GOODSMILE RACING & TeamUKYO RACE REPORT 1
2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Round 1 OKAYAMA GT 300 km RACE
Dates: April 12 (Sat) and 13 (Sun), 2025
Venue: Okayama International Circuit (Okayama Prefecture)
Attendance: 8,700 for the preliminaries: 14,500 for the final
Preliminaries: 1st place
Final: 4th place
Points earned: 14 pts
Series ranking: 4th (14 pts)
As usual, the SUPER GT 2025 season was held at the Okayama International Circuit on the second weekend of April 2025.
Like previously, GOODSMILE RACING & Team UKYO for the 2025 season, led by Takanori Aki, has Ukyo Katayama as its manager, Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka as drivers, RS Fine as the maintenance garage, Mercedes-AMG GT3 as the car, and YOKOHAMA for the tires.
However, the manager and neither of the drivers were unable to participate in the third round because this overseas round Sepang, revived after six years, was scheduled exactly at the same time as the Super 24-Hour Race, which is something the team also had not done in six years.
To compensate for this, the team also prepared a new lineup dedicated to the Sepang race. This Sepang race lineup had as its drivers Taku Bamba, who drove when the team won the championship for the first time in 2011, Yuki Nakayama, who has experience as a GT300 champion, and rookie driver Hayato Okumoto.
Moreover, the SUPER GT 2025 season had undergone major rule changes.
Firstly, the qualifying method was reverted to knockout, which is what was used until the 2023 season. However, the number of car able to advance to Q2 was also increased from 16 to 18.
Next, the point system for the GT300 class was revised. Previously, points were awarded up to 10th place, but from the 2025 season, 25 points are awarded to the winner in the final race, while points are also awarded up to 15th place. Moreover, looking at the preliminaries, although 1st place was given 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point until the previous season, only 1st place is awarded 1 point starting from this season.
Furthermore, since the series title is awarded based on the total number of valid points from seven out of eight races, Taniguchi and Kataoka, who missed the Sepang match, still had a chance to become champions.
Moreover, the success weight system, which is also a feature of SUPER GT, uses a weighting of “earned points x 2 kg” as in the 2024 season, and up to 50 kg is actual weights, while a fuel restrictor is installed from 51 kg to 100 kg. The time reduction that would have occurred if weights were actually loaded was thus applied by extending the fueling time.
In terms of balance of performance (BoP) for this competition, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is not much different from last year, with the air restrictor being φ34.5×2 and the vehicle weight being 1,285 kg and the BoP weight of 50 kg, giving a total of 1,335 kg.
Meanwhile, last year’s champion car, the Lamborghini HURACAN GT3 EVO2, was to be fitted with a 48 mm x 1 restrictor, which is 3 mm smaller than last year’s 51 mm x 1.
April 12 (Sat) [Official Practice, Official Preliminaries]
Weather: Q1/Q2: Cloudy
Course: Dry
Air temperature/road surface temperature
GT300 Q1 start: 23°C/31°C
GT300 Q2: 22°C/29°C.
At 9:30 a.m., the official practice for the opening round began at the Okayama International Circuit under a clear sky, as suggested by Okayama’s moniker the “sunny prefecture.” Kataoka got into the No. 4 Good Smile Hatsune Miku AMG and entered the track at the start of the session. There was no problem with the balance of the machine he brought in, and on the seventh lap, he recorded a time of 1’26.125 despite getting caught in traffic, moving up to 2nd place. After that, he checked the different settings and continued to drive until the 21st lap before being replaced by Taniguchi.
Taniguchi continued to lap with the tires used by Kataoka and checked the long run for the race. He also drove in the GT300 exclusive race from 10:55 a.m. and completed a total of 28 laps until the checkered lap. The best time for car No. 4 was 1’26.125 set by Kataoka on the seventh lap, ending the official practice session at 10th place.
The preliminaries for the 2025 season were done in knockout fashion. The GT300 class Q1 was divided into two groups, with 14 cars each in Group A and Group B, the top nine cars in each group advancing to Q2. The Q1 grouping for this tournament was determined based on the team rankings in the 2024 season, so car No. 4 was placed in Group A.
Owing to the strategy of engineer Victor, who joined the team from the final race of last season, Taniguchi was assigned the attack driver for Q1.
At 2 p.m., the Q1A race started. Taniguchi headed to the track at the start of the session and warmed up his tires for the attack.
As the cars entered the attack lap, car No. 18 recorded a time of 1’26.562 on the fourth lap, which was the target time. Taniguchi started the attack on the fifth lap and moved up to the top with a time of 1’26.116. However, car No. 18 immediately updated its time, so Taniguchi fell back to 2nd place. Car No. 6 hit a time of 1’25.619 to take the lead, so that car No. 4 moved into 3rd place.
Taniguchi continued to attack and recorded a time of 1’25.928 on the checkered lap. Although he did not reach the top, he was in 2nd place with a time that surpassed car No. 18 and could advance to Q2.
At 2:53 p.m., the GT300 class Q2 started. The 18 cars that passed Q1 took pole position and made a time attack at once. Car No. 4 adjusted its settings based on feedback from Taniguchi, who had been in charge of Q1, and entered the track with Kataoka at the helm.
Since the road surface had warmed up after the GT500 Q1, the cars’ pace was significantly faster than in Q1. Car No. 61 recorded a time of 1’24.579 on the fourth lap, and for the first time this weekend, all cars entered the 1’24 range and took the lead, immediately after which car No. 777, also equipped with Dunlop tires, recorded a time of 1’24.536 to renew the lead time and heat up the circuit.
Kataoka started his first attack on the fifth lap and recorded the third fastest time at 1’24.639. On the sixth lap that followed, he continued to attack and set a new personal best in all sectors with a fast drive, saying “I’ve never felt this good driving before,” and won pole position with a time of 1’24.420, creating a stir at the circuit. This pole position was also Kataoka’s second achievement since the eighth round of Motegi in 2017, giving the team a reason to celebrate.
April 13 (Sun) [Final]
Weather: Rainy and cloudy
Course: Wet dry
Air temperature/road surface temperature
Before the start (13:00): 11°C/15°C
Early (13:30): 11°C/15°C
Interruption and Resumption (13:55): 11°C/16°C
Middle (14:30): 11°C/15°C
End (15:30): 11°C/14°C
Right before the finish line (16:00): 12°C/15°C.
The original weather forecast said that it would stop raining by the time the race started, but even after the warm-up, thick rain clouds hung in the sky and the rain continued. The wind was also strong so the call was made that it was dangerous, and the plan to have race ambassadors holding grid boards and standing on each team’s grid was canceled at the last minute.
As a tribute to the car that won pole position, the No. 4 Good Smile Hatsune Miku AMG lined up on the grid after all the other cars had done so and then drove up to occupy the foremost part of the grid.
The rain did not stop even during the grid walk and national anthem, so the race started in wet conditions. Kataoka was the starting driver. At 1:30 p.m., the formation lap began, but due to the large volumes of water on the track surface, it was judged to be dangerous, so a safety car took the lead.
On the fifth lap, the safety car returned to the pits and the race started. However, immediately after that, a GT500 car caused a multiple-vehicle crash at Corner 2, after which the safety car was back on.
Due to the large crash involving multiple cars, parts were scattered over a wide area, so Kataoka slowed down as he passed the field, being forced to move forward by car No. 777. The race was then suspended with a red flag to rescue the drivers and recover the vehicles.
At 1:55 p.m., the formation started moving again with the safety car in the lead, and the race resumed on the 11th lap. The No. 777 car equipped with Dunlop tires had excellent warm-up performance, widening the gap down to car No. 4. Moreover, car No. 61, also with Dunlops, approached from behind, forcing car No. 4 to put up a fight.
However, from the 13th lap, car No. 4 regained its pace and gradually caught up with car No. 777.
On the 14th lap, a GT500 car went off the track and got stuck in the gravel, so the safety car was introduced again.
When the race resumed on the 19th lap, car No. 4 was approaching car No. 777 again.
On the 21st lap, Kataoka got right at the tail of car No. 777 in a hairpin curve and lined up on the inside at the Piper corner, but there was a slight disturbance here and he made contact with car No. 777 from the inside. As a result, car No. 777 spun off the track and got stuck on the gravel, introducing FCY (Full Course Yellow).
The race resumed on the 23rd lap, and car No. 4 regained its pace and began to widen the gap with the rest of the racers. However, a drive-through penalty was given to car No. 4 for contact with car No. 777, which Kataoka completed in the 32nd lap and dropped to 7th place. Still, he overtook car No. 20 in that lap and moved up to 6th place, while car No. 61, in 2nd position, entered routine pit work and became 5th.
On the 43rd lap, car No. 0, which was running just ahead, entered the pits and moved to 4th place.
On the 44th lap, car No. 65 also headed to the pits and moved up to 3rd position. Furthermore, on this lap, car No. 18, which was in 3rd place, was pushed by car No. 6, which was in 4th place, and spun. Car No. 4 passed and moved up to 2nd place.
After 46 laps, the team called Kataoka to the pit and replaced him with Taniguchi. After refueling, he put on slick tires and pitted ahead of other teams. The record line had started to dry up, but the rain had not yet stopped, so Taniguchi was in 13th place and could not pick up the pace for about five laps after getting back on, and by the 49th lap he had dropped to 18th place. Some of the teams that pitted after car No. 4 saw that the rain would continue and changed to wet tires.
After that, when the track finally became dry, Taniguchi picked up his pace as if he had gotten second wind and advanced in the score board one after another. Rival teams also made their second pit stops to switch to slick tires one after another, so the rankings fluctuated rapidly.
By the time all the cars had switched to slick tires in the 55th lap, car No. 4 was in 5th place.
From here, Taniguchi started chasing car No. 96, which was running 2.5 seconds ahead, but in the 63rd lap, a GT500 car went off the track and stopped on the spot. FCY and then a safety car.
The race resumed in the 69th lap, with the gap between the cars having been reduced to zero due to the safety car. As a result, the gap with car No. 96 disappeared, but at the same time, the gap with car No. 56 at the rear, which should have been a big gap before the safety car, disappeared, so there was a chase from behind.
In the 71st lap, car No. 56 overtook and Taniguchi dropped to 6th place. In the 73rd lap, car No. 65, who was in 2nd place, and car No. 18, who was in the lead, made contact after a fierce battle. Car No. 18 went off the track, and although it took a lot of time to return, it came back ahead of car No. 4 in 5th place.
In the 77th lap, Taniguchi passed car No. 18, which had been slowing down after contact, on the back straight and moved up to 5th place. Moreover, car No. 18 stopped due to machine trouble after this.
In the 78th lap, Taniguchi overtook car No. 96 at a hairpin curve and moved up to 4th place. Since the top GT500 team finished on this lap, this lap became the final lap for car No. 4, and Taniguchi received the checkered flag in 4th place.
The team ran through a turbulent and difficult race, earning 14 points in pole position and 13 points in 4th place in the final, leaving Okayama with a good start.
■Comments from the Team
The timing of being overtaken by car No. 777 was where the multiple-vehicle crash happened, and we thought that the yellow flag was up, so we were surprised that we’d been overtaken there. GTA has judged that there was no yellow flag and there was no violation, but to be honest, I’m not happy. Above all, with so many vehicles stopped and large parts scattered on the road surface, I think it was daredevil action to overtake while driving over the parts.
This time, the car was in good condition from the set we brought in, so we were able to check the condition of the car as planned without really changing the set. While it felt like we could achieve a one-shot time, I was still a little worried about the long run, so adjusting to the race was a challenge.
Taniguchi was the second driver in the preliminaries. In Q2, Kataoka made a great attack and took pole position.
In the final, we were able to make up for the positions we lost in the early stages by choosing the timing of the pit and the slick tires. However, there were issues with the warming up of the slick tires, and I think we can make it a bit tighter, so I would like to check this thoroughly and try to improve for the next race.
Considering our good condition this week, it was a bit disappointing how the final race turned out.
In Kataoka’s case, there was the racing accident, so there’s little to be done about that. The place with drift rubber on the road surface was more slippery than expected. However, after that, we made a penalty drive-through and came back in 7th place, climbing in the rankings from there.
The most important thing that I can’t quite understand was the pace of changing to slicks. It was a bit of a waste in the part when we were driving the same pace as cars 26 and 18 and could have competed for the lead, so we’ll just have to find out what the cause was.
This time around, I was in charge of the preliminary Q1. To be honest, I was pretty worried about whether I would be able to make it through Q1… Even when I was driving, I only got like 1’26.0, and was able to get 1’25. 9 while feeling really nervous and thinking “How bad is this?” Still, when I thought about my morning time, I thought “This isn’t good,” but when I was told that I was in 2nd place, I was a little relieved and thought “Oh, no one else is getting a good time either.”
After that, Kataoka made a tremendous attack and won an unexpected pole position. This was a Saturday that I never imagined, and it was a great start for this year’s championship.
And then Sunday. There was the “stop-stop scam” as the rain would never stop (laughs). Every time I looked at the weather forecast, it said, “It’s going to stop soon,” “It’s going to stop soon,” but in the end, it didn’t stop and the race started while it was raining.
There were many crashes and contacts, and we also received a penalty, but the team’s decision-making in that situation was excellent, so we were able to finish in 4th place. It felt like the silver lining of a dark cloud.
We ended in 4th place, but I think it was a very positive opening race for me this year. Next is Fuji, which we’re good at, so we want to get 1st place there!
This week, I felt relatively good from the start, and I felt that what we had been working on as a team since last year’s final race was gradually taking shape. Although the long run was a bit of a challenge for me, my intention was to do my best in the preliminaries.
In the preliminaries, I was in charge of Q2. Despite the change in conditions, the final adjustment set fit perfectly, with the car moving as expected. It was really comfortable to drive. I was able to attack without mistakes, and as a result, we took pole position. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be able to take the pole here, so I was pleasantly surprised.
The race started with a rain forecast but being able to start from pole position is a big advantage. However, the morning warm-up run was quite tough when there was so much rain, so I was worried about the race. In the end, the rain had stopped a bit at start, so I felt it would be doable.
However, in the early stages, the GT500s had multiple crashes, and as I was slowing down with so many parts scattered, I was overtaken by car No. 777. I thought it was a yellow flag section, and I honestly wondered what made them try to overtake there in the first place…
After the restart, at first, the No. 777 car with Dunlops seemed to warm up the tires faster, but the pace flipped once mine were warmed up too. When I tried to get back from the Piper corner as I was catching up, I slipped more than I expected due to the rubber on the road surface, so that the line widened, and I made light contact. My opponent spun.
It was a light contact, but I thought it would be a drive-through penalty, so I increased my pace so as not to fall behind even a little. As a result, even after completing the drive-through, I got back to 7th place and moved to 6th place on that lap. After that, car No. 18 spun due to an accident and I was able to return to 5th place.
I really wanted to do a bit more with the wet tires, but when the road surface became completely dry, the tires screeched, so I had no choice but to pit and be replaced by Taniguchi.
I really regret the contact, and it’s something I have to reflect on, but in terms of speed, it felt good both dry and wet. I think there’s a lot with can take with us to the next race.
