Le Mans Ltd., headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo is an automobile parts manufacturer founded in 1967. The original company name was Le Mans Chamber of Commerce. The company is mainly engaged in the development and sales of motorsport parts and the import and sale of race cars overseas.
They also have a racing division called Team LeMans, currently compete under the Velorex name. The origin of the team name comes from 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team currently competes in Super GT, fielding the #6 Audi R8 LMS Evo II in the GT300 class for Yoshiaki Katayama, Roberto Merhi and Seiya Jin.
Team LeMans In 1969 Team LeMans was established as a racing department of Le Mans Chamber of Commerce. It has been active in a variety of categories since the 1970s as one of the top teams of Japan.
The team has competed in single-seaters since 1976, when they entered the All-Japan F2000 Championship. They served as the Japanese distributor of Reynard products until 2002. In 1991, Michael Schumacher, before his Formula One debut, raced with the team in the Sportsland SUGO round of the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, while in 1996 his brother Ralf became the champion with the same team.
They also developed their own racing machine, that complied to Group C regulations.
In 2012 in collaboration with Hideki Noda they founded "NODA racing Academy Senior High School", several engineers such as Donuma Hiroyoshi, the team principal, have served as lecturers at the school.NODA racing Academy Senior High School
History
All-Japan F2000/F2/F3000 Championship Their participation in the All Japan F2000 Championship started with Keiji Matsumoto in 1976. In 1979 he won the championship title. In 1988-89 Geoff Lees and Emanuele Pirro raced for the team, both winning one race.
Formula Nippon In 1996, the team had its most successful year in Japan's top level open wheel series, when Ralf Schumacher and Naoki Hattori took the first two spots in the drivers' championship, also winning the first team title. The team repeated wins in the drivers and team championship with Satoshi Motoyama in 1998.
Fuji GC The team achieved titles in The Fuji Grand Champion Series (Fuji GC) with in Keiji Matsumoto in 1983 and Geoff Lees in 1988 and 1989.
24 Hours of Le Mans Team LeMans first entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1987 under the name Italya Sports. They competed in the race through 1990 without a single finish.
All-Japan GT Championship/Super GT
Team LeMans first entered the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship on its inaugural season in 1994, fielding a production based Nissan 300ZX-LM in the GT1 class with FedEx as their primary sponsor. The team took three top-10 finishes with Masami Kageyama and finished 17th in the drivers standings. Kageyama and the 300ZX returned to compete in the following year, but the team failed to score any points and was not classified in the standings.
For the 1996 season, Team LeMans bought an ex-IMSA Nissan 300ZX-GTS to compete in the rebranded GT500 class. Kageyama and series debutant Yuji Tachikawa took one top-10 finish in the final round of the championship at Mine Circuit and finished 25th in the drivers standings. Tachikawa stayed with the team for the 1997 season and was partnered by Tsuyoshi Takahashi, who replaced Kageyama after he was signed by SARD. The team took a 10th place finish in the season opening round at Suzuka, but a practice crash in the next round at Fuji totaled their 300ZX-GTS and the team was forced to withdraw their entry for the rest of the season.
Team LeMans didn't take part in the 1998 season, but they returned in 1999 after they took over the entry of the #6 Esso Tiger Toyota Supra from Inging Motorsport. LeMans signed former Formula One driver Hideki Noda and reigning GT300 champion Shingo Tachi to compete with the team, but Tachi was killed in a pre-season testing accident at TI Aida with less than two weeks before the start of the 1999 season. Former MotoGP champion Wayne Gardner was then signed by the team to replace Tachi. The team took a pole position in the third round at Sportsland Sugo and a victory in the fifth round at Fuji Speedway on their first season with Toyota, finishing 12th in the drivers standings.
In 2002, the team won drivers' championship in the GT500 class of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship with Akira Iida and Juichi Wakisaka, who competed in a Toyota Supra race car. Wakisaka, as team principal, would later led Team LeMans to a second GT500 class title in 2019 with the driving pairing of Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita, but the team left the series at the conclusion of the season.
Team LeMans provided support to Hitotsuyama Racing in 2020 before they reentered the series in 2021 under a collaboration with Motoyama Racing. LeMans entered the #6 Audi R8 LMS Evo for ex-GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama and Yoshiaki Katayama, son of the team's owner Yoshinori Katayama, in the GT300 class. The team finished all races that year, but was not classified as they failed to score a points finish. Motoyama and Katayama returned the following year with an Evo II model of the Audi R8 LMS, but Motoyama was released after one round. Financial issues on Motoyama's sponsors was reported to be the primary reason of Motoyama's dismissal. Roberto Merhi was then signed by the team to replace Motoyama for the rest of the season.
Team LeMans Results
Complete JGTC Results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year CarTyresClassNo.Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos Pts1993Nissan R92CPC125 Takao Wada Toshio SuzukiFUJFUJSUZFUJN/AN/A 1994Nissan Fairlady Z GT125 Masami Kageyama Akira Ishikawa Richard DeanFUJSENFUJSUGMIN10th10 1995Nissan Fairlady ZGT125 Masami KageyamaSUZFUJSENFUJSUGMINNC0 1996Nissan Fairlady ZGT50025 Masami Kageyama Yuji TachikawaSUZFUJSENFUJSUGMIN13th2 1997Nissan Fairlady ZGT50075 Yuji Tachikawa Tsuyoshi TakahashiSUZFUJSENFUJMINSUGNC1 1999Toyota SupraGT5006 Wayne Gardner Hideki NodaSUZFUJSUGMINFUJOKAMOT 7th 33 2000Toyota SupraGT5006 Wayne Gardner Hideki NodaMOTFUJSUGFUJOKAMINSUZ6th35 2001Toyota SupraGT5006 Hideki Noda Juichi WakisakaOKAFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN6th40 2002Toyota SupraGT5006 Akira Iida Juichi WakisakaOKAFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ2nd75 2003Toyota SupraGT5001 Akira Iida Juichi WakisakaOKAFUJSUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZ2nd83 2004Toyota SupraGT5006 Akira Iida Juichi WakisakaOKASUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ4th57
Complete Super GT Results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year CarTyres Class No. Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Points 2005 Toyota Supra GT500 6 Akira Iida Juichi Wakisaka OKA FUJ SEP SUG MOT FUJ AUT SUZ 5th 51 2006 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Akira Iida Tatsuya Kataoka Björn Wirdheim SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ11th36 2007 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Tatsuya Kataoka Björn Wirdheim SUZ OKA FUJ SEPSUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ 9th 56 2008 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Daisuke Ito Björn Wirdheim Akira Iida Roberto StreitSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ8th64 2009 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Daisuke Ito Björn WirdheimOKASUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT11th54 2010 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Daisuke Ito Björn WirdheimSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJMOT4th70 2011 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Daisuke Ito Kazuya OshimaOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT10th50 2012 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Daisuke Ito Kazuya OshimaOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT10th50 2013 Lexus SC430 GT500 6 Kazuya Oshima Yuji KunimotoOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT5th72 2014 Lexus RC F GT500 6 Kazuya Oshima Yuji KunimotoOKAFUJAUTSUGFUJSUZBURMOT 6th 62 2015 Lexus RC F GT500 6 Kazuya Oshima Yuji Kunimoto OKA FUJ CHA FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT9th492016 Lexus RC F GT500 6 Andrea Caldarelli Kazuya Oshima OKA FUJ SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT MOT 2nd 922017 Lexus LC500 GT500 GT500 6 Andrea Caldarelli Kazuya Oshima OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT 3rd 82 2018 Lexus LC500 GT500 GT500 6 Kazuya Oshima Felix Rosenqvist James Rossiter OKA FUJ SUZ CHA FUJ SUG AUT MOT7th65 2019 Lexus LC500 GT500 GT500 6 Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita OKA FUJ SUZ BUR FUJ AUT SUG MOT 2nd 106 2021 Audi R8 LMS Evo GT300 6 Yoshiaki Katayama Satoshi Motoyama OKA FUJ MOT SUZ SUG AUT MOT FUJ22nd21 2022 Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT300 6 Yoshiaki Katayama Satoshi Motoyama Roberto Merhi Shintaro Kawabata OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT16th31.52023Audi R8 LMS Evo IIGT3006 Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto Merhi Seiya Jin OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 10th 552024Ferrari 296 GT3GT3006 Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto MerhiOKAFUJSUZFUJSUGAUTMOTSUZ10th442025Ferrari 296 GT3GT3006 Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto MerhiOKAFUJSEPFS1FS2SUZSUGAUTMOT13th59 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship YearCarDrivers1984Nissan Skyline Turbo C (LM03C)Kenji Takahashi / Osamu Nakako / Toshio Suzuki1985Nissan LM04C Nissan LM05CKeji Matsumoto / Osamu Nakako / Akio Morimoto1986Nissan March 86GKeji Matsumoto / Aguri Suzuki1987Nissan March 86GAnders Olofsson / Takao Wada1988#86 Nissan March 88GAnders Olofsson / Takao Wada1989#85 Nissan March 88GOsamu Nakako / Akio Morimoto / Koji Sato1990#85 Nissan R89COsamu Nakako / Takao Wada / Maurizio Sandro Sala1991#25 Nissan R89C #25 Nissan R90CPHideki Okada / Takao Wada Masahiko Kageyama / Maurizio Sandro Sala
24 Hours of Le Mans Year Entrant Tyres Car Drivers Class Laps 1987 Italya Sports Team LeMans 29 Nissan R86V Anders Olofsson Alain Ferté Patrick Gonin Gr.C1 86 DNF DNF 1988 Italya Cabin Team LeMans Co. 85 Nissan R87S Toshio Suzuki Danny Ongais Michel Trollé Gr.C1 74 DNF DNF86Nissan R88S Anders Olofsson Lamberto Leoni Akio MorimotoGr.C169DNFDNF 1989 Team LeMans Co. Courage Compétition 32 March 88S Takao Wada Akio Morimoto Anders Olofsson C1 221 DNF DNF1990 Team Le Mans 85Nissan R89C Takao Wada Anders Olofsson Maurizio Sandro Sala C1 182 DNF DNF Super Formula (Formula Nippon, Japanese Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 2000) YearTeamChassisEngineDriversRankings1979Team LeMansMarch 792BMW M12/7 Keiji Matsumoto1st1988Team LeMansMarchMugen HondaEmanuele Pirro / Geoff Lees3rdReynard1989Team LeMansReynardMugen HondaEmanuele Pirro / Geoff Lees6th1990Team LeMansReynardMugen HondaJohnny Herbert / Takuya Kurosawa16th1991Team LeMansReynardMugen Honda Ross Cheever / Johnny Herbert / Michael Schumacher2ndRalt1992Team LeMansReynardMugen Honda Ross Cheever3rd1993Team LeMansReynardMugen Honda Akira IshikawaNA1994Team LeMansReynardMugen Honda Ross Cheever / Naoki Hattori / Masami Kageyama3rd1995Team LeMansReynardMugen HondaNaoki Hattori 8th1996X Japan Racing Team LeMansReynard 96DMugen MF308Naoki Hattori / Ralf Schumacher1st1997Team LeMansReynard 96D Reynard 97DMugen MF308 Norberto Fontana3rd1998LEMONed Racing Team LeMansReynard 97DMugen MF308 Norberto Fontana / Satoshi Motoyama1st1999Unlimited Racing Team LeMansReynard 99LMugen MF308Satoshi Motoyama / Koji Yamanishi2nd2000Team LeMansReynard 99LMugen MF308Hideki Noda / Yudai Igarashi5th2001Team LeMansReynard 99LMugen MF308Alex Yoong / Koji Yamanishi / Yudai Igarashi14th2002Team LeMansReynard 99L