au TOM’S continue dominant streak at Fuji; Kondo Racing Nissan grab first GT300 win in two years

Credit: GT Association

After a well-executed overcut by Sho Tsuboi, the reigning champions au TOM’S took the lead with an hour left and never looked back, earning him and team-mate Kenta Yamashita a well-deserved third consecutive win.

The Race started with pole-sitter Nirei Fukuzumi in the ROOKIE Racing Supra immediately pulling away from the rival Supra, the reigning champion au TOM’S car. In the first three laps, he created a gap of almost two seconds as the au TOM’S, NISMO Z and the Cerumo were engaged in a stalemate, battling for second.

In GT300, the Subaru had been consistently the fastest the whole weekend, and that streak of dominance only continued into the Race. Hideki Yamauchi extended the gap to three seconds in just two laps, but the gap remained stagnant after that. The second-placed apr Lexus driven by Miki Koyama, while unable to keep up with the lead car, sat comfortably in second ahead of the Green Brave Supra.

The TOM’S Supra has been having a drought in performance so far this year, but Giuliano Alesi was eager to turn that around, making his way up from 13th. He quickly climbed up to seventh after a series of thrilling battles, but his pace seemed to plateau after that.

Up ahead, in the battle for third between the Cerumo and NISMO Nissan, Rikuto Kobayashi made contact with the Nissan at the final turn, causing the latter to spin around. The Cerumo crew were given a drive-through penalty for the incident.

Inversely, in GT300, the Subaru’s advantage at the front didn’t last too long as Koyama, by Lap 13, had closed the gap to the leading Subaru and was keen on getting past the leader. The Green Brave Supra and the Kondo Racing Nissan were not far behind.

João Paulo de Oliveira in the Kondo Racing Nissan did not want to miss out on the action for the lead, quickly getting past Seita Nonaka in the third-place Supra and catching up to the lead battle.

Credit: GT Association

Heartbreak struck Subaru again as the leading GT300 car suffered from a puncture on its front-left tyre just after crossing the pit entry. The Subaru wasn’t the only one suffering from a front-left puncture; the fan-favourite Mach 5 mother chassis also suffered from a similar issue running the Advan tyres. Reliability issues in GT300 did not end there, as the Ferrari soon suffered from a suspension issue and was dragged into the pits for emergency repairs.

Further ahead, the battle for the lead heated up between Koyama and de Oliveira. The Brazilian overtook Koyama at the final corner, prompting her to pit. Charlie Wurz got in the apr Lexus for his Super GT debut.

In GT500, Fukuzumi pitted from the lead with two hours left, and the rest of the top three followed him in. All three teams opted for a driver change: Kazuya Oshima getting in the ROOKIE Racing car, Tsuboi getting in the au TOM’S and Katsumasa Chiyo in the NISMO Nissan.

Punctures seemed to be an all-too-common occurrence in GT300 as the JLOC Lamborghini also suffered a puncture, the right-rear Yokohama going bust. In the battle for the overall lead, the Kondo Racing Nissan pitted, and Iori Kimura got in the car. The overcut seemed to work for Nissan as the apr of Wurz was not anywhere near the net leader when they exited the pit lane.

The first Full Course Yellow was brought out by the TOM’S car, which seemed to have an electronics problem, as the Supra that was making its way up the field stopped on the main straight just behind the pit entry. Team Director Michael Krumm reported a loss in radio connection as well. The Green Brave Supra, who were in GT300 podium contention, had to pit for fuel but had to do so when the pitlane was closed and received a 60-second stop-go penalty.

Credit: GT Association

In the GT500 class, the two Nissans at the top, the NISMO and the Kondo Racing Z, started battling it out for the final podium spot with an hour and a quarter left, and the factory-run car came out on top. As the clock was nearing an hour, the two battling Nissans entered the pits for their final stop.

In GT300, the apr Lexus also came in from second, Kazuto Kotaka getting in the car. The second-placed car in the GT500 class, the au TOM’S car, also made its final pit stop. Tsuboi remained in the car. A Lap later, the leader, the ROOKIE Racing Supra, came in, and the crew opted for a driver change, Fukuzumi replacing Oshima.

The overcut worked for Tsuboi, who made quick work of Fukuzumi when he exited the pits. Fukuzumi kept up with the reigning champion but was not fast enough to close the gap.

In GT300, the leading Kondo Racing Nissan pitted with 45 minutes left on the clock, and de Oliveira got back in the cockpit for the final stint. They came out ahead of the net second-placed Porsche and the apr Lexus. The LEON Racing Mercedes opted to pit only for fuel and jumped ahead of the apr Lexus in third.

With 18 minutes left, the pole-sitter Subaru retired from the Race following a suspension issue. As the clock was ticking down, the JLOC Lamborghini had its second puncture of the Race, the right-rear falling apart yet again, this time with three minutes left.

As the Race was coming to an end, the SARD Supra that started 12th had quietly made its way up the field and was closing in on the NISMO Nissan for the final podium spot, but their efforts were not enough for third. After the Race, the Porsche was hit with a 10-second penalty for a Lap 1 incident and dropped from second to fourth.

Credit: GT Association

When the clock struck zero, it was a third consecutive win for the reigning champions, the au TOM’S crew of Yamashita and Tsuboi. The ROOKIE Racing line-up of Fukuzumi and Oshima, who started from pole, finished second. The factory-run NISMO Nissan driven by Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi finished third.

In GT300, the Kondo Racing Nissan and de Oliveira grabbed their first win since 2023. This is also Kimura’s maiden Super GT win. The reigning champion crew of Naoya Gamou, Togo Suganami and Haruki Kurosawa in the LEON Racing Mercedes finished second. The apr Lexus of Kotaka, Koyama and Wurz finished third for the second Race in a row, with Wurz standing on the podium on debut. This Race was also historic as Koyama became the first woman to score two podiums and the first to score consecutive podium finishes.

Championship-wise, au TOM’S leads by 16 points in GT500 ahead of ROOKIE Racing. In GT300, the Aston Martin is still in the lead but only by three points, with apr in second. Inging and LEON Racing are tied for third, one point behind apr.

With the Malaysian round indefinitely postponed, the next round on the calendar is now the second of the two races at Fuji, slated to be held from 1st to 2nd August 2026.