The MOTEGI GT 300km RACE GRAND FINAL, Round 8 of the 2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series, took place on November 2nd (Sun.) at Mobility Resort Motegi (4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Prefecture. At the end of the fierce competition that played out at Motegi, the No. 1 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) won its third race to the season to take the GT500 championship title, while Tsuboi became the first in SUPER GT history to win three consecutive titles. In the GT300 class, the No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Yusuke Shiotsu / Iori Kimura) got its first win as a team. The GT300 championship title went to the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou / Togo Suganami).
＜GT500＞ In the race of the GT500 class, Tsuboi in the No. 1 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) that had started from 2nd position on the grid caught and passed the pole-starting No. 38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Hiroaki Ishiura / Toshiki Oyu) on the first lap to take the lead. After that, car No. 1 gradually widened its margin of lead before making its first pit stop on the 23rd lap and changing drivers from Tsuboi to Yamashita. In response, the No. 100 STANLEY CIVIC TYPE R-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) being in competition with car No. 1 for the series title, opted for a bold strategy of not changing its tires in its first pit stop in an attempt to move up from its position running in 5th position and eventually take a come-from-behind win. With this, it managed to return to the race in front of car No. 1 and take the effective lead.
However, this seemed to backfire, as car 100 then found it difficult to increase its pace. And eventually, it was passed by Yamashita in car No. 1. By the time all of the cars had finished their first pit stop by the 37th lap, car No. 1 was firmly in the lead.
After this, car No. 1 passed car No. 100, and despite being chased and threatened from behind by the No. 12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Kazuki Hiramine / Bertrand Baguette) that had moved up into 2nd position after passing car No, 100, Yamashita held it off each time and ran on to the final 63rd lap of the race to enable the No.1 au TOM’S GR Supra to take its third win of the season, following the one in Round 4 at Fuji. What’s more, the driver pair of Tsuboi and Yamashita would also win the 2025 Drivers championship title. With this, Tsuboi also took the first three consecutive championship titles in SUPER GT history, while Yamashita took a consecutive title of his own.
Crossing the finish line in second place came car No. 12, but after the race, it was disqualified for a violation in the car inspections. This gave 2nd place to the No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Mitsunori Takaboshi). As for car No. 100 that had boldly sought the title, it was eventually moved up to 3rd place as a final showing for the Honda CIVIC TYPE R-GT car that will be retired from SUPER GT racing as of this season.
＜GT300＞ In the GT300 class race, the pole-starting No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) led the race in the first half, while Shiotsu in the No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Yusuke Shiotsu / Iori Kimura) that had started from 2nd position on the grip ran conservatively in the first half with the strategy of making no tire change in its pit stop to shorten the time needed for pit work. With this, car No. 5’s driver Iori Kimura managed to keep the lead despite the difficult condition of his tires and go on to take the first win in the team’s 22-year history. As for the battle for the series championship title, the point leader, the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou / Togo Suganami), which had started from 14th position on the grid, held on to run a good race and finally finish in 6th place. With this, the team managed to win its second championship title, following the one in 2018, by a slim margin of just one point.
*Spectators: Nov. 2: (Race Day) 32,000 / Nov. 1: (Qualifying Day) 18,000
■Series Championship and Race Winner Comments
No.1 au TOM’S GR Supra Sho Tsuboi:“I felt frustrated after the qualifying (finishing 2nd) so I came into today’s race determined to win. Considering the condition of the tires, I felt that it would be a good chance (for us). It turned out that we were able to take the lead, and because I thought that there would be other cars trying a no-tire-change strategy, I wanted to give Yamashita-san a good margin of lead, and I think I was able to do that. Yamashita always had rivals chasing him, and I am grateful that he was able to keep the lead in those tough conditions. I am really glad that we were able to come out of the last race (of the season) with a win.”
Kenta Yamashita:“The last race of the season is always an exhausting experience (wry laugh). But Tsuboi-san was able to take the lead in the first lap and continue to expand his lead, and with the team’s fast pit work, I think this was a perfect race. Now that Tsuboi and the team have won this third consecutive championship, I think it may be a record that maybe will never be repeated again in the future (as well as Yamashita’s third straight title). This also means that we have a chance for a fourth consecutive title (laughs). But I think we owe it all to the team.”
No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG Naoya Gamou:“I am really happy that we got the title. Running in the second half, I didn’t know what was happening (with the title race) so I just kept concentrating on running as fast as I could lap after lap. I am really glad that we won the championship, and when I saw how happy（Suganami）Togo was, it made me happy as well (laughs).”
Togo Suganami:“(Since this is my first title) I am very, very happy! Since we didn’t get a good position in the qualifying, I didn’t know what would happen when the race started, but the team’s perfect strategy and Gamou-san’s strong racing, and some good luck along the way (we won the title). From about the last 20 laps I was hoping that it would all be over soon, and it felt like the longest 20 laps of my life (wry smile). When we won the title in 2018 it was on Gamou-san’s birthday, and today is my birthday, so I am especially happy (laughs).”
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
■Winner Comments
No.5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO Yusuke Shiotsu:“Watching until the goal was finally reached felt like the longest time I could ever experience (smiles). But it’s because it has taken the team 22 years to get this win. I was able to join the team from last year, so I am really glad to see the work of the team until now finally being shown with the result in this final round. I really want to express my gratitude to the team… this is truly great!”
Iori Kimura:“I want to express my gratitude to the TEAM MACH owner, Mr. Tamanaka, for giving me the chance to enter this year’s competition, and to everyone on the team for enabling us to run with no serious trouble. I think this is a race that we won thanks to the support of our sponsors and the fans. And since the (car’s) package has come together from the middle of this season I am really relieved that we were able to win.”
