Velorex, CarGuy Ferrari Teams Still Waiting on Evo Upgrades

Ferrari SUPER GT outfits Velorex and CarGuy MKS Racing are both still awaiting the arrival of the necessary parts to upgrade their 296 GT3s to Evo spec, with Velorex admitting its upgrade is unlikely to come before the new season begins.

So far, PONOS Racing is the only one of the three Ferrari GT300 teams in the Japanese series having received the upgrade, owing to the fact it elected to purchase an all-new car, while both Velorex and CarGuy MKS are still awaiting theirs.

The No. 6 Velorex and No. 7 CarGuy MKS Ferraris have both taken part in private testing this winter with their cars in old spec, and both will remain that way heading into this week’s first official pre-season test at Okayama International Circuit.

However, the Team LeMans-run Velorex operation is currently not expecting to be able to race with the upgrade when the season kicks off at Okayama in April.

Ex-Mugen team director Nagataka Tezuka, who has joined the team as an advisor this season, told Sportscar365: “We are still awaiting on the arrival of all the parts.

“For the opening round it looks like it will be difficult. But there’s a chance for Round 2 at Fuji we will be able to introduce it.

“We’ve ordered two sets of parts, and while the first set is likely to come first, we want to have the second set before we introduce the upgrade, so that we have the spares available in case of a crash. We decided we won’t race with only set.

“We don’t even have the first set yet, so it’s difficult to know.”

On the other hand, CarGuy MKS chief engineer Hajime Noma expressed confidence that the second-year team will be ready with the Evo upgrade in time for the first race.

“We are preparing to have the Evo kit ready from the start of free practice at the opening round at Okayama,” Noma told Sportscar365.

“At the moment the plan is to receive the parts from Oreca around the time of the Fuji test. Due to the Gulf crisis it’s not clear yet whether the delivery will be on time, but assuming it isn’t held up too much, we should be on time.”

CarGuy MKS Still Weighing Up Choice of Second Driver

Last month, CarGuy MKS announced that it had settled on Toyota junior Kiyoshi Umegaki as its choice of second driver alongside Zak O’Sullivan in the No. 7 Ferrari, with former Reimei Ito being named as the squad’s third driver.

However, Noma revealed that the team has yet to make a firm decision on which of the duo will partner O’Sullivan in the car for the opening race at Okayama.

Both Umegaki and Ito were among the drivers that the team trialled in an extensive shootout test at Sepang in Malaysia in January to inform its driver selection amid Rikuto Kobayashi, O’Sullivan’s 2025 co-driver, stepping up to GT500 with Toyota.

“At the moment, we haven’t made a decision on whether Umegaki or Ito will be the ‘B driver’,” explained Noma. “Umegaki has been registered as the ‘B driver’, but currently we are thinking about having a system where either can race.

“Of course, it’s Umegaki’s first year in SUPER GT and we need him to get used to the car. By contrast, with Rikuto Kobayashi last year, he already had one year of experience [at apr] and so he wasn’t a total rookie when he came to us.

“For Umegaki, the most logical is for him to begin as the ‘C driver’ and then step up to ‘B driver’ later. Some drivers can adapt to GT cars quickly, others take more time.

“He already had the chance to drive the car a lot at Sepang, and we want to continue to give him chances to gain experience. I don’t think his speed is a problem, but we are taking a long-term view, trying to build up his confidence and his feeling.

“On the other hand, Ito is somebody who, if there was a race tomorrow, we are sure can be quick. We’ll wait and see before we decide.”

Noma added that for the two three-hour events on the SUPER GT calendar, at Fuji and Autopolis, it is likely all three drivers will take turns driving in the race.