2024.12.25

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing announces its 2025 GT500 class participation team program. Sacha to return to drive car No. 39, and car No. 36 will now become No. 1!

　On December 25th, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) announced its program for motorsport participation in Japan for 2025. According to the announcement, six teams will again be entered as in the 2024 season through Toyota Gazoo Racing Development (TGR-D) and they will use the same TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 as in the 2024 season. Also, Sacha Fenestraz who competed in the GT500 class from 2020 to 2022 will return to SUPER GT to drive for the No. 39 car (TGR TEAM SARD). Also, for the 2025 season, the TGR TEAM au TOM'S No. 36 team that won consecutive championships in the GT500 class in 2023 and 2024 will earn the right to enter with the No.1 race number of reigning champion in 2025.

　What’s more, the release issued this time said: “In the top categories in Japan, SUPER GT and the Japanese Super Formula Championship, TGR will strengthen industry collaboration to further promote racing in Japan while aiming for consecutive championships in both the Drivers' and Teams' categories.” Thus, it stated clearly that the aim is to win more titles in SUPER GT.

　As for the driver lineups for the TGR teams in 2025, with the exception of Fenestraz joining the No. 39 team, there are no other changes in the drivers from 2024.
　The drivers the No. 14 TGR TEAM ENEOS ROOKIE will again be Kazuya Oshima and Nirei Fukuzumi, with Fukuzumi who joined the team last season again pairing with the veteran Oshima. Also, for the No. 19 TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH, the pair of Yuji Kunimoto and Sena Sakaguchi will remain the same for the fourth year.
　The TGR TEAM au TOM’S No. 36 team that won its second consecutive GT500 class title this year will now have its race number changed in 2025 to the champion number “1”. On the other hand, the driver pair will remain the same with Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita, and for Tsuboi it will be a chance to be the first ever to go for a third consecutive title.
　The No. 37 TGR TEAM Deloitte TOM’S team will have the same driver pair of Ukyo Sasahara and Giuliano Alesi that have teamed together since 2023. The No. 38 TGR TEAM KeePer CERUMO will also keep the same driver pair of team leader Hiroaki Ishiura and Toshiki Oyu, who joined the team last year, and together they will aim for even better performance in their second year.
　Finally, the No. 39 TGR TEAM SARD will be driven by the team ace, Yuhi Sekiguchi, and he will be newly joined by Sacha Fenestraz for 2025. Fenestraz has both French and Argentinian citizenship, and in 2019 he competed in SUPER GT (GT300) and the All-Japan F3 Championship and succeeded in winning the F3 championship title. From the following year, 2020 until 2022 he competed on TGR TEAM TOM'S in the GT500 class (cars No. 36 and No. 37) and got one win (Round 4 at Fuji in 2022). In 2022 he also competed in Formula E, and in 2023 and 2024 he concentrated on this category. For 2025 he now returns to a TGR team.

　This time there were no announcements concerning the GT300 class teams competing with the TOYOTA and LEXUS cars, but there were notices that there are plans for the following TGR-DC development drivers to compete in SUPER GT in 2025. Also, there of notice of plans for Jin Nakamura (driver of the No. 31 apr LC500h GT in 2024) will be competing overseas in Formula Regional.
*TGR Driver Challenge Program (TGR-DC)

・Kazuto Kotaka (No. 31 apr LC500h GT in 2024): Reserve driver (GT500)
・Hibiki Taira (No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT in 2024): INGING MOTORSPORT（GT300）
・Seita Nonaka (No. 52 Green Brave GR Supra GT in 2024): Green Brave（GT300）
・Rikuto Kobayashi (No. 30 apr GR86 GT in 2024): apr (GT300). Class team TBD.
・Miki Koyama (No. 48 Datsumou K's Frontier GO&FUN NEKONEKO GT-R in 2024): apr (GT300)

 

 

■TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT500 participation program
Excerpts from the “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing announcement of the program for motorsport participation in Japan for 2025”
https://toyotagazooracing.com/pressrelease/2024/1225-01/

 

 

 

・The team will compete again in 2025 with the GR Supra GT500.
・Support will be provided to 6 teams and 6 cars through Toyota Gazoo Racing Development (TGR-D).
・Sasha Fenestraz will join the team as a new member.

 

Team	Vehicle	No.	Driver	Tires
TGR TEAM ENEOS ROOKIE	ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra	14	Kazuya Oshima (Japan)	BS
			Nirei Fukuzumi (Japan)
TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH	WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra	19	Yuji Kunimoto (Japan)	YH
			Sena Sakaguchi (Japan)
TGR TEAM au TOM'S	au TOM’S GR Supra	1	Sho Tsuboi (Japan)	BS
			Kenta Yamashita (Japan)
TGR TEAM Deloitte TOM'S	Deloitte TOM'S GR Supra	37	Ukyo Sasahara (Japan)	BS
			Giuliano Alesi (France)
TGR TEAM KeePer CERUMO	KeePer CERUMO GR Supra	38	Hiroaki Ishiura (Japan)	BS
			Toshiki Oyu (Japan)
TGR TEAM SARD	DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra	39	Yuhi Sekiguchi (Japan)	BS
			Sacha Fenestraz (Argentina)

Tires: BS = Bridgestone, YH = Yokohama

 

 

Page Top