Following Round 4 at Fuji, the 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series continues its August schedule with Round 5, the SUZUKA GT 300km RACE, to be held at Suzuka Circuit on August 22 (Sat) and 23 (Sun). Suzuka in summer is often associated with endurance racing, but Round 5 will be a standard 300km race. Following the previous round, the fight is expected to be intense from qualifying onward, with every lap at full attack. Taking place in late August, conditions are still expected to be extremely hot, creating a demanding race for cars, tires and drivers alike. In the previous GT300 race, the winning team prevailed with a two-tire-change strategy. Whether teams choose similar tactics at Suzuka, focus on fuel economy, or simply push flat out from start to finish, team managers and engineers will once again have important decisions to make. With Success Weight differences also becoming increasingly significant as the season enters its middle phase, fans can expect a race in which each team’s philosophy, strategy and ingenuity play a major role.
※The top photo shows the start of Round 5 at Suzuka in 2025.
■Suzuka Circuit information ◎Track details Length: 5,807m Width: 10 to16m Elevation difference:52m
◎Track records GT500 1’43.143 Nirei Fukuzumi / No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra 2024 Round 5 Qualifying – Q2 (December 7)
GT300 1’55.092 Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R 2024 Round 5 Qualifying – Q2 (December 7)
■Success Weight could make all the difference among the GR Supra contenders. Keep an eye on the No.37 aiming for a second Suzuka victory and the lightly weighted No.19!
After winning both the season opener and Round 2, the No.36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) entered Round 4 carrying 80kg of Success Weight and qualified only 11th. Even so, the duo steadily climbed through the field and ultimately finished fourth. In the championship standings, the No.36 has already begun to look like a runaway leader. For Round 5, however, the team’s Success Weight rises to 96kg, prompting even Tsuboi to joke that “it may finally be impossible.” Yet if race conditions become unpredictable due to changing weather or other circumstances, the proven racecraft of the reigning champions could still produce a surprise result. Among the Toyota GR Supra GT500 entries, the most realistic contender for victory appears to be the No.37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara / Giuliano Alesi), which finished third at the previous round in Fuji. Although the team excelled at Fuji, it failed to score points in the other two races this season. As a result, its Success Weight stands at just 22kg, effectively negligible for an experienced TOM’S. The No.37 also claimed a memorable pole-to-win victory at Suzuka in Round 3 of 2024, making it a strong favorite this weekend. Another candidate is the No.19 WedsSport BANDOH GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto / Sena Sakaguchi), which recorded a pole position at Suzuka in Round 3 of 2022 and a victory in Round 3 of 2023. Carrying only 4kg of Success Weight, the No.19 arrives with a major opportunity to capitalize. As the only Yokohama-shod GT500 entry, it could even dominate if tire performance perfectly matches the circuit conditions.
■PRELUDE-GT fleet erases the clouds with a one-two finish at Round 4. Will the No.8 car finally turn frustration into victory at Honda’s home circuit, or…?
The opening two rounds proved challenging for the HRC PRELUDE GT. So difficult was Round 2 at Fuji that one of Honda’s drivers described it as a “nightmare.” However, during the three-month break, extensive development work transformed the package. At Round 4 Fuji, the No.8 #8 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Kakunoshin Ohta / Hiroki Otsu) claimed pole position, while PRELUDE-GT machinery locked out the top three positions in qualifying. In the race, the No.100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) and the No.8 battled to the finish, securing an impressive one-two result and dispelling any doubts surrounding the car’s competitiveness.
Now the series heads to Suzuka, Honda’s home circuit. The No.100 car faces a tougher challenge with its Success Weight increasing to 54kg, but the remaining PRELUDE-GT entries have a significant opportunity. Among them, the No.8 is likely to be especially motivated after narrowly missing victory in the previous round. Could Ohta, who continues to shine in Super Formula (SF), claim a pole-to-win result with strong support from Otsu? The No.16 #16 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Ren Sato) is another intriguing prospect out of ARTA. Running the same package as the No.8, an ARTA one-two finish is not beyond imagination. Meanwhile, the No.64 Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT (Riki Okusa / Igor Omura Fraga), which suffered major damage in a heavy accident at Fuji, has successfully returned to the entry list of Suzuka. The effort by the No.64 crew to rebuild the car in such a short period deserves recognition from fans as well.
■Fuji was a nightmare for the Z NISMO camp. Suzuka has traditionally been one of its strongest circuits, so expectations are high for the No.12 and No.24.
The PRELUDE GT camp banished its “nightmare” with a one two finish in the previous round, but it was the Nissan Z NISMO GT500 contingent that endured a nightmare in that race. Following heavy rain before the race, the field started behind the Safety Car, and contact between two Z NISMO entries triggered a chain of incidents involving other cars. The No.23 MOTUL Niterra Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Mitsunori Takaboshi), which was involved in the incident, was barely able to run in the race. The No.12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Kazuki Hiramine / Bertrand Baguette) received a penalty and finished last among the classified runners. Even the No.24 REALIZE CORPORATION Z (Teppei Natori / Atsushi Miyake), which avoided major incident, struggled with lower-than-expected track temperatures and tire performance, eventually finishing 11th ahead of No.12 car.
However, the causes of the disappointing results in Round 4 were clear for all three cars and were not related to fundamental vehicle problems. Hiramine of the No.12 also commented that the car’s race pace itself was not bad. Suzuka, where downforce plays an important role, has been a strong circuit for the Z in recent years. For the No.12 in particular, Suzuka is a circuit of confidence. In 2022, it achieved a remarkable tail-to-win victory from the back of the grid, and that Suzuka win helped lead the team toward the championship. The No.12 also scored podium finishes at Suzuka in both 2023 and 2024. As for the No.24, the team struggled in the previous round to find the ideal match between the Bridgestone tires introduced this season, the track conditions and the car itself. However, after three races of experience and with the campaign already reaching Round 5, they should now have a much better understanding of how to maximize the package. If the team can make use of the experience of the two other Z entries already accustomed to Bridgestone tires, as well as Miyake’s knowledge, and find the best tire match, the No.24 could surprise the field with its pace.
■Ferrari 296 GT3, Huracan GT3 and AMG GT3 could hold the advantage at Suzuka. But expectations are also high for the No.5 86MC and the No.61 BRZ
Suzuka Circuit is often described as neither a pure high-speed track nor a purely technical layout, but rather one with a well-balanced overall character. If anything, cars with strong downforce tend to have an advantage. That means cars with high aerodynamic performance, strong cornering speed and good drivability are expected to be well suited to the circuit. Among current GT3 machinery, the Ferrari 296 GT3, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 stand out as likely candidates. The No.45 PONOS FERRARI 296 EVO (Takuro Shinohara / Shintaro Kawabata) and the No.6 UNI-ROBO BLUEGRASS FERRARI (Yoshiaki Katayama / Niklas Krütten), both of which showed speed in the two Fuji races, should still have a chance to win even with their Success Weight (SW). The No.7 CARGUY Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO (Zak O’Sullivan / Kiyoshi Umegaki), carrying 48 kg, has not yet reached the level where a Success Refueling Restrictor applies, but it will still face a tough race. The No.88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Daniil Kvyat) should also be regarded as a victory contender. The team will be looking to rediscover the speed that delivered four wins in 2024, including the Suzuka round. Among the AMG GT3 entries, the No.18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi / Kotaro Shimbara) is one to watch. Rookie Shimbara, a graduate of Honda Racing School Suzuka, will be eager to show his true ability at a circuit he knows well.
For GT300 regulation cars, Suzuka is also a circuit where pit strategies such as no tire changes or two-tire changes can be effective. At the previous round at Fuji, the No.52 Green Brave GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida / Seita Nonaka) brilliantly used a two-tire-change strategy to claim a comeback victory. However, that win has raised the No.52’s Success Weight to 80 kg. The No.2 HYPER WATER INGING GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi / Kazuhisa Urabe), another car known for using its tires well, also carries 80 kg, so both are likely to face races of patience. That makes the No.5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Yusuke Shiotsu / Souta Arao) a car of interest. The team finally claimed its long-awaited first victory at last year’s final round at Motegi, and at Suzuka the MC86 has recorded three second-place finishes. Rookie Arao is also a graduate of Honda Racing School Suzuka, and this circuit could allow him to fully demonstrate his skill and speed.
When it comes to pace at Suzuka, the No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) must also be mentioned. The BRZ finished second at Suzuka last year, while Yamauchi has taken four pole positions across eight Suzuka races from 2021 through 2025. The introduction of a new engine this season has meant an ongoing development process for the team, and despite taking only one pole position in the opening three rounds, Suzuka is a circuit where SUBARU has traditionally been strong. As a result, this is expected to be one of the rounds the team will target most aggressively. Subaru fans will be hoping to see the ideal result: a pole-to-win victory.
