Fuji 24 Hours

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.

Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours
Super Taikyu Series
VenueFuji Speedway
Corporate sponsorNAPAC (Nippon Auto Parts Aftermarket Committee)
First race1967 (original)
2018 (current)
Duration24 hours
Most wins (driver)Kiyoto Fujinami (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)Nissan (5)

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

Multi-class racing during the 2021 Fuji 24 Hours.

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

YearDriversTeamCarLayoutDistanceSeries
1967 Shihomi Hosoya
Yoshio Otsubo
Toyota Motor Sports Club (TMSC)Toyota 2000GT6 km537 laps
1968 Tōru Itaya
Takatoshi Teranishi
Sports Car Club of Nissan (SCCN)Nissan Fairlady 2000512 laps
2018 Teruhiko Hamano
Kazuki Hoshino
Kiyoto Fujinami
Hironobu Yasuda
Sun Zheng
GTNET Motor SportsNissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2015)4.563 km759 lapsSuper Taikyu
2019 Teruhiko Hamano
Kazuki Hoshino
Kiyoto Fujinami
Kazuki Hiramine
GTNET Motor SportsNissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2015)801 laps
2020 Daisuke Yamawaki
Shinichi Takagi
Shaun Thong
Yuki Nemoto
Mercedes-AMG Team Hirix RacingMercedes-AMG GT3 EVO528 laps
2021 Noboyuki Ōyagi
Takayuki Aoki
Kiyoto Fujinami
Natsu Sakaguchi
GTNET Motor SportsNissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2018)763 laps
2022 Yutaka Toriba
Yuya Hiraki
Reiji Hiraki
Shaun Thong
HELM MotorsportsNissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY2018)760 laps
2023 Ryuta Ukai
Naoya Gamou
Hibiki Taira
Tatsuya Kataoka
Zhongsheng Rookie RacingMercedes-AMG GT3 EVO730 laps
2024 Ryuta Ukai
Giuliano Alesi
Naoya Gamou
Tatsuya Kataoka
Zhongsheng Rookie RacingMercedes-AMG GT3 EVO773 laps

Records

Multiple overall wins by driver

WinsDriverYears
3 Kiyoto Fujinami2018, 2019, 2021
2 Teruhiko Hamano2018, 2019
Kazuki Hoshino2018, 2019
Shaun Thong2020, 2022
Ryuta Ukai2023, 2024
Naoya Gamou2023, 2024
Tatsuya Kataoka2023, 2024

Overall wins by manufacturer

WinsManufacturerYears
5 Nissan1968, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
3 Mercedes2020, 2023, 2024
1 Toyota1967

References