Super GT Preview: Fuji GT 3 Hours

Written by Tarun Suresh, Edited by Pranav Sharma

Credit: GT Association

It’s Golden Week in Japan and, as is customary, Super GT is set to hold the Fuji GT 3 Hours this weekend. It is one of two three-hour races on the calendar, with the other being held at Autopolis.

The circuit:

The Fuji Speedway is a scenic 2.86 miles (4.6km) long circuit located at the foothills of Mount Fuji. The track has no shortage of overtaking opportunities. Turn 1 is the most common overtaking zone, and those who have a good run on the exit of Turn 1 and are brave enough often try their luck around Turn 3 and the 100R curve.

The Dunlop Chicane (Turns 10-12) is another prime overtaking zone. The long right-hander Panasonic curve is an important corner to get right, as the start/finish straight that follows it is the longest on the calendar; a bad run through Panasonic can cost a significant amount of time on the straight.

GT500 class

The Toyotas remain the ones to beat, and that advantage is only going to be further amplified at this circuit, considering it is owned by Toyota and is often the testing ground for the Supra. However, the Balance of Performance (BoP) will limit their advantage, as four of the five most heavily affected cars are Toyotas.

The BoP rules remain the same as last year. Each team receives a success ballast whose weight in kilograms is twice the points they have. The championship leaders, the No.36 TOM’S car, has 20 points and will be running a 40kg success ballast, while the No.38 Cerumo car has 16 points and will run a 32kg success ballast.

Credit: GT Association

Last year’s Fuji race was won in dominant fashion by the Cerumo crew of Toshiki Oyu and Hiroaki Ishiura. Ishiura has since retired from GT500, and his vacancy has been taken up by Toyota prodigy Rikuto Kobayashi.

The runners-up were the reigning champions, the No.36 TOM’S crew. These two cars are running the same BoP as last year and had a similar advantage to the rest of the field in the opening round last year as well.

Honda’s new Prelude GT had a challenging debut round, and the team will be looking to gather more valuable data in this three-hour Race. The No.12 Nissan finished on the final podium spot in the season opener and will be keen to keep the ball rolling.

The only remaining factory Nissan, the No.23 NISMO car, had a disastrous opening round, fitting the wrong tyre compound and finishing only eighth. Team director Tsugio Matsuda took ownership of the error and will be hungry to prove to Nissan that they made the right choice in hiring the two-time drivers' champion as team director.

GT300 class

The season opener saw the Aston Martin driven by Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg dominate the Race from pole position. All three of their podium finishes last year, including their two wins, were at Fuji, making them the favourites for this round as well.

The Inging team finished a comfortable second in the opening round and will need to maintain their strong form if they are to keep up with the bigger teams like Goodsmile Racing or the reigning champions, LEON Racing.

Credit: GT Association

One of the biggest storylines from the last race weekend was the apr Lexus finishing on the podium, making Miki Koyama the third woman to stand on the podium in Super GT. She follows Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux in 2024 and June Okanoya in 1995. Koyama, however, felt she could have been fighting for the win and remains hungry for more. 

The Fuji round, being three hours long, will see multiple teams in GT300 running three drivers. Reigning Formula Regional champion Kiyoshi Umegaki will be making his Super GT debut for CarGuy. Meanwhile, apr will have two-time GT300 champion Manabu Orido join their GR86 garage, and Charlie Wurz make his debut in their Lexus. 2018 champion Haruki Kurosawa continues his one-off appearances in the family-owned LEON Racing Mercedes at Fuji. 

Others entering as third drivers in GT300 include four-time podium sitter Natsu Sakaguchi for the 2024 champions JLOC, Kohta Kawaai for the No.87 JLOC, Rintaro Kubo for Pacific Racing, Daiki Fujiwara for the Nilzz Nissan and Yuma Shoji for the R’Qs Racing Mercedes. 

Weekend schedule

Track action begins on Sunday, 2nd May 2026, with the sole Practice session taking place from 10:30 JST to 12:00 JST (01:30 to 03:00 GMT), and the Qualifying sessions starting at 14:20 JST (05:20 GMT). The Race starts at 12:30 JST (03:30 GMT) on Saturday, 3rd May 2026.

There is still no word regarding an international broadcast outside the US and Canada.