Toshiki Oyu leads Toyota 1-2-3 in qualifying for the Super GT season opener at Okayama

Written by Tarun Suresh

Credit: GTA

An unpredictable qualifying for Round 1 of the 2026 Super GT season, the Okayama 300km saw Toshiki Oyu grab pole position for KeePer Cerumo in GT500 and Tomonobu Fujii top the sheets with the D’station Vantage in GT300.

GT300

Qualifying 1 for group A had Charlie Fagg in the D’station Aston Martin at the top of the sheets. Around three tenths behind him in second was Miki Koyama, impressing in the apr Lexus. Five tenths behind her in third was the K-tunes Lexus piloted by Shinichi Takagi.

The other cars that made it to Qualifying 2 were, in order: Goodsmile Mercedes, Pacific Racing BMW, LEON Racing Mercedes, Open House Lamborghini, ENEOS X PRIME Mercedes and the Uni-Robo Ferrari. The lap record holder, Subaru BRZ, could not make it to Qualifying 2. While the top two seemed to be in a league of their own, third to the cutoff position of ninth were separated by just two and a half tenths.

Q1 for group B was red-flagged after a few minutes of running after the Shade Racing Lexus stopped on track following an issue with the engine.

The Syntium Lexus took the top spot once the session resumed. The apr GR86 was second, just two hundredths ahead of the Green Brave Supra. This group was much closer, with the top five separated by less than a tenth of a second.

The other cars that made it to Q2 were, in order: Gainer Nissan, Hyper Water Inging GR86, Realize Nissan, Venteny Lamborghini, CarGuy Ferrari and the UpGarage Mercedes.

Credit: GTA

Q2 saw times going well into the 1:24s. The first to break into the 1:24s was Tomonobu Fujii, driving the D’station Vantage. Nobody could beat his time of 1:24.541, handing the team pole position to start off the season.

Tsutsumi in the Hyper Water Inging was second, three tenths behind Fujii. Kazuto Kotaka in the apr Lexus was impressive and was on track to get pole, but went wide on the exit of turn 11, getting his lap deleted. His previous lap was just enough for third.

Positions four through ten are taken up by: Velorex Ferrari, Goodsmile Mercedes, LM corsa Lexus, Green Brave Supra, Realize Kondo Nissan, K-tunes Lexus and the GAINER Nissan.

GT500

Q1 for GT 500 was chaotic as Hiroki Otsu in the No. 8 ARTA Mugen crashed out on the exit of the penultimate corner with just 36 seconds left on the clock.

The session resumed with 4 minutes added to the clock. The Deloitte TOM’s Supra pulled into the pits and retired from the session following an issue with the car.

Topping the session was the reigning champion Kenta Yamashita behind the wheel of the au TOM’s Supra. Bertrand Baguette in the No.12 Nissan was second, and Rikuto Kobayashi, on his GT500 debut, put the KeePer Cerumo in third.

The others who made it to Q2 were: No.16 ARTA Mugen, SARD Supra, Stanley Kunimitsu Prelude, No.23 NISMO Nissan, Astemo Prelude, Kondo Racing Nissan and the ENEOS ROOKIE Supra.

Credit: GTA

In Q2, it was Toshiki Oyu in the KeePer Cerumo who stormed his way to pole position. The reigning champion, Sho Tsuboi, in the au TOM’s Supra came close but couldn’t find the six-tenths that separated him and Oyu. GT500 lap record holder Nirei Fukuzumi, driving the ENEOS ROOKIE Supra, was a little less than a tenth back in third.

Koudai Tsukakoshi in the Astemo Prelude was the leading Honda, qualifying fourth in the first qualifying session for Honda’s new contender, the Prelude GT. The SARD Supra was fifth, four hundredths ahead of the No.16 ARTA Mugen.

The Impul machine, driven by Kazuki Hiramine, qualified highest among the Nissans with seventh. The Stanley Kunimitsu car qualified eighth after a disappointing session. The other two Nissans, the No.24 and the No.23, were ninth and tenth, respectively.

Race Overview

Despite minimal changes to the car, the Supra remains the car to beat, qualifying 1-2-3 for the season opener. The Cerumo crew look to be strong contenders and are among the favourites to challenge Team TOM’S for the title, but with the reigning champions and the ROOKIE Racing car lined up right behind them, winning is not going to be easy.

The GT300 lineup is a lot more unpredictable. The D’station Vantage has proven itself to be a force to be reckoned with on multiple occasions, but multiple cars in the top ranks have the pace to challenge for the win.

The weather is expected to be clear and sunny for the race tomorrow. It will take place at 1320 JST and last 82 laps.