Nissan Confirms Kondo Racing Bridgestone Tire Switch

Photo: SUPER GT

Nissan has confirmed that the Kondo Racing GT500 team will switch from Yokohama to Bridgestone tires for the upcoming SUPER GT season.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, the No. 24 Nissan Z NISMO will switch to the same tire manufacturer as Kondo’s fellow Nissan squads NISMO and Team Impul for what will be the final year of open competition in the Japanese championship.

It follows Nissan’s decision to scale back to three GT500 entries, which was confirmed by the brand last December, and leaves Yokohama with just a single entry in the top class this year, the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota GR Supra.

Teppei Natori and Atsushi Miyake will share driving duties aboard the No. 24 Kondo Nissan, with Miyake moving across to replace the retired Tsugio Matsuda.

Nissan has now confirmed that Daiki Sasaki, Miyake’s co-driver in the now-discontinued No. 3 NISMO NDDP car, will serve as reserve driver this year.

Kondo’s GT300 class Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 will continue to use Yokohama tires.

Iori Kimura has been named as the new teammate to Joao Paulo de Oliveira at Kondo, the Russian-Japanese driver moving across from Team Mach, having helped the team secure its first ever SUPER GT victory in last year’s Motegi finale.

Kimura, who was previously a factory Honda driver, replaces Kohei Hirate, who split from Nissan following the conclusion of the 2025 campaign.

The No. 56 Kondo car will again be one of four GT-Rs racing in the lower division this year, with Helm Motorsports, NILZZ Racing and Tomei Sports (listed as Runup Sports) all continuing with their respective one-car efforts.

Brothers Reiji and Yuya Hiraki will once again share the No. 62 Helm Motorsports car, while gentleman racers Taiyo Ida and Atsushi Tanaka are so far the only confirmed drivers respectively for the No. 48 NILZZ and No. 360 Tomei entries.

Nissan’s statement also confirms Gainer will return for a third season with its self-constructed Z GT300 car to be driven by an unchanged lineup of Ryuichiro Tomita and Kazuki Oki, but there is no mention of Anest Iwata Racing.

That’s despite expectations that Anest Iwata, which is set to reveal its SUPER GT lineup on Feb. 15 in a special launch event, will field a second example of the Gainer-built Z.

Source: Sports Car 365