Rookie Racing will use the new GT3 race car for the first time under competitive conditions. Hiroaki Ishiura and up-and-coming driver Tokiya Suzuki will take over the cockpit. The purpose of the deployment is primarily to prepare for the planned racing program starting in 2027.
Toyota will bring its new GR GT3 to the race track earlier than originally planned for extensive race use. At the season finale of the Japanese Super GT Championship at the Mobility Resort Motegi, the vehicle will compete for the first time under competitive conditions on November 7 and 8, 2026. The car will be used by Rookie Racing, which will replace its current vehicle in the GT300 category for this purpose.
The new racing car will be called ENEOS X PRIME GR GT3 Concept Driven and carrying the starting number 32. This marks the first time the new GT3 development from Toyota has been used in place of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that has been used so far. The two final races are each scheduled to be over 250 kilometers long.
Ishiura and Suzuki form the driver duo
At the wheel, Hiroaki Ishiura and Tokiya Suzuki alternate. Ishiura has been active as a Toyota works driver for many years and was instrumental in developing the new GR GT3. His sporting achievements include two titles in the Super Formula and a previous driver’s title in the GT300 class.
His teammate Suzuki is part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge youth program. For the young driver, the opportunity to compete alongside an experienced pilot in the premiere of the new vehicle is a unique experience.
Rookie Racing had already tested the GR GT3 at a function test at Fuji Speedway in early October. The test took place before the Super-GT event at Autopolis and prepared for the now planned use in Motegi.
Start of the planned program from 2027
The appearance at the season finale is primarily intended as a practice test under racing conditions. Although Rookie Racing has so far competed in the GT300 championship with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, the short-term switch to the new Toyota does not place the regular championship result first.
The GR GT3 is driven in Motegi as a so-called open participant. This means that the vehicle is not eligible for championship points. Furthermore, no balance of performance has been published for the car, as is required for the regular-rated vehicles in the class. Calculations and comparisons with the other participants are therefore only possible to a limited extent.
The premiere marks an important step on the path to wider use of the GR GT3 in the 2027 season. Toyota plans to use the new race car in several international and national competitions in the future. These include, according to the plans announced so far, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Super GT, and races around the Nürburgring endurance series and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, where Ishiura has also previously taken part himself on several occasions.
With the GR GT3, Toyota is pursuing the goal of establishing a new competitive vehicle for international GT3 racing. The start in Motegi provides initial insights from a real racing weekend, before the vehicle is to be used on a larger scale from 2027 onwards.