SUPER GT Malaysia Festival: Toyota Sets New Record; UPGarage Claims GT300 Victory
Sepang, Malaysia – The #37 Deloitte TOM’S Toyota GR Supra, driven by Ukyo Sasahara and Giuliano Alesi, captured victory at the SUPER GT Malaysia Festival, marking a historic seventh consecutive win for Toyota in the GT500 class. This achievement surpasses Honda’s previous record from 1998-1999, solidifying Toyota’s dominance in recent seasons.
Sasahara’s strategic long first stint and a focused tire strategy—only changing front tires—allowed TOM’S to gain crucial track position. Alesi extended their lead after exiting the pits ahead of the #8 ARTA Mugen Honda Civic Type-R GT, which had initially led the race after lap nine, thanks to Tomoki Nojiri’s pace.
While Honda secured two top-three finishes with the #8 ARTA Civic (second place) and the penalized #100 Stanley Civic, the latter was docked ten seconds for a collision involving the #38 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra. This penalty promoted the #12 TRS Impul Nissan Z NISMO GT500, driven by Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette, to third place.
In the GT500 standings, the #1 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Kenta Yamashita) finished seventh, maintaining a nine-point lead in the championship despite Tsuboi’s early spin.
In GT300, Team UPGarage achieved its first race win as a Mercedes-AMG customer team. Takashi Kobayashi and rookie Yuto Nomura led the #18 UPGarage AMG GT3 to victory after a dramatic second half of the race. Nomura, who started from pole, was initially overtaken by Seita Nonaka of the #52 Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Supra. However, a slow pit stop for the Supra shifted momentum back to UPGarage, allowing Kobayashi to fend off late pressure from Hiroki Yoshida.
Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO’s "B-Team" of Yuhki Nakayama and Shunji Okumoto completed a remarkable race to secure third, with Okumoto demonstrating competitive pace late in the race.
The two JLOC Lamborghinis rounded out the top five, with the #87 Metalive S Huracán GT3 finishing fourth. The #65 LEON Pyramid AMG maintained its lead in the GT300 standings with an eighth-place finish.
The NEXT event in the Autobacs SUPER GT Series is set for Fuji Speedway, featuring the inaugural Fuji GT Sprint Race weekend on August 2nd and 3rd.
