Tomita Excited by Revised Gainer Z’s Potential

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 expecting a certain degree of trouble, but actually it went about 200 times better than I had imagined,” Tomita told Sportscar365.

“The impact of the aero changes we made over the winter has been significant. Sector two at Fuji was always a problem for us, but now we generate a lot more downforce, and the cornering speed is higher, resulting in the kind of times you saw.

“Honestly, I don’t know what the others around us are doing, so I don’t know to what extent this level of performance is real, but just based on comparing the data to last year, it feels like we are at the stage where we can always fight for around the top six.

“I feel like Okayama could be a really good circuit for the car with the revised aero package, and Dunlop has been doing a great job with tire development since the end of last year, so I think the tires have also improved.

“If everything goes smoothly, I think Okayama could be a good weekend.”

Gainer, which previously fielded a pair of Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s before embarking on the Z project for the 2024 season, has achieved a best finish of fifth since the new machine’s introduction, which came in last year’s Sugo race.

For Tomita, who is also a race winner in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup with Team WRT, a lack of recent success in SUPER GT has only fuelled his desire to make the 2026 season a memorable one for the team.

“To begin with, I really want to win a race,” said Tomita. “Everyone in the team has put in such a tremendous effort to prepare, and I personally haven’t even had a podium finish since the final year that we used the GT-R [in 2023].

“Both in Europe and here I was used to always fighting for the podium, but since the car changed it has been tough going. So firstly, I want to win.

“Once we have achieved that, it would good to have a season that allows us to think about the championship.”

Tomita added that the atmosphere within the Kyoto Prefecture-based team is different now it has returned to being a constructor rather than a mere customer outfit.

“Both [technical director Yosuke] Fukuda-san and I feel the same way, but I would say our level of commitment is way higher than it was before,” he said. “I can really feel the passion that this team has towards trying to win with this car.

“Everyone else that has introduced a ‘JAF’ [GTA-GT300] rules car lately has been able to achieve good results early on, but we haven’t yet.

“So I hope we can reach that level quickly and start the season in a positive way.”

Source: Sports Car 365