Fukuzumi Breaks Lap Record, Leads All-Toyota Front Row

Photo: SUPER GT

Rookie Racing’s Nirei Fukuzumi scored the first pole of the new SUPER GT season at Okayama International Circuit, beating fellow Toyota driver Sho Tsuboi and establishing a new lap record in the process.

Defending champion Tsuboi looked to be the favorite for pole heading into Q2, having topped practice earlier in the day and his teammate in the No. 1 TOM’S Toyota GR Supra, Kenta Yamashita, setting the pace in Q1.

Tsuboi was the first to break the old lap record, set by Ronnie Quintarelli back in 2019, in the pole shootout, as he set a time of 1:16.546.

But Fukuzumi was able to snatch pole away from TOM’S with a best lap of 1:16.441 at the wheel of the No. 14 Toyota he shares with Kazuya Oshima.

Third was the best of the Nissan Z NISMOs, the Kondo Racing car in which Tsugio Matsuda managed to get within two tenths of the pace as the Yokohama tires came into their own in the mild, cloudy conditions.

Honda’s top runner was the Team Kunimitsu Civic Type R-GT of Tadasuke Makino in fourth, ahead of the other Yokohama-shod GT500 car, the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota in which Yuji Kunimoto was at the wheel for Q2.

Toshiki Oyu made it four Toyotas in the top six aboard the Cerumo GR Supra.

All four Nissans made it out of Q1, but the three Bridgestone cars struggled, with Katsumasa Chiyo only able to manage seventh aboard the No. 23 NISMO car ahead of the only other Honda to advance, the No. 16 ARTA car of Ren Sato.

Completing the top 10 were Bertrand Baguette in the Team Impul Nissan and GT500 returnee Daiki Sasaki in the second of the NISMO-run cars, the No. 3.

The No. 37 TOM’S Toyota of Ukyo Sasahara could only manage 14th in Q1, while the SARD Toyota was slowest of all in the hands of Yuhi Sekiguchi.

In GT300, Goodsmile Racing scored its first pole since 2023 courtesy of Tatsuya Kataoka with a best time of 1:24.420 at the wheel of the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that he shares with fellow veteran Nobuteru Taniguchi.

Kataoka’s time was just over a tenth up on the D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Tomonobu Fujii, whose teammate Charlie Fagg suffered a scare in Q1 as the bonnet threatened to work its way loose.

Subaru’s revamped BRZ challenger was third in the hands of lap record holder Hideki Yamauchi, whose 2022 benchmark remains in tact, followed by the LEON Racing Mercedes of Naoya Gamou and Roberto Merhi’s Velorex Ferrari 296 GT3.

New teams CarGuy MKS Racing and Seven x Seven Racing both made it out of Q1 in their first SUPER GT appearances, despite a scare for Zak O’Sullivan driving for the former team, and will line up 11th and 13th respectively for Sunday’s race.

SUPER GT’s 300km Okayama season opener is due to begin at 1:10 p.m. local time (12:10 a.m. EDT), with rain forecast for the start of the race.