Kenta Yamashita and Kakunoshin Ohta Scratched From Okayama Test
TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE driver Kenta Yamashita and Modulo Nakajima Racing (Honda) driver Kakunoshin Ohta will not take part in this week’s official SUPER GT pre-season test at Okayama International Circuit.
Both drivers have been scratched from the latest official entry list that was published by the GT Association (GTA) today.
Yamashita, the 2019 GT500 Drivers’ Champion, has not driven since he was involved in a high-speed shunt during a manufacturer test at Suzuka Circuit on 24 January.
While driving his #14 Eneos X Prime Toyota GR Supra, Yamashita left the course at the high-speed 130R corner and crashed head-on into the barriers with enough force to turn the car on its side.
Big shunt for the Rookie Racing Supra in the morning session. Driver OK according to the original tweet. #supergt https://t.co/coNDKJ68Ci
— plribault (@plribault) January 24, 2023
Yamashita was able to walk away from the impact but he was brought to hospital later that day for further evaluation. It appeared that he had escaped serious injury when it was announced that he’d been discharged from the hospital the following day. But in fact, the 27-year-old driver revealed in an interview with auto sport Web today that he had suffered a compression fracture in his vertebrae.
The back injury left him bedridden for a month before he began a rehabilitation programme, and understandably he has not been able to resume any racing activities. He returned to Suzuka this weekend, watching from inside the garages.
Yamashita hopes to return to racing in time for the Super Taikyu Series opening round at Suzuka in two weeks’ time – but it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be driving ROOKIE Racing’s #28 Toyota GR86 CNF Concept in the Super Taikyu curtain raiser.
Kazuya Oshima, the 2019 co-champion alongside Yamashita, will be ROOKIE Racing’s only driver for the SUPER GT test at Okayama this weekend on 11-12 March – and Ukyo Sasahara took his place for the Super Formula pre-season test at Suzuka this week.
On 3 March, the second day of a final two-day GT500 manufacturer test, Ohta – who is due to make his GT500 class debut this season with Nakajima Racing – suffered a similar accident at the exact same corner of the same track.
130R入り口で右リアタイヤバースト、スピン状態のままタイヤバリアに….
マシンはフロントもリアも足回りも全部壊れてほぼ全損。太田選手は自ら歩いて救急車に。無事で良かった。。。
長文失礼しました。#SUPERGT pic.twitter.com/oU8V4wUxAP
— にゃんく (@nyanc_R35) March 3, 2023
The wreckage looked spectacular – unsurprising after the car reportedly ended up on its roof. But thankfully, the 23-year-old premier class rookie walked away from his accident, was brought to the circuit medical centre, then to a nearby hospital for further evaluations.
He was discharged from the hospital the following day and in fact, returned to the track for the Suzuka Circuit Fan Thanks Day festivities. But like Yamashita, Ohta came back as an observer. The #64 Modulo Honda NSX-GT suffered severe damage that couldn’t be fixed in time for the Fan Thanks Day events.
As a precaution, Ohta has been removed from the entry list, and Takuya Izawa will be the sole driver of the #64 Modulo NSX-GT during the Okayama test – assuming that a repaired or replacement chassis is ready in time. Ohta has also been scratched from the Super Formula pre-season test – ironically, replaced by Hiroki Otsu, who lost his seat in that series to Ohta this off-season.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT500 | 1 | Nissan Z GT500 Marelli Impul Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette | Team Impul | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 3 | Nissan Z GT500 Niterra Motul Z | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi | NDDP Racing | Michelin |
| GT500 | 8 | Honda NSX-GT ARTA Mugen NSX-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu | ARTA | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 14 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Eneos X Prime GR Supra | Kazuya Oshima | TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 16 | Honda NSX-GT ARTA Mugen NSX-GT | Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu | ARTA | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 17 | Honda NSX-GT Astemo NSX-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita | Astemo Real Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 19 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 WedsSport Advan GR Supra | Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | Yokohama |
| GT500 | 23 | Nissan Z GT500 Motul Autech Z | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli | NISMO | Michelin |
| GT500 | 24 | Nissan Z GT500 Realize Corporation Advan Z | Daiki Sasaki Kohei Hirate | Kondo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT500 | 36 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 au TOM's GR Supra | Sho Tsuboi Ritomo Miyata | TGR Team au TOM's | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 37 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Deloitte TOM's GR Supra | Ukyo Sasahara Giuliano Alesi | TGR Team Deloitte TOM's | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 38 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 ZENT Cerumo GR Supra | Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura | TGR Team ZENT Cerumo | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 39 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama | TGR Team SARD | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 64 | Honda NSX-GT Modulo NSX-GT | Takuya Izawa | Modulo Nakajima Racing | Dunlop |
| GT500 | 100 | Honda NSX-GT Stanley NSX-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino | Team Kunimitsu | Bridgestone |
There have been some changes to the GT300 entry list as well. Gentleman driver Hiroaki Nagai will not drive the #30 apr Toyota GR86 GT at the upcoming Okayama test. He’s been replaced by his long-time GT World Challenge Asia and Super Taikyu co-driver Yuta Kamimura, who will test alongside two-time GT300 champion Manabu Orido and three-time Porsche Carrera Cup champion Ryo Ogawa.
Kamimura and Ogawa were signed to share third driver duties for this season’s five long-distance rounds, with Nagai and Orido once again returning to run the full season.
Shintaro Kawabata, the third driver for the reorganised Pacific Racing Team, is also a late scratch from the test at Okayama. Ryohei Sakaguchi and Liang Jiatong will drive their #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT300 | 2 | Toyota GR86 GT300 muta Racing GR86 GT | Yuui Tsutsumi Hibiki Taira | muta Racing INGING | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 4 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka | Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 5 | Dome MC86 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86 Mach Go | Yusuke Tomibayashi Takamitsu Matsui | Team Mach | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 6 | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II Dobot Audi R8 LMS | Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto Merhi Muntan Seiya Jin | Team LeMans | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 7 | BMW M4 GT3 Studie BMW M4 | Seiji Ara Bruno Spengler | BMW Team Studie x CRS | Michelin |
| GT300 | 9 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo TBN | Ryohei Sakaguchi Liang Jiatong | Pacific Racing Team | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 10 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Ponos Gainer GT-R | Hironobu Yasuda Riki Okusa | Gainer | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 11 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Gainer TanaX GT-R | Ryuichiro Tomita Keishi Ishikawa Yusuke Shiotsu | Gainer | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 18 | Honda NSX GT3 Evo UPGarage NSX GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide | Team UPGarage | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 20 | Toyota GR86 GT300 SHADE Racing GR86 GT | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Eijiro Shimizu Shinnosuke Yamada | SHADE Racing | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 22 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo R'Qs AMG GT3 | Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai Masaki Kano | R'Qs Motor Sports | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 25 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Hoppy Schatz GR Supra | Seita Nonaka Togo Suganami | Hoppy Team Tsuchiya | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 27 | Honda NSX GT3 Evo Yogibo NSX GT3 | Yugo Iwasawa Reimei Ito | Yogibo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 30 | Toyota GR86 GT300 apr GR86 GT | Manabu Orido Yuta Kamimura Ryo Ogawa | apr | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 31 | Lexus LC500h GT300 apr LC500h GT | Koki Saga Kazuto Kotaka Yuki Nemoto | apr | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 48 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Shokumou K's Frontier GT-R | Taiyo Ida Yuki Tanaka Yusaku Shibata | NILZZ Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 50 | Lexus RC F GT3 Anest Iwata Racing RC F GT3 | Igor Omura Fraga Yuga Furutani Miki Koyama | Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 52 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 56 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R | João Paulo de Oliveira Teppei Natori | Kondo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 60 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshimoto Shunsuke Kohno | LM corsa | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 61 | Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | R&D Sport | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 65 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo LEON Pyramid AMG | Naoya Gamou Takuro Shinohara | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 87 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3 | Kosuke Matsuura Natsu Sakaguchi | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 88 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 TBN | Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 96 | Lexus RC F GT3 K-tunes RC F GT3 | Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi | K-tunes Racing | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 244 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Hachi-Ichi GR Supra GT | Kimiya Sato Atsushi Miyake | Max Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 360 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 RunUp Rivaux GT-R | Takayuki Aoki Atsushi Tanaka Takuya Otaki | Tomei Sports | Yokohama |
Images © Toyota, Japan Race Promotion (JRP)
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