SUPER GT Rd.2 Fuji: 3-hour battle leads to 9th place, back-to-back points finish
The “2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 2 FUJI GT 3Hours RACE,” a Golden Week tradition, was held at Fuji Speedway.
Over the two-day event, 83,600 total spectators attended, in a lively atmosphere typical of the Golden Week holidays.
The race was fought in a 3-hour format (approximately 115 laps), with two mandatory pit stops requiring refueling.
Building on the lessons learned from the opening round at Okayama, the Astemo HRC PRELUDE-GT team focused on further improvements throughout the race weekend.
May 3 (Sun): Qualifying / Weather: Cloudy / Track: Dry
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With rain a potential concern, the qualifying day featured free practice, FCY training, and the *Circuit Safari event.
From the outset, car setup progressed smoothly, with Nomura setting the fastest time during the GT500-exclusive session and raising race expectations within the team.
In official qualifying, Nomura went out with eight minutes remaining in Q1 and managed to advance in 10th place under difficult conditions.
Following a setup change, Tsukakoshi took on Q2, but the team ultimately qualified 9th.
May 4 (Mon): Race / Weather: Sunny / Track: Dry
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The second round of the 2026 season saw a complete turnaround in conditions, with the race being held under sunny skies on a dry track.
Based on the qualifying results, the team revised the car setup and headed into the race.
Nomura started the race and made a clean launch, but was overtaken by the No. 12 car (TRS IMPUL with SDG Z), completing the opening lap in 10th position.
After being passed by the No. 37 car (Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra) on lap 6, traffic started to mix with the lagging GT300 class, making clean laps and overtaking more challenging.
On lap 9, Nomura overtook the No. 100 car (STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT) at Turn 1.
Despite the GT300 traffic, he remained composed—passing the No. 64 car (Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT) on lap 15 and the No. 8 car (ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT) on lap 21.
On lap 27, the No.38 car (KeePer CERUMO GR Supra) dropped back while serving a penalty, allowing Astemo HRC PRELUDE-GT to climb to 7th.
With solid race pace, the team gained further ground as other competitors pitted, moving up to 6th around lap 33.
The team made the first pit stop on lap 40, approximately one hour into the race.
Nomura stayed in the car for the second stint, and the team completed the stop with minimal time loss, heading into the middle phase of the race.
On lap 48, an FCY was deployed due to a slow-moving No.37 car, dropping the team to 9th.
With a three-second gap to the No.12 car ahead, we couldn’t close the distance and the situation remained largely unchanged.
Meanwhile, the No. 100 STANLEY behind gradually closed in, reducing the gap to as little as six seconds.
With about an hour remaining, the team made its second pit stop on lap 73, handing driving duties to Tsukakoshi.
After all pit stops were completed, the team was running 9th at lap 90.
In the final stint, Tsukakoshi targeted the No.100 car ahead and managed to briefly close the gap.
However, with both cars running at similar pace, he was unable to overtake.
Despite challenging tire conditions in the final 30 minutes, Tsukakoshi continued to post consistent lap times in the 31-second range.
Unable to close the gap to the cars ahead, the Astemo HRC PRELUDE-GT took the checkered flag in 9th, finishing the race within the points and securing back-to-back point finishes.
*FCY (Full Course Yellow) Training: A practice session to prepare for safety situations during a race, in which all cars must reduce speed and are prohibited from overtaking.
*Circuit Safari: An experiential event where spectators travel around the track on buses and observe race cars up close as they drive alongside.
■Comments from Team Director and Drivers
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- Team Director: Katsutomo Kaneishi
During Saturday’s free practice, the car showed good balance from the very beginning, allowing us to start the session in a positive condition. In the GT500-exclusive session, Nomura delivered a strong attack lap and finished fastest, which gave us high expectations for qualifying.
We had Nomura handle Q1, but we were unable to get the tires into their optimal performance window. Even so, he did well to fight through and advance in 10th. The car itself was not in bad condition, so we entrusted Tsukakoshi with Q2 after making some fine adjustments. However, we again struggled to properly activate the tires, and although he put together a solid lap, we ended up qualifying 9th.
Nomura started the race, and initially we had planned to run the three-hour distance with a Nomura–Tsukakoshi–Tsukakoshi driver rotation. However, Nomura’s pace in the first stint was strong, so we decided to keep him in the car for the second stint as well.
Later in the race, tire pickup gradually worsened and our pace dropped, which led to the second pit stop on lap 73. Even after switching to Tsukakoshi, the drop in track temperature caused further pickup issues, making it difficult to increase the pace, and we ultimately finished in 9th.
Although the first two rounds have not delivered the results we hoped for, we are determined to bounce back as quickly as possible. We truly appreciate everyone’s continued support.
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- Driver: Koudai Tsukakoshi
We came into Fuji aiming to improve on what we learned at the Okayama opener. From the start, the car felt reasonably good, and Nomura posting the fastest time in the exclusive session created a positive atmosphere within the team.
However, the qualifying session took place under significantly different temperatures, and we struggled to get the tires working properly. I handled Q2 myself, but we ended up qualifying 9th.
In the race, Nomura drove the start and the second stint before handing the car over to me. Both as a team and as an individual driver, I tried to make improvements during my stint, but unfortunately we were unable to turn things around and finished 9th.
Reflecting on the issues from Okayama, there were some positive aspects, but to be honest, we are still struggling to properly adapt the tires to the track characteristics and temperature range of this new car. With the Sepang race canceled, we now have a longer break, which gives us time to carefully analyze everything with the team and apply those insights to improve our results going forward
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- Driver: Yuto Nomura
As we worked through setup during free practice, I had a fairly good feeling from the very first runs, and setting the fastest time in the exclusive session really confirmed that we were off to a strong start.
However, from qualifying onward, the temperature dropped sharply and conditions changed significantly. I handled Q1 but wasn’t able to fully adapt, and we only just managed to advance in 10th.
For the race, we prepared a setup focused on long runs, but once again it became clear that there was still a pace gap to the leading cars. That said, compared to the season-opening race at Okayama, there were several positive takeaways, and I can feel myself gradually gaining a better understanding of the PRELUDE.
With the Sepang race canceled, we will be racing at Fuji again later in the season, this time in summer conditions, which should bring a very different scenario. I’ll continue working closely with the team to aim for a stronger result next time.
