pole-winning Subaru BRZ maintained the advantage in the early stages.

That was until a front-left tire failure for Hideki Yamauchi put Miki Koyama’s apr Lexus LC500h GT into the lead ahead of de Oliveira, who had by this stage picked off the Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Supra GT of Seita Nonaka.

De Oliveira passed Koyama to lead at the final corner on lap 33 and led until pitting on lap 41 to hand over to Kimura, who then made way for de Oliveira for the run to the flag.

Apr cycled through all three drivers as Koyama made way for Charlie Wurz in the middle stint, with Kazuto Kotaka taking over for the conclusion, but fell behind both the Seven x Seven Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and the LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

However, a ten-second penalty assessed to Sven Mueller for early contact with the LM Corsa Lexus dropped the Porsche the German driver shared with Kiyoto Fujinami to fourth, with LEON pair Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami inheriting second and Koyama, Kotaka and debutant Wurz bagging the final spot on the podium.

Completing the top five was the Inging Toyota GR86 GT of Kazuhisa Urabe and Yuui Tsutsumi, recovering from a lowly 17th on the grid.

Kamui Kobayashi’s SUPER GT comeback yielded sixth place in the Rookie Racing Mercedes-AMG he shared with Hiroaki Ishiura, ahead of the Okayama-winning D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg.

Fujii and Fagg maintain the lead of the championship by three points from Koyama and Kotaka, with the respective crews of Inging and LEON a further point back.

Green Brave pair Nonaka and Hiroki Yoshida salvaged ninth after being forced to pit for fuel under full-course yellow, which earned the pair a 60-second stop-and-hold penalty.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat was 24th in the JLOC Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 he shared with Takashi Kogure as the duo suffered two punctures during the race.

Subaru’s pole-sitting BRZ looked on course to salvage a top-ten after its puncture but finally pulled off the road with what the team later stated was a drivetrain problem.

RESULTS: GT500/GT300