The final race of the 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 4 at FUJI the “FUJI GT 300km RACE” took place on August 2nd at FUJI SPEEDWAY （1 lap 4,563m×66 laps）. Just before the start of the final race, light rain fell for a short time, and perhaps as a result of this there was a big accident early on in the race. However, after that the race proceeded well. In the GT500 class the No. 100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT （Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino） starting from 2nd position on the grid came from behind to take the first victory for the new HRC PRELUDE-GT. In the GT300 class as well, the No. 52 Green Brave GR Supra GT （Hiroki Yoshida/Seita Nonaka） starting from 6th position on the grid used its well-practiced no-tire-change strategy to come from behind and take its first win since Round 7 in the 2023 season.

　The race held on August 2nd at Fuji Speedway brought mid-summer heat from morning with the air temperature rising above 30℃. Although the warm-up session run from 12:00 noon was held under cloudy skies with dry track conditions, when the cars took to the starting grid just past 1:00, light rain showers passed over Fuji Speedway making for wet track conditions. However just before the start of the formation lap, the rain stopped and sunshine began to come over the track. Perhaps because of the rain, however, the track surface was still not dry at this point, and although the lead group of the GT300 class chose to start the race with slick tires. The No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT starting from 12th position and the No. 22 R’Qs AMG GT3 starting from 29th place were the only two cars to choose wet-use tires.

Due to the changing conditions, for the sake of safety the start was run behind the Safety Car (SC) and no passing was allowed at the start. The SC left the track after four laps and finally the racing began. However, when the GT500 cars running in front of the GT300 class came to the middle of the main straight, a violent accident occurred. One car was severely damaged, which brought out the Red Flag to stop the race.

　At 12:15 in the afternoon the race was restarted behind the SC, and at this point the track condition was completely dry. On the 10th lap the SC withdrew and the racing began, at which point the pole-starting No. 45 PONOS FERRARI 296 EVO （Takuro Shinohara/Shintaro Kawabata）ran in the lead followed by the No. 60 Syntium LMcorsa LC500 GT （Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno） and the No. 6 UNI-ROBO BLUEGRASS FERRARI （Yoshiaki Katayama/Niklas Krütten）, but coming up from behind in a tremendous charge was Nonaka in the No. 52 Green Brave GR Supra GT （Hiroki Yoshida/Seita Nonaka） and by the 16th lap it had climbed to 3rd position and was continuing to close on the two leaders.

However, behind it Suzuki in the No. 32 ENEOS X PRIME AMG GT3 （Hiroaki Ishiura/Tokiya Suzuki） that had started from 7th position was advancing at even a faster pace. In the early stages of the race, it continued to move up and by the 18th lap of the race it joined in a four-car battle with the cars including No. 6, the No. 7 CARGUY Ferrari 296 GT3 （Zak O’Sullivan/Kiyushi Umegaki） and passed them to emerge in 4th position, before going on to pass cars No. 52 and No. 60 to move into 2nd position.

　The cars of the GT300 class began to make their first pit stops after the 22nd lap. It was here that the differences in the teams’ strategies would lead to dramatic developments. On the 30th lap, the leading car No. 45 made its pit stop and changed drivers from Shinohara to Kawabata. Also, on the 33rd lap the car No. 32 running in 2nd position returned to the pit and changed drivers from Suzuki to Ishiura. However, the car No. 7 that had pitted earlier was able to return to the race in front of car No. 32.

Also, among the leading cars competing for the win, the car No. 52 that had made its pit stops earlier than the others, again returned to the pit on the 41st lap and changed drivers to Yoshida. It was here that car No. 52 used its proven strategy. It shortened its pit time by changing only its two front tires. With this, it was able to return to the race in front of car No, 45. Although it had only changed two tires, it still took some time to warm them up. For this reason, Kawabata in car No. 45 was soon able to close the gap and begin a battle that saw the two cars pass and repass each other, but it was car No. 52 that held the lead. Yet while this was happening, it was car No. 7 that closed in on them. This put pressure on car No. 45 to the point that it was unable to close in on car No. 52. With this, Yoshida in car No. 52 was able to build up a lead of 5 to 7 seconds and run on to the checkered flag and the win.

With this the No. 52 Green Brave GR Supra GT （Hiroki Yoshida/Seita Nonaka） took its first win of the season, and for Yoshida this win sent a big message of hope to his hometown of Kumamato as it struggled to recover from the recent devastating earthquake it suffered. Also, for Nonaka it was his rewarding first victory, and in the post-race interview he had tears in his eyes.

As for the 3-car battle for 2nd place, it carried over into the final lap of the race. There it was the No. 32 ENEOS X PRIME AMG GT3 （Hiroaki Ishiura/Tokiya Suzuki） that emerged in 2nd place. Third place went to the No. 7 CARGUY Ferrari 296 GT3 （Zak O’Sullivan/Kiyushi Umegaki）. As for the No. 45 PONOS FERRARI 296 EVO （Takuro Shinohara/Shintaro Kawabata） that started from pole position and ran in the lead during the first half, it eventually finished in 4th place.