 | |
| Founded | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Base | Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture |
| Team principal(s) | Masahiko Kageyama |
| Current series | Super GT GT300 GT World Challenge Asia-Japan Cup |
| Current drivers |
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| Website | www |
K-tunes Racing is a racing team based in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, run by Okayama Toyopet.
Toyota car dealership Okayama Toyopet founded K-tunes Racing in 2013. The team was named after the Kurashiki GR Garage, taking the "K" with the word "tunes" to indicate car tuning.
In 2018, the team competed in the GT300 class of Super GT with a Lexus RC F GT3. The car number was 96, the drivers were Morio Nitta and Toyota factory driver Yuichi Nakayama, and they used Bridgestone tires. They had a collaboration with LM Corsa to operate the team, competing in a joint system with three teams, with Inging Motorsport in charge of vehicle maintenance. [1] [2] They won two races, and Nitta gained the record for the most wins in a row, which had been previously held by Shinichi Takagi. For 2019, they recruited Sena Sakaguchi as Nitta's co-driver, and changed the team management to a system where the team is operated solely by the company, while Inging continued to be in charge of vehicle maintenance. [3] They won the opening race in Okayama and the third race in Suzuka, and finished the season in second place in the driver/team rankings, their best result since the team's founding.
In 2020, the team changed its tire manufacturer to Dunlop and became independent by carrying out in-house vehicle maintenance. After a strong performance the previous year, the team finished the season winless with only two points finishes. [4] In 2021, Sakaguchi competed in the GT500 class as a replacement for Sacha Fenestraz for a couple of rounds, with Hibiki Taira replacing Sakaguchi for those rounds. Shinichi Takagi replaced Sakaguchi, who was promoted to the GT500 class. Nitta and Takagi were reunited for the first time in 12 years, having been teammates at ARTA until 2010. [5]
K-tunes Racing also made their debut in GT World Challenge Asia in 2022, with Nitta and Masanori Nogami in the Lexus RC F GT3 for the fifth round. They returned for the Japan Cup in 2023 with Kazunori Suenaga replacing Nogami. They also entered a GT4 Toyota Supra with Hiromitsu Fujii and Masanori Nogami. [6] In 2024, the team expanded their entry with an additional car, the Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Takagi and Daisuke Yamawaki. [7]
Super GT is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the Zen Nihon GT Senshuken (全日本GT選手権), generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of sports car racing in Japan.
The 2006 Autobacs Super GT Series was the fourteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the second season as the Super GT series. It was also the twenty-fourth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on March 19 and ended on November 5, 2006, after 9 races.
Yuji Kunimoto is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Racing Project Bandoh and in Super Formula for Team Impul. He is the champion of the 2016 Super Formula Championship and the 2010 Japanese Formula 3 Championship.
The 1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the seventh season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the seventeenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion of that season was the Pennzoil Nismo GT-R driven by Érik Comas and Satoshi Motoyama and the GT300 class champion was the MOMOCORSE A'PEX MR2 driven by Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi. Both Comas and Nitta won their respective driver's title on their own since Motoyama and Takagi missed a round each; Motoyama skipped the second round at Fuji because he was participating in the pre-qualifying session of that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans while Takagi missed the first round at Suzuka because he was in the United States on a bid to find a seat in Indy Lights.
The 2012 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twentieth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the eighth season as the Super GT series. It also marked the thirtieth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 1 and ended on November 18, 2012, after eight championship races and a non-championship race.
The 2002 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the tenth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the twentieth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class drivers' champions of 2002 were Juichi Wakisaka and Akira Iida driving the No. 6 Esso Team LeMans Toyota Supra, and the teams' champion was Honda team Mugen x Dome Project with their No. 16 Mugen NSX and No. 18 Takata Dome NSX. The GT300 class drivers' champions were the No. 31 ARTA with A'PEX Toyota MR-S driven by Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi.
The 2017 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-fifth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the thirteenth season under the name Super GT. It was the thirty-fifth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 9 and ended on November 12, after 8 races.
The 2018 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-sixth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourteenth season the series has competed under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-sixth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 8 and ended on November 11, after 8 races.
The 2019 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-seventh season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fifteenth season the series has competed under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-seventh overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 14 and ended on November 24, after 8 championship races & 2 non-championship races.
Sho Tsuboi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing and TOM'S Racing, who currently competes in the Super GT Series GT500 class and Super Formula Championship.
The 2020 Super GT Series was motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-eighth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the sixteenth season the series to compete under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-eighth overall season of a JAF national sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
The 2021 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-ninth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the seventeenth season under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-ninth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship, dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
Sena Sakaguchi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Racing Project Bandoh and in Super Formula for Cerumo・INGING. He is the champion of the 2020 Formula Regional Japanese Championship.
Shinichi Takagi is a Japanese professional racing driver. He won the GT300 class Super GT championship in 2002 and 2019.
The 2022 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars, sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirtieth season of the JAF Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the eighteenth season under the Super GT name. It was also the fortieth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
Hibiki Taira is a Japanese racing driver who most recently competed in Super GT for muta Racing INGING and in Super Formula Lights for TOM'S. He is the champion of the 2020 F4 Japanese Championship, as well as a two-time class winner in the Super Taikyū Series.
The 2023 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars, sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ran by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirty-first season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which included the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the nineteenth season under the Super GT name. It was also the forty-first overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
Morio Nitta is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in the Super GT Series for K-tunes Racing. He is a three-time champion of the GT300 class, winning the championship in 1996, 1999, and 2002.
The 2024 Super GT Series is a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It is the thirty-second season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the twentieth season under the Super GT name. It is also the forty-second overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
LM Corsa is a racing team based in Osaka Prefecture and the team is run by Osaka Toyopet Group's OTG Motor Sports.
