The FUJI GT SPRINT RACE, Round 4 of the 2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series took place on August 2nd at Fuji Speedway (one lap 4,563 m x 35 laps) in Shizuoka Prefecture. Although there were no real problems as feared due to the Typhoon No. 9 passing close, there were some sprinkles of rain near the end of the race, but the race successfully reached its goal. In the GT500 class, Sho Tsuboi in the No. 1 au TOM’S GR Supra who had finished 2nd in the qualifying, took the lead in the early going and appeared to be on the way to a perfect win. In the GT300 class, Charlie Fagg in the No. 777 D’station Vantage GT3 came up from 4th position on the starting grid to take a come-from-behind win. Tomorrow, August 3rd (Sun.) will see the holding of Race 2.

　Round 4 of the series took Sprint Race format with two races, with Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday, and with one driver competing in both the Qualifying and the Races. In the qualifying for Race 1 that started at 12:30 in the afternoon to be competed over 35 laps (approx. 160 km) with the GT500 and GT300 classes running together in a joint race. What’s more, the number of series points to be awarded in Race 1 and Race 2 were to be half the usual number, and the points won by the Race 1 driver are awarded to the Race 2 driver and in the same way, the points won by the Race 2 driver are also awarded to the Race 1 driver.

　Race 1was started at 3:15 in the afternoon behind a Parade Lap of nine motorcycles and three patrol cars of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police. After which there follow one formation lap before the actual racing began.

　Just after the start, the first to enter the TGR Corner was the pole-starting No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Sena Sakaguchi). Then the 3rd position starting No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Toshiki Oyu) pulled in on the in-side of the 2nd position starting No. 1 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi) and succeeded in passing it to take 2nd position, but Tsuboi in car No. 1 held on to re-take 2nd position on the Dunlop Corner of the same lap. And from there it began to chase the leading car No. 19.

　However, behind these leaders an accident occurred. The No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tadasuke Makino) that started from 7th position on the grid and the No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima) collided on the Coca-Cola Corner. This caused No. 14 to run off the track and crash into the retaining wall. This brought out the Safety Car (SC) until the No. 14 car could be recovered on the sixth lap and the SC retires from the track.

　Then, car No. 1 drew up alongside No. 19 at the TGR Corner and after crossing the track line coming out of the corner No. 1 was able to pass No. 19 to take the lead at the just before the Coca-Cola Corner. From there No. 1 continued to pull away in the lead. Then, it was car No. 38 that also succeeded in pulling up on the in-side of No. 19 at the hairpin turn to move into 2nd position. Also, the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra (Sacha Fenestraz) that had started the race from 5th position later passed car No. 3 Niterra MOTUL Z (Daiki Sasaki) to move up into 4th position.

　The No. 37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara) that had started the race from 11th position succeeded in moving up into 8th position on the 1st lap and then went on to pass No. 100 and No. 3 one after another by the 7th lap to move into 6th position.

　As the top two cars battled for the lead, gradually No. 1 began to widen its lead. Then No. 39 gradually began to close in on the tail of No. 19 running in 3rd position. Meanwhile, car No. 37caught up with the No. 12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Bertrand Baguette) on the 13th lap to move into the 5th position. With this, the TOYOTA GR Supra GT500 cars now held the top five positions in the race.

　Running strongly in the lead, No. 1 expanded its lead over No. 38 to 3.29 sec. on the 26th lap. Then, on the 26th lap car No. 39 caught No. 19 to move into 3rd position. Next, No. 37 also succeeded in passing No. 19 to move up to 4th position.

　After that, Tsuboi in car No. 1 kept No. 38 from closing the gap on him as he ran lap after lap in the lead, until he took the checkered flag and the win at end of the 35th lap.

　With this, the No. 1 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi) won its second race of the season following the win at Okayama in the opening round, and this result further increased the lead of the No. 1 drivers Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita over their rivals in the season standing.

　Finishing the race in 2nd place was the No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Toshiki Oyu). Finishing in third place came the No. 39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra (Sacha Fenestraz), but due to a 5 sec. penalty for passing a car after running off the track, which dropped the team to 5th place. This moved the No. 37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara) up to the 3rd place. What’s more, with the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Sena Sakaguchi) finishing in 4th place and the No. 39 in 5th place, the GR Supra GT500 cars swept the top five places at TOYOTA’s home track of FUJI Speedway.

　The top finisher among the Nissan Z NISMO GT500 cars was the No.　12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Bertrand Baguette) in 6th place, while the top Honda CIVIC TYPE R-GT car was the No.　100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Tadasuke Makino) finishing in 7th place.