Tsuchiya Engineering is a Japanese motor racing team based in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, which competes in the GT300 class of Super GT.

A long-time Toyota-fielding team in Super GT, the team won three drivers' and teams' titles in the GT300 class, as well as two Japanese Touring Car Championship teams' titles in Division-3.

History Origins and first stint in Super GT (1971–2008) Haruo Tsuchiya (1945-2021), a former motocross rider, worked at TOMEI Automotive from 1968 to 1971 to create his own shop and team. The team initially competed in local touring car races, before entering JTC, where it won the Division-3 title twice, in 1989 and 1990. Tsuchiya entered JGTC in 1997 with a Toyota MR2 and won its first title in 1998, after winning five out of six races with Shingo Tachi and Keiichi Suzuki behind the wheel. The following year, the team partnered with A'PEX and scored a lone win at Fuji and two more podiums to secure the drivers' title with Morio Nitta, as well as taking their second consecutive teams' title.

Entering GT500 in 2000, the team fielded a Toyota Supra until 2006, before fielding a Lexus SC430 for the following two years. In their nine-year stint in the category, the team scored five podiums, including their only win at Okayama in 2005. At the end of the 2008 season, the team suspended its motorsport activities in 2009 due to the economic recession and the reduction of manufacturer support.

Team Samurai and Return to Super GT (2010–present)

Haruo's son Takeshi, founded 25 Racing/Team Samurai in 2010, with his father as manager. Across the next four years, the team competed in Super GT until 2011, before then competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Japan, Super Taikyu and JAF Formula 4. In 2015, Tsuchiya Engineering made their return to GT300 competition, with Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui driving a Toyota 86 MC GT300. In the team's first full season since 2011, the Tsuchiya-Matsui pairing won at Sportsland SUGO and qualified on pole at Buriram to end the season ninth in points. Retaining both Tsuchiya and Matsui for 2016, the pair scored wins at Buriram and Motegi to secure their third drivers' and teams' titles. Ten days after the season-finale, Haruo was diagnosed with oral cancer, and as a result Takeshi retired from full-time racing to take over the running of the team.

For the team's title defence, Matsui remained for a third consecutive season as Kenta Yamashita replaced Tsuchiya as the team's second driver. In their only season together, the Matsui-Yamashita pair won at Autopolis and finished third at Sportsland SUGO to secure sixth in the teams' standings. Matsui remained with the team as the sole full-time driver for the 2017 season, finishing third at Okayama and second at Suzuka alongside Sho Tsuboi as the team ended the year eighth in points. In 2019, Matsui remained with the team as he was joined by Kimiya Sato, as they scored a best result of fourth at Buriram and qualified on pole three times to end the year 18th in points.

Ahead of 2020, the team switched to a Porsche 911, fielding it until 2021, scoring a best result of fifth at Motegi in the latter year, before the team switched to a self-built Toyota GR Supra. In their first year with the Supra, the team scored a single points finish at Sportsland SUGO, by finishing tenth, to end the year 34th in the teams' standings in a season in which they missed the second Fuji round following a testing crash at Suzuka.

In 2023, at the fourth round of the season at Fuji, both Tsuchiya-ran cars caught fire, leading to both cars withdrawing from the following event and the rest of the season. Tsuchiya then started a fundraiser known as the "Hopico Revival Project" in order to help the team return to racing. The team returned to GT300 competition in the following year with Takamitsu Matsui and Togo Suganami, with a rebuilt version of "Hopico".

Partnership with Max Racing (2020–2023) Before the 2020 Super GT season it was announced that Tsuchiya Engineering would support series newcomers Max Racing, by servicing their car. The partnership lasted until the 2023 Fuji GT 450km Race, where both cars caught fire and Max Racing ceased operations with immediate effect. In their three-year partnership, Max Racing scored a lone win at Suzuka in 2021 and scored a best points finish of fourth the same year.

Former series results JGTC (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 Pts 1997Toyota MR2GT30025 Takeshi Tsuchiya Masaoki NagashimaSUZFUJSENFUJMINSUG3rd52 1998Toyota MR2GT30025 Keiichi Suzuki Shingo TachiSUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUG1st1061999Toyota MR2GT30025 Morio Nitta Yasushi Kikuchi Shinichi TakagiSUZFUJSUGMINFUJOKAMOT1st73 2000Toyota SupraGT50025 Manabu Orido Mitsuhiro KinoshitaMOTFUJSUGFUJOKAMINSUZ 13th 11 2001Toyota SupraGT50025 Manabu Orido Seiji AraOKAFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN12th11 2002Toyota SupraGT50025 Shinichi Yamaji Seiji Ara Geoff LeesOKAFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ10th32 2003Toyota SupraGT50025 Jérémie Dufour Seiji Ara Hideki NodaOKAFUJSUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZ10th26 2004Toyota SupraGT50025 Manabu Orido Dominik SchwagerOKASUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ10th31

Super GT (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 25 Manabu Orido Dominik Schwager Hideki NodaOKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ 10th 26 2006 Toyota Supra GT500 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya Manabu Orido Hideki NodaSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ14th13 2007 Lexus SC430 GT500 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya Manabu OridoSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ 14th 38 2008 Lexus SC430 GT500 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki IshiuraSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ 14th 44 2010 Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT300 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya Akihiro Tsuzuki Yoshio TsuzukiSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJMOT NC 0 2011 Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT300 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya Akihiro TsuzukiOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT9th492015Toyota 86 MC GT300GT30025 Takeshi Tsuchiya Takamitsu Matsui Tatsuya TanigawaOKAFUJCHAFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT9th512016Toyota 86 MC GT300GT30025 Takeshi Tsuchiya Takamitsu Matsui Kenta YamashitaOKAFUJSUGFUJSUZCHAMOTMOT1st97 2017 Toyota 86 MC GT300 GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Kenta Yamashita Tsubasa KondoOKAFUJAUTSUGFUJSUZCHAMOT 6th 65 2018 Toyota 86 MC GT300 GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Sho Tsuboi Tsubasa Kondo Takeshi TsuchiyaOKAFUJSUZCHAFUJSUGAUTMOT8th52 2019 Toyota 86 MC GT300 GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Kimiya SatoOKAFUJSUZBURFUJAUTSUGMOT 18th 29 2020 Porsche 911 GT3 R GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Kimiya SatoFUJFUJSUZMOTFUJSUZMOTFUJ15th33Lexus RC F GT3GT300244 Atsushi Miyake Rintaro KuboFUJFUJSUZMOTFUJSUZMOTFUJ26th19 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 R GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Kimiya SatoOKAFUJMOTSUZSUGAUTMOTFUJ12th45Toyota GR Supra GT300GT300244 Atsushi Miyake Yuui TsutsumiOKAFUJMOTSUZSUGAUTMOTFUJ4th68 2022 Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Seita NonakaOKAFUJSUZFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT34th1GT300244 Atsushi Miyake Kimiya SatoOKAFUJSUZFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT35th12023Toyota GR Supra GT300GT30025 Seita Nonaka Togo SuganamiOKAFUJSUZFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT 27th 10GT300244 Atsushi Miyake Kimiya SatoOKAFUJSUZFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT20th192024Toyota GR Supra GT300GT30025 Takamitsu Matsui Togo Suganami Kimiya SatoOKAFUJSUZFUJSUGAUTMOTSUZ 22nd 122025Toyota GR Supra GT300GT30025 Takamitsu Matsui Kimiya SatoOKAFUJSEPFS1FS2SUZSUGAUTMOT 25th 15 2026 Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 25 Takamitsu Matsui Ryota HorachiOKAFUJSEPFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT TBD TBD ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

Timeline Current seriesSuper GT1997–2008, 2010–2011, 2015–presentFormer seriesJapanese Touring Car Championship1985–1998Super Taikyu Series2012Japan Formula 42014Japanese Formula 3 Championship2016

References