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Photo: SUPER GT Ryuichiro Tomita has expressed his excitement at the potential of Gainer’s revamped Nissan Z GT300 challenger for the upcoming SUPER GT season after an encouraging showing for the new car in last month’s official Fuji pre-season test. The Dunlop-clad No. 11 machine shared by Tomita and co-driver Kazuki Oki achieved the fourth-fastest lap time in class at Fuji, with a best effort of 1:36.198 putting it around four tenths slower than the pace-setting Subaru BRZ. That was despite preparations for the car, an improved version of the Z introduced in 2024 , not being completed in time for the previous test at Okayama. Evaluating the Fuji test, Tomita admitted uncertainty as to Gainer’s real place in the GT300 pecking order but said that the lap time he achieved, and the car’s overall reliability, gives him confidence that a strong showing this year is possible. “As we didn’t run at Okayama and the Fuji test was the first time for us to even turn a wheel, I was expectin...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: SUPER GT Nissan driver Bertrand Baguette has described the looming end of SUPER GT’s tire war as “quite sad” and a “big blow” for the Japanese series as he prepares to commence what will be his 13th season in the GT500 class next week at Okayama. It was announced last year that the upcoming season will be SUPER GT’s last with multi-make tire competition, as the series prepares to introduce one-make tires in 2027. Since joining the series in 2014, Baguette spent five years on Dunlop tires with the Nakajima Racing Honda team — earning the Sumitomo Rubber brand its most recent GT500 win at the Suzuka 1000km with Kosuke Matsuura in 2017 — before switching to Bridgestone rubber in 2019 upon his switch to Real Racing. The 40-year-old, now the eldest driver in the upper category, feels SUPER GT’s appeal will be reduced as a result of adopting single tire suppliers for each class. “It’s quite sad it’s the last year of the tire war,” Baguette told Sportscar365. “It’s a big blow f...

Source: Sports Car 365

Image: Proton Competition Proton Competition will run a special Porsche Motorsport 75th anniversary tribute livery on its No. 75 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo that will contest the upcoming European Le Mans Series season. The German squad confirmed on Tuesday that longtime Porsche factory driver Richard Lietz and Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent will join the previously announced Matthew Kurzejewski at the wheel of the LMGT3 entry. It will sport a livery paying tribute to Porsche’s 1951 Le Mans-winning 356 SL, marking Porsche’s first win in the French endurance classic in its maiden year of competition. The entry, initially listed to run as No. 91, has been re-numbered as part of the tie-in. Former ARCA stock car driver Kurzejewski, who holds previous Ferrari Challenge experience, teamed with Alessandro Balzan to win the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup in GT3 and is now set for his ELMS debut alongside U.S.-based Australian Sargent. Lietz, meanwhile, is a two-time...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Pfaff Motorsports will tackle next month’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with its new Lamborghini Temerario GT3, having confirmed its GTD class entry with Andrea Caldarelli and Zachary Vanier. The Canadian squad, which gave the twin-turbo V8-powered car its global debut in the recent Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, has elected to enter the GTP/GTD-only IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship street race. As a result, FIA Silver-rated driver Vanier, who has been sponsored by Pfaff Automotive through his career, will make his WeatherTech Championship debut, taking the seat typically occupied by Sandy Mitchell when the car runs in GTD Pro. The 23-year-old Canadian, who finished third in last year’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship, recently stepped up to GT3 competition in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, making his debut in last weekend’s season opener at Sonoma Raceway at the wheel of a McCann Racing-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R...