Team Kunimitsu

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Team Kunimitsu
2019 Super GT Series, Fuji Speedway test (40837260013).jpg
Founded1992
Current seriesSuper GT
Teams'
Championships		Super GT:
2 (2018, 2020)
Drivers'
Championships		Super GT:
2 (2018, 2020)
Websiteteamkunimitsu.net

Team Kunimitsu is a racing team founded in 1992 by Kunimitsu Takahashi. The team has competed in the Super GT Series (previously known as the All-Japan GT Championship) since 1994.

History[]

Team Kunimitsu was founded in 1992, and that year it participated in the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTC) in partnership with Team Taisan, fielding a Group A Nissan Skyline GT-R R32.[1] It was driven by team founder Kunimitsu Takahashi alongside Keiichi Tsuchiya, and the pair took four podiums in the JTC-1 class during the 1992 season, before taking an overall victory at Autopolis the following year.

In 1994, the team began participating in the All-Japan GT Championship (JGTC) with a Porsche 911 RSR Turbo in the GT1 class, and now independently participated in the new Super Touring era of the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) with a Honda Civic Ferio. In JGTC, Takahashi and Tsuchiya scored a win at Sportsland Sugo that season and took another podium at the following race, while in JTCC Tsuchiya scored four points finishes, which included two fourth places. The team continued with the Porsche in JGTC for 1995, scoring a podium at Fuji Speedway, but the 1995 season was the team's last in the JTCC, a season which yielded two points finishes and a best result of sixth place.

Between 1994 and 1996, the team competed in several endurance races – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans – with a Honda NSX GT2 driven by Takahashi, Tsuchiya and Akira Iida. In 1994, they completed the 24 Hours of Le Mans in association with Kremer Racing, and won the GT2 class at the Suzuka 1000km and Tokachi 24 Hours races.[2][3] Team Kunimitsu entered the NSX GT2 for the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, and after Takahashi, Tsuchiya and Iida completed 275 laps in mostly wet conditions, the team took victory in the GT2 class and finished eight overall, scoring Honda's first win at the event.[4] In 1995, they also took another class win at the Suzuka 1000km and won the Tokachi 24 Hours overall.[5] The team returned to Le Mans in 1996, taking third place in the GT2 class.

For the 1996 JGTC season, the team entered the Honda NSX GT2 in the renamed GT500 class, becoming the first team in the series to field a Honda, although without full factory support.[6] As a GT2-specification car, it had a power deficit against the dedicated GT500 and GT1 cars, but the team scored three points finishes and a best result of seventh.

In 1997, Honda entered the JGTC with a full factory programme and an NSX directly built to the GT500 regulations, and Team Kunimitsu was one of two teams to run the car that season. The team also received a new title sponsor in the form of automotive lighting brand Raybrig, who had already sponsored them in various capacities since 1995.[7] The Raybrig NSX, driven by Takahashi and Iida, scored the first two podiums for Honda in the JGTC in the last two races of the season, also taking pole position in the final round. In 1998, the team took their first victory in Raybrig colours after winning from pole at the Mine Circuit, while scoring a total of three pole positions during the year.[8] 1999 was the last year that team founder Kunimitsu Takahashi competed as a driver; he and Iida won the Golden Week race at Fuji Speedway by over 40 seconds,[9] bringing the final victory for Takahashi's four-decade-long racing career and making him the oldest winner in series history at the age of 59.[10] It also marked the sixth (seventh including non-championship races) consecutive win for Honda, setting the winning streak record for manufacturers.[11]

After Takahashi's retirement from driving, the team were able to score a pole position in both the 2000 and 2001 seasons, but no podiums.[12][13] In 2002, with Hidetoshi Mitsusada driving the full season, the team scored five top-five finishes, including a pair of second places, which yielded a fourth place finish for Mitsusada in the drivers' championship.[14] After limited success across 2003 and 2004, the team returned to the top step of the podium in 2005 as French duo Jérémie Dufour and Sébastien Philippe won at Motegi in the first year of the series being renamed as Super GT.[15] With Dufour replaced by Shinya Hosokawa for 2006, the team was victorious at Motegi for the second consecutive year, and with two other podiums, finished runner-up in the drivers' championship.[6] Dominik Schwager took over from Philippe for 2007, and in a season dominated by Honda, the team took three second places to claim third place in the drivers' championship, forming part of Honda's 1–2–3–4 finish in the championship.[16] The following two seasons brought six top-five results, including a podium at Suzuka in 2008.

For the 2010 season, Honda introduced the new front-engined HSV-010 GT, and Team Kunimitsu had an all-new driver line-up consisting of rookie Naoki Yamamoto and Takuya Izawa. The pair finished on the podium on their debut race with the team; four more podiums followed until the end of 2012, and in the 2012 season they were the highest ranked Honda drivers in fifth.

The team won the Super GT championship in 2018 and 2020.[17][18]

References[]

  1. ^ "racing history". www.teamkunimitsu.net. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  2. ^ "Honda | SUPER GT | 鈴鹿1000km Honda GTマシン 闘いの軌跡". Honda公式ホームページ. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  3. ^ "第1回十勝24時間レース 24時間 (GT2) リザルト". モータースポーツトップ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  4. ^ "Kunimitsu Takahashi Honoured By Japanese Government For Lifelong Sporting Achievements | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  5. ^ "achievement". www.teamkunimitsu.net. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  6. ^ a b "Honda's History In GT500, In Pictures | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  7. ^ "Raybrig Sponsorship of Team Kunimitsu To End After 2020 | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  8. ^ "AUTOBACS CUP GT Championship 1998 Round 6 - Race". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  9. ^ "1999 AUTOBACS CUP GT Championship Round 2 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  10. ^ "【GT HERO'S〜名ドライバーの半生〜】高橋国光". We Love SUPER GT!! (in Japanese). 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  11. ^ "Revisiting Honda's history-making winning streak". Super GT World. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  12. ^ "2000 AUTOBACS CUP ALL JAPAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP Round7 - Qualfy Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  13. ^ "JGTC 2001 Round3 - Qualify Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  14. ^ "STANLEY MOTORSPORT | ARCHIVE | 2002 REVIEW / RANKING". www.raybrig-ms.jp. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  15. ^ "SUPERGT.net | 2005 Round5 Race Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  16. ^ "STANLEY MOTORSPORT | ARCHIVE | 2007 REVIEW / RANKING". www.raybrig-ms.jp. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  17. ^ "Motegi Super GT: Jenson Button holds off late threat for title". www.autosport.com. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  18. ^ "Elation For GT500 Champions Team Kunimitsu, Heartache For TOM's At Fuji | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2021-09-10.

External links[]

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