A total of 42 cars, 15 in GT500 and 27 in GT300, are entered for Sunday’s 450km (100 lap) race.
With three races down and five to go, it’s TOM’S Toyota pair Ritomo Miyata and Sho Tsuboi that hold the lead of the standings in GT500, having won on the championship’s previous visit to Fuji in May. They backed that up with a strong run to second last time out at Suzuka.
However, Miyata and Tsuboi face a tough challenge to make it three podium finishes on the bounce as they will be laden with a nominal 72kg of success ballast, making them the only crew in the GT500 field to carry the stage two fuel flow restrictor.
NDDP Nissan drivers Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi sit second in the championship, seven points behind the leaders, and will be saddled by a stage one fuel flow restrictor (58kg).
Conversely, many other cars arrive at Fuji still running light on ballast after a disappointing start to the year.
One of the favourites for victory will be the Kondo Racing Nissan of Daiki Sasaki and Kohei Hirate (6kg), who scored pole at Suzuka only to be penalised for a rare fuel tank infraction. Yokohama finally ended its seven-year win drought that weekend courtesy of the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota team, so there are no doubts that the tyres are up to the job.
Likewise, the two ARTA Mugen NSX-GTs are still relatively light, and could offer Honda the best chance of opening its win account for 2023. Particular attention will be paid to the #8 car of Tomoki Nojiri and Toshiki Oyu (22kg), which has Iori Kimura registered as a third driver in case Oyu cannot race due to the collarbone injury he sustained last month.
Toyota veteran Yuji Tachikawa will also be keen to score a strong result alongside Cerumo team-mate Hiroaki Ishiura on his final visit to Fuji, having announced his retirement last week.
In the GT300 class, both the Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (Joao Paulo de Oliveira/Teppei Natori) and Inging Toyota GR86 GT (Hibiki Taira/Yuui Tsutsumi/Hiroki Katoh), which jointly-lead the points, arrive at Fuji laden with 90kg of success ballast.
The complexion of the battle between the GT3s and lighter JAF-GT300 cars will be changed by a new rule that dictates that mandatory pitstops can only be made from lap five onwards. The podium at Suzuka was filled by cars that made their first stops within the first two laps.
A new GT3 car arrives on the grid in the form of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, which will be driven by JLOC pairing Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima this weekend after a successful shakedown last week.
SUPER GT time schedule for Fuji Round 4
Times are Local/UK time (GMT+1)/EDT/PDT
Saturday August 5
Free practice (1h45 minutes) – 9am/1am/8pm (Friday)/5pm (Friday)
Qualifying – 3.20pm/7.20am/2.20am/11.20pm (Friday)
Sunday August 6
Warm-up – 12.15pm/4.15am/11.15pm (Saturday)/8.1pm (Saturday)
Race (100 laps) – 1.45pm/5.45am/12.45am/9.45pm (Saturday)
Don’t see your timezone listed? Check out our SUPER GT schedule page to see the session times in your local timezone
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Commentary will be provided by Jake Sanson and Motorsport.com’s own expert Japanese racing analyst Jamie Klein.
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SUPER GT entry list for Fuji Round 4
GT500 class:
Manufacturer
Team
Tyre
No.
Drivers
Nissan
Z GT500
Team Impul
Bridgestone
1
NDDP Racing
Michelin
3
NISMO
Michelin
23
Kondo Racing
Yokohama
24
Toyota
GR Supra
Rookie Racing
Bridgestone
14
Racing Project Bandoh
Yokohama
19
TOM’S
Bridgestone
36
37
Cerumo
Bridgestone
38
SARD
Bridgestone
39
Honda
NSX-GT (Type S)
ARTA
Bridgestone
8
16
Real Racing
Bridgestone
17
Nakajima Racing
Dunlop
64
Team Kunimitsu
Bridgestone
100
GT300 class:
No.
Team
Car
Tyre
Drivers
2
Muta Racing Inging
Toyota GR86 GT
Bridgestone
4
Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo
Mercedes-AMG GT3
Yokohama
5
Team Mach
Toyota 86 MC
Yokohama
6
Team LeMans
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Yokohama
7
BMW Team Studie
BMW M4 GT3
Michelin
9
Pacific Racing
Mercedes-AMG GT3
Yokohama
10
Gainer
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
Dunlop
11
Gainer
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
Dunlop
18
Team UpGarage
Honda NSX GT3
Yokohama
20
Shade Racing
Toyota GR86 GT
Dunlop
22
R’Qs Motor Sports
Mercedes-AMG GT3
Yokohama
25
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya
Toyota GR Supra GT300
Yokohama
27
Yogibo Racing
Honda NSX GT3
Yokohama
30
apr
Toyota GR86 GT
Yokohama
31
apr
Lexus LC500h GT
Bridgestone
48
NILZZ Racing
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
Yokohama
50
Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage
Lexus RC F GT3
Yokohama
52
Saitama Toyopet Green Brave
Toyota GR Supra GT300
Bridgestone
56
Kondo Racing
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
Yokohama
60
LM Corsa
Toyota GR Supra GT300
Dunlop
61
R&D Sport
Subaru BRZ
Dunlop
65
K2 R&D LEON Racing
Mercedes-AMG GT3
Bridgestone
87
JLOC
Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Yokohama
88
JLOC
Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Yokohama
96
K-tunes Racing
Lexus RC F GT3
Dunlop
244
Max Racing
Toyota GR Supra GT300
Yokohama
360
Tomei Sports
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
Yokohama
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