With the conclusion of the 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Official tests at Okayama and Fuji, the opening round of the season at Okayama is fast approaching (held on April 11th and 12th).
With this, we interviewed some of the drivers who will be the focus of special attention, as well as rookie drivers and newly added drivers. As we look forward to the start of the series we offer their messages to the SUPER GT fans.
In this 13th edition, we will be talking with Kotaro Shimbara, who has performed well in FIA-F4, and this season will be a GT300 class rookie driving the No. 18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3.
* Interviewed at the Official tests at Okayama
Kotaro Shimbara No. 18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 (GT300 class rookie)
− Welcome to SUPER GT. We have seen your performances in FIA-F4, and now will you tell us about how you came to join TEAM UPGARAGE and the atmosphere on this team? I received the offer to join the team sometime around December of last year. I believe this was the result of their evaluation of my performance over the course of last year, but I don’t know the details of the actual process leading up to that. Often, I have been invited to join Mr. Ishida, Chairman of UP GARAGE at meals, which were always delicious, which made me so happy, and because of that I think it made me want to work that much harder (laughs).
One of my seniors on the team, (Takashi)Kobayashi-san, is truly a person who generates a fine aura, and he also teaches me a lot of the finer points of what I need to know. These include advice about driving, as well as quite a wide range of other things like how to train.
− In these tests until now driving the Mercedes AMG GT3, what is your impression of the car? We believe that the car’s characteristics must be quite different from the formula cars you have driven in FIA-F4. To begin with, this was my first time diving on a circuit in a Hakosha (not a formula car or prototype racing car but a mass-production based racing car), and before the Official Test at Okayama, I drove it for the first time at the GTE tests (at Fuji). Because the car itself is “softer” than a formula car, I felt it was harder to judge the car’s limits in the turns, which I think made it difficult for me. On the straights it is surprisingly fast, so when I am driving it didn’t bother me much.
But more than this, I feel nervous when making a pit stop. Since the FIA-F4 championship races are sprint races, there are no pit stops. If I can stay calm there, it is my job to decide precisely whether the car can be stopped or not, so I think that is where I have to work hard and do my best.
− We are also aware of the fact that you are currently a full-time student at Tokyo university. Is it difficult to maintain a good balance between these two responsibilities? I don’t really think about trying to balance the two, because I am currently focusing mainly on racing, and I guess I will just feel lucky if I can manage to graduate in the time that is left. Racing is something that I only have the chance to do now, and I think I still have some margin of time in terms of my academic studies. In order to make racing the center of my life now, I moved from Tokyo to a place near the factory of the Super Formula Lights. Rather than studying at a desk, I believe I can learn more being here where the development work is going on, so I have no intention of concentrating on academics now.
− Well, in closing, would you please tell us about your goals for this season and the opening round at Okayama? Prior to acquiring the ability to work on the car’s settings, since I still feel I am lacking in the driving skills needed to record fast times, during the official Tests and the early stages of the season, I want to make sure I can catch up with my driving partner, Kobayashi-san, in terms of driving skills. In last year’s opening round, this UPGARAGE car spent a lot of time leading the race, so I think that shows it has the potential to win. So, I want to focus on improving my driving skills to the point where I can bring out that full potential of the car.
In the next interview we will talk with Ryota Horachi, who the year before last finished 2nd in the FIA-F4 championship, and this season he will make his SUPER GT debut driving the No. 25 HOPPY Schatz GR Supra GT. We hope you will look forward to it.
