Three Nissan Z NISMO GT500’s inside top 10 in second round of SUPER GT

• #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z finished 4th

• #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z secured 8th

• #3 Niterra MOTUL Z took 10th

Three Nissan Z NISMO GT500 cars scored top 10 finishes in the second round of the 2025 SUPER GT series held May 4 at Fuji Speedway. Starting in 12th position, the #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) made a strong comeback to finish in 4th place. The #23 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Katsumasa Chiyo/Mitsunori Takaboshi) worked its way from 15th to 8th, while the #3 Niterra MOTUL Z (Daiki Sasaki/Atsushi Miyake) took 10th.

Detailed race report

Sunny conditions at Fuji set the scene for round two, with temperatures hitting a high of 24 degrees Celsius as the three-hour race got under way.

It didn’t take long for Baguette in the #12 Z to step up the pace, making two overtakes in the fifth and sixth laps to grab 10th place. Chiyo in the #23 Z followed suit, moving into 13th on the 17th lap, while Miyake in the #3 Z held on to 6th place as the race’s first mandatory pit stop approached.

After 36 laps, the #3 Z pitted and Miyake remained behind the wheel. Following the 39th lap, the #12 Z made a pit stop and Hiramine took over. Chiyo pitted after 40 laps and passed the baton to Takaboshi.

By the 45th lap, all the cars in the GT500 class had finished their first pit stops, with the #3 Z in 4th place, the #12 Z in 9th and the #23 Z in 13th. Hiramine overtook cars on laps 48, 61, and 66 to move up to 6th. Takaboshi also made passes on laps 47 and 53 to claim 11th. Meanwhile, Miyake held on to 4th place.

After 74 laps the #3 Z pitted and Sasaki slotted in. The #12 Z and the #23 Z followed suit after 76 laps and adopted a “long stint” strategy retaining the same drivers. By the end of the 85th lap, all the cars in the GT500 class had completed their second mandatory pit stops, with the #12 Z in 5th place, the #3 Z in 9th and the #23 Z in 12th.

From here, the Nissan Z NISMO GT500s pulled out all stops. The #12 Z made a pass and took 3rd place on lap 87. The #3 Z and #23 Z also moved up, and in the final stages of the race they engaged in a fierce battle for position, finishing in 8th and 10th place, respectively. The #12 Z fought valiantly to keep its 3rd place position for 10 laps, but was passed on lap 106 and crossed the finish line in 4th. The #24 Z, which had been struggling to pick up the pace from the start of the race, fought tenaciously but placed 15th.

The Nissan/NISMO teams aim to address the challenges they faced at Fuji and look forward to putting in a strong performance in Round 3 at the Sepang International Circuit, where they have previously achieved promising test results.

Kazuki Hiramine (#12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z)
"I was in charge of the long stint in the second half and it was a lot of fun. The Bridgestone tires were particularly good. The tire choice and setup for the race were perfect. I was running within podium range when I got caught up in traffic and was eventually overtaken, but it was an interesting battle. I think a big factor was picking up debris outside the line at 100R. The season is still young and I’d like to continue earning points and showing our strength. I’ll prepare thoroughly for the next race in Sepang."

Bertrand Baguette (#12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z)
"I felt a lot better in the race than I did in the qualifying. I started from 12th, which was quite far back, but immediately felt good. I got caught up in traffic early on, so I conserved saved fuel to shorten my pit stop. Hiramine also overtook his rivals and showed his speed. It's unfortunate we couldn't get a podium finish, but we made a good recovery after Okayama, where we failed to get points. The test in Sepang went well, so I'm looking forward to the next race."

GT300

Four Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s and one Fairlady Z compliant with GTA GT300 regulations competed in the GT300 class. Starting in the 13th position, the #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R (Kohei Hirate/Yu Kanamaru) put on a strong performance and finished 7th. Meanwhile, #360 RUNUP RIVAUX GT-R (Takayuki Aoki/Rin Arakawa/Hironobu Shimizu) finished 12th and #11 GAINER TANAX Z (Ryuichiro Tomita/Kazuki Oki) came in 14th. All three teams earned valuable points under a new GT300 regulation that awards them to the top 15 finishers.