The official qualifying session for the 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 8 (the final round), the “MOTEGI GT 300km RACE GRAND FINAL,” took place on the morning of Sunday, November 8th, at Mobility Resort Motegi (one lap: 4.801 km) in Tochigi Prefecture. In the GT500 class, Tadasuke Makino, driving the No. 100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT for the HRC PRELUDE-GT squad (alongside teammate Naoki Yamamoto), won pole position, his first since 2023. In the GT300 class, Takashi Kogure, driving the No. 88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (with teammate Daniil Kvyat), also claimed pole position—his first in the GT300 class. Both teams will start at the front of their respective classes for the final race, which begins today, November 8th , at 2:00 PM.
□Official Qualifying Weather: clear | Track: dry | Air temperature/Track temperature at the start of GT300: 15℃/20℃, at the start of GT500: 14℃/20℃, at the end: 14℃/20℃.
The official qualifying session for the GT500 class took place over a 15-minute period, beginning at 10:15 a.m. The weather was clear, and the track surface was dry. Mobility Resort Motegi saw a large turnout of spectators from early in the morning. On-site parking passes had already sold out, and a line of vehicles waiting to enter had formed in front of the gates—a testament to the high level of interest in the event.
As for the drivers participating in the qualifying session, the lineup for each car in the GT500 class remains the same as it was for Round 3. As is often the case, a quiet period followed the opening of the track.
With 11 minutes remaining in the session, the No. 16 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Tomoki Nojiri) was the first to head out onto the track, followed by the No. 8 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Kakunoshin Ohta).
Following this, the No. 37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara) was the first to leave the pits, with other cars subsequently following suit. By the time less than 10 minutes remained, 11 cars were out on track—all except for the No. 23 MOTUL Niterra Z (Katsumasa Chiyo), the No. 24 Realize Corporation Z (Atsushi Miyake), and the No. 64 Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT (Riki Okusa).
With 9 minutes remaining, those 3 cars also left the pits one after another, meaning that all entries were now out on the track. Meanwhile, car No. 16, which had been the first to head out, returned to the pits. It was taken into the garage, where the hood was opened and work began. The team had installed a new engine for this final round, and it is possible – though this is merely a conjecture – that the trouble lies somewhere in that fact. Nojiri had already stepped out of the car; unfortunately, his qualifying session had just come to an end.
The other cars went through a thorough warm-up, building up heat in their tires. With less than 3 minutes remaining, the drivers began their flying laps. First, Okusa, driving car No. 64, clocked a 1’36.751 on his fourth lap. Continuing his run, he picked up the pace, setting personal bests in various sectors and improving his time to 1’36.458.
Next, Ohta in car No. 8 clocked a time of 1’36.634. Behind him, Nomura in car No. 17 set an overall best in Sector 1, but ultimately finished with a time of 1’36.481. Then, the No. 36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Kenta Yamashita) posted a 1’36.413 time to take the top spot.
However, just before the end, the No. 100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT (driven by Tadasuke Makino) clocked a time of 1’36.135, surpassing the time of the No. 36 car and placing the number 100 at the very top of the timing monitor.
As a result, the No. 100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) secured pole position for the Round 8 qualifying session. With the No. 36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) qualifying in second place, thus the top two contenders in the driver standings will start the final race from the front row.
Qualifying 3rd was the No. 64 Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT (Riki Okusa / Igor Omura Fraga), which will make another bid for the victory that slipped from its grasp in yesterday’s Round 3. Among the Nissan Z NISMO GT500 entries, the No. 23 car was the highest-placed, finishing 7th, while the No. 12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) – winner of Round 3 – took 9th place with Baguette behind the wheel.
