Fuji 24 Hours
 | |
| Super Taikyu Series | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Fuji Speedway |
| Corporate sponsor | NAPAC (Nippon Auto Parts Aftermarket Committee) |
| First race | 1967 (original) 2018 (current) |
| Duration | 24 hours |
| Most wins (driver) | Kiyoto Fujinami (3) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Nissan (5) |
The Fuji Super TEC 24 Hour Race, also known as the NAPAC Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour GT, touring car, and production sports car endurance race held annually at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
The race is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and promoted by the Super Taikyu Organisation (STO), and is the longest round of the Super Taikyu Series. Since its revival in 2018, the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours has traditionally been held late in the spring season, either in early June or late May.
History
[edit]
The first 24-hour automobile endurance race in Japan was held at Fuji Speedway in April 1967, but the Fuji 24 Hour Race would only be held one more time in 1968 before the event was discontinued for several decades.
On 1 September 2017, 50 years after the race was first held, Fuji Speedway announced the revival of the Fuji 24 Hour Race as a round of the Super Taikyu Series, beginning in 2018. This was the first 24-hour endurance race to be held in Japan since the Tokachi 24 Hours was last staged in 2008.[1] The "Super TEC" event name is a homage to the Fuji Inter TEC Race, which was held from 1985 to 1998 as part of the All-Japan Touring Car Championship.
Beginning in 2021, Super Taikyu introduced the ST-Q class for manufacturer-developed, non-homologated special vehicles. At that year's Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours, Toyota introduced a specially-developed Toyota GR Corolla concept vehicle powered by a hydrogen internal combustion engine.[2] The car successfully completed the 24-hour race.[3] In 2023, the GR Corolla H2 Concept re-debuted at the Fuji 24 Hours after being converted from using gaseous hydrogen to liquid hydrogen and also completed the race.
Nissan introduced a new car for the 2022 race, the Nissan Z Racing Concept, which would serve as the prototype for the Nissan Z GT4 that launched in 2023.[4]
List of winners
[edit]| Year | Drivers | Team | Car | Layout | Distance | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 |  Shihomi Hosoya Yoshio Otsubo
|
Toyota Motor Sports Club (TMSC)
|
Toyota 2000GT | 6 km | 537 laps | |
| 1968 | Tōru Itaya Takatoshi Teranishi
|
Sports Car Club of Nissan (SCCN)
|
Nissan Fairlady 2000 | 512 laps | ||
| 2018 | Teruhiko Hamano Kazuki Hoshino Kiyoto Fujinami Hironobu Yasuda Sun Zheng
|
GTNET Motor Sports
|
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2015) | 4.563 km | 759 laps | Super Taikyu |
| 2019 | Teruhiko Hamano Kazuki Hoshino Kiyoto Fujinami Kazuki Hiramine
|
GTNET Motor Sports
|
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2015) | 801 laps | ||
| 2020 | Daisuke Yamawaki Shinichi Takagi Shaun Thong Yuki Nemoto
|
Mercedes-AMG Team Hirix Racing
|
Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 528 laps | ||
| 2021 | Noboyuki Ōyagi Takayuki Aoki Kiyoto Fujinami Natsu Sakaguchi
|
GTNET Motor Sports
|
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2018) | 763 laps | ||
| 2022 | Yutaka Toriba Yuya Hiraki Reiji Hiraki Shaun Thong
|
HELM Motorsports
|
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2018) | 760 laps | ||
| 2023 | Ryuta Ukai Naoya Gamou Hibiki Taira Tatsuya Kataoka
|
Zhongsheng Rookie Racing
|
Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 730 laps | ||
| 2024 | Ryuta Ukai Giuliano Alesi Naoya Gamou Tatsuya Kataoka
|
Zhongsheng Rookie Racing
|
Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 773 laps |
Records
[edit]Multiple overall wins by driver
[edit]| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Kiyoto Fujinami
|
2018, 2019, 2021 |
| 2 | Teruhiko Hamano
|
2018, 2019 |
| Kazuki Hoshino
|
2018, 2019 | |
| Shaun Thong
|
2020, 2022 | |
| Ryuta Ukai
|
2023, 2024 | |
| Naoya Gamou
|
2023, 2024 | |
| Tatsuya Kataoka
|
2023, 2024 |
Overall wins by manufacturer
[edit]| Wins | Manufacturer | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Nissan
|
1968, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 |
| 3 |  Mercedes
|
2020, 2023, 2024 |
| 1 | Toyota
|
1967 |
References
[edit]- ^ ""24-hour domestic race revived for the first time in 10 years! Announces Plan to Hold 24-Hour Race at Fuji Speedway"" (PDF) (in Japanese). 1 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ CORPORATION, TOYOTA MOTOR. "Toyota Developing Hydrogen Engine Technologies Through Motorsports | Corporate | Global Newsroom". Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ CORPORATION, TOYOTA MOTOR. "TOYOTA NEWS #150｜The 24-Hour Challenge of the Hydrogen-Powered Engine｜TOYOTA TIMES". TOYOTA TIMES. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ "Nissan Z Racing Concept for Fuji 24-hour race unveiled". Global Nissan Newsroom. 2022-06-04. Retrieved 2023-07-17.