Hirate Parts Ways With Nissan After Title Near-Miss

Photo: Nissan

SUPER GT driver Kohei Hirate has parted ways with Nissan after a seven-year spell with the marque, following his GT300 title near-miss last weekend at Motegi.

The 39-year-old made the revelation after finishing fourth in the Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 he shared with Joao Paulo de Oliveira in Sunday’s finale, falling one point shy of LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG pair Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami.

Hirate, who won GT500 titles in 2013 and 2016 with Toyota, was aiming to become just the fourth driver in SUPER GT history to take titles in both classes.

In a post published on social media on Monday, Hirate wrote: “We weren’t able to reach the championship, but I’m proud of the fact we kept looking forward and gave it everything no matter the situation we faced this season.

“The time I have spent driving the GT-R until now is a treasure to me.

“A big thanks to all those at Kondo Racing who prepared a brilliant machine, to my teammate JP [de Oliveira], and to all the fans who had my back no matter what.

“This is not the end. I don’t know what next year will look like, or where I will be driving, but I will definitely return to the racing world. I’m still moving forward.”

Hirate first joined Nissan in 2019 after a year in the GT300 ranks for apr, his time as a Toyota GT500 driver having to a conclusion following the 2017 season.

He spent three years campaigning a GT-R for the B-Max Racing-run NDDP Racing team, winning a race with Frederic Makowiecki at Sugo in 2019 and before spending the following two seasons with Katsumasa Chiyo as his co-driver.

When NISMO took over the running of B-Max’s No. 3 entry upon the introduction of the Z GT500, Hirate was passed up for a seat in favor of Mitsunori Takaboshi, effectively swapping places with Takaboshi and joining Kondo Racing in 2022.

After dropping off the Nissan GT500 roster, Hirate returned to the GT300 ranks in 2024, initially with Nissan customer team Helm Motorsports before being reunited with Kondo this year, scoring two podiums alongside de Oliveira.

De Oliveira meanwhile appears likely to stay on at Kondo Racing’s GT300 for another season, despite missing the second and third rounds of the 2025 campaign at Fuji and Sepang owing to clashing Stock Car Pro Series commitments in Brazil.

Kondo drafted in GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS regular Yu Kanamaru to partner Hirate for the races that de Oliveira missed this year.

Source: Sports Car 365