The 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 8 (final round), the “MOTEGI GT 250km RACE GRAND FINAL” was held in the afternoon of November 8th (Sun.) at the Mobilityland Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture (on lap 4,801m x 53 laps). In the GT500class the No. 100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) achieved a perfect win from pole position to become the Champions for the first time since 2022 (3rd time overall). In the GT300 class the No. 88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Daniil Kvyat) scored a win from pole position. The GT300 class championship went to the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira / Iori Kimura) that battled to finish 4th in the race.
□Weather: clear skies ｜ Course: dry ｜ Air temperature / Track surface temperature at the start (14:00) 17℃ / 24℃＞early stages (14:31) 18℃ / 24℃ ＞ middle stages (15:02) 17℃ /23℃＞ final stages (15:27) 17℃/18℃ ＞ at the finish (15:44) 16℃ /18℃.
On this day Mobility Resort Motegi had clear skies with the air temperature at 17℃, and the track surface temperature at 23℃. The race started at 2:00 in the afternoon with a Traffic safety awareness parade led by five police motorcycles and five patrol cars from the Tochigi Prefectural Police. Then, after one formation lap the 250 km race started.
From the opening lap a fierce battle for the lead developed between Kogure in the pole-starting No. 88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Daniil Kvyat), the No. 11 GAINER TANAX Z (Ryuichiro Tomita / Kazuki Oki) that started from 2nd position and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi). However, the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta / Shinichi Takagi) that started from 3rd position on the grid dropped to 7th position on the opening lap.
What’s more, behind them a fierce battle developed coming out of the S-curve of the 1st lap that saw the No. 9 PACIFIC UMA MUSUME NAC BMW (Yusuke Tomibayashi / Yuta Fujiwara) and the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi / Tatsuya Kataoka) run off the track, causing the Safety Car to be called in to control the race. After the race was restarted it became a tightly contested race with little distance between the cars of the leading group, but gradually the distance grew between the leading car No. 88 and the car No. 11 pursuing it. Meanwhile, behind the car No. 61 running in 3rd position and the cars behind it that saw more than 10 cars battling in a nose-to-tail proximity, which was worthy of the final race of the season for the GT300 class.
After the 16th lap the GT300 class cars returned to their pits one after another. These included the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira / Iori Kimura) and car No. 96, which were all competing for the title, and many of the cars were opting for a no-tire-change strategy.
The pit strategies of the teams varied diversely, and there was also great diversity in the pit stop timing, the result of which was numerous changes in the order for the leaders as well as others in the latter part of the race. In fact, emerging in the lead was the No. 666 seven x seven PORSCHE GT3R EVO (Sven Muller / Taichi Watarai) that had made its pit stop early and chosen a no-tire-change strategy. In 2nd position came the pole-starting car No. 88 that had led the race in the early going and opted to change only its two rear tires was then driven by Daniil Kvyat. In 3rd position came the No. 87 OPEN HOUSE Lamborghini GT3 (Yuya Motojima / Kosuke Matsuura) that had gradually moved up through the pack in the early stages and opted for a no-tire-change strategy.
In the final stages, following this came Iori Kimura in the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R that was driven in the second half by Joao Paulo de Oliveira. What’s more, despite a no-tire-change strategy, de Oliveira’s driving speed stood out. He battled aggresively with car No. 67 in front of him and car No. 11 behind him. For de Oliveira it was a stressful situation he battle in, which meant if he lost even one place in the order he would loose the possiblity of competing for the championship.
Opposing him was car No. 96, stood in 2nd position in the standing but had lost position due to a pit-lane speed violation and was given a drive-through penalty. Also, Muller driving in the lead in car No. 666 also had a chance for the championship, and was thus anxious to get the win.
On the 38th lap, in a three-car battle No. 56 collided with No. 87 and lost position, but afterwards No. 56 recovered position with de Oliveira driving. Also, behind No. 666 came No. 88 with Kvyat driving and gradually gaining ground. On the 48th lap, Kvyat in No. 88 pulled up alongside No. 66, and after sharp driving worthy of a former F1 driver he managed to pass No. 666.
After this, No. 88 gradually increased its lead and was the first to take the checkered flag. For the No. 88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Daniil Kvyat) team it was the first win since 2024, when it claimed the title in Round 5 at Suzuka (which was held in December as the final round of the season after being rescheduled). For Kvyat it was his first win in SUPER GT.
Finishing in 2nd place came the No. 666 seven x seven PORSCHE GT3R EVO (Sven Muller / Taichi Watarai), although for Muller, not winning the title was a disappointment. Finishing in 3rd place was the No. 11 GAINER TANAX Z (Ryuichiro Tomita / Kazuki Oki).
In the closing stages, despite being pressured by the No. 777 D’station Vantage GT3 (Tsubasa Kondo / Charlie Fagg), the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R driven by Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Iori Kimura held on to 4th place to cross the finish line, securing the 2026 GT300 Class Drivers’ title. This marks de Oliveira’s third title since 2022 and Kimura’s first.
