Across three hours at Fuji Speedway, TOM’S turned execution into back-to-back GT500 victories, while GT300 was rewritten by a late tyre failure that handed Kondo Racing a breakthrough win.
In GT500, qualifying highlighted Toyota’s continued pace advantage. Rikuto Kobayashi topped Q1 for the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra, continuing an impressive rookie campaign, before Nirei Fukuzumi secured pole in damp Q2 conditions for the #14 ENEOS X Prime GR Supra with a 1:26.254. The lap extended Fukuzumi’s active-driver GT500 pole record and positioned Toyota for a potential clean sweep.
Race day told a different story. Under dry conditions, Fukuzumi controlled the opening phase and quickly built a buffer at the front, while championship leaders Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita stayed within striking distance in the #36 au TOM’S GR Supra.
The race ultimately turned on pit execution. Despite carrying 40kg of success ballast following their Okayama win, TOM’S delivered a flawless strategy across the stop cycle to emerge ahead once the field settled. From there, Tsuboi and Yamashita managed the gap to secure a second consecutive victory and strengthen their early championship lead. Fukuzumi and Oshima finished second, while Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi completed the podium for Nissan in the #23 Motul Niterra Nissan Z.
Two rounds in, TOM’S have absorbed the ballast penalty and still controlled the championship narrative.
GT300 delivered the weekend’s most dramatic swing. The #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport looked untouchable in qualifying. Takuto Iguchi led Q1 before Hideki Yamauchi rewrote the GT300 record books in Q2 with a 1:34.314, securing his 17th career pole and setting a new benchmark around Fuji.
That pace, however, unraveled in the race. A front-left tyre failure for the Subaru stripped away control and handed the initiative to the chasing pack, triggering a complete reshuffle at the front.
Miki Koyama briefly inherited the lead in the #31 apr Lexus LC500h before João Paulo de Oliveira surged through to take command. After cycling through the stops with teammate Iori Kimura, Kondo Racing maintained control to secure victory from sixth on the grid. The win ended the team’s drought stretching back to Fuji’s 2023 Golden Week round and marked a significant momentum shift heading deeper into the season. The #65 LEON Pyramid Mercedes-AMG finished second, with the apr Lexus rounding out the podium.
One of the weekend’s notable side stories came through Kamui Kobayashi, who made a one-off GT300 return for Rookie Racing in the #32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
Fuji ultimately reinforced two different championship narratives. In GT500, TOM’S have established clear early authority. In GT300, Kondo Racing’s opportunistic victory and Subaru’s misfortune have reopened the fight entirely.
