Lamborghini crowned Super GT champions - for the first time at Suzuka

2024-12-08

Lamborghini claimed its first-ever Super GT300 titles as JLOC’s Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima produced a sensational performance to take their fourth victory of the season – and third successive success – at the final round of the year, the Suzuka 300km. The result, from pole position, also handed JLOC the coveted Teams’ championship.

Following title triumphs in the DTM and the LMGT3 class in the European Le Mans Series, the latest triumph for Lamborghini in Japan’s premium GT championship caps off a hugely successful season for Lamborghini, which also included a double Drivers’ and Teams’ title in the British GT Championship and Teams’ title in International GT Open. After winning at Fuji back in May and back-to-back races in the two most recent rounds at Autopolis and Motegi, the #88 crew of Kogure and Motojima sat second in the drivers’ standings, just 11 points behind the Mercedes duo of Naoya Gamou and Takuro Shinohara.

For the Suzuka 300km, which had initially been scheduled to take place in August for round five before being postponed to December following a local typhoon, Kogure and Motojima started the weekend strongly by dominating the two-part qualifying session to take pole position. Kogure laid down a benchmark of 1m55.132 and with it, a new track record for a GT3 car. Motojima then consolidated the #88’s position on the front row of the grid by setting the fastest time in Q2.

Motojima led off the rolling start and comfortably held onto his advantage either side of a full course yellow period following an incident for the sister #87 JLOC Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Kosuke Matsuura and Natsu Sakaguchi, who were pitched into the tyre barrier at Degner 1 after contact with a GT500 car. The #88, however, remained in charge until its solitary pit-stop on lap 18 of 51. While its rivals directly behind elected not to change any tyres at their pit-stops, the JLOC crew opted to fit fresh rear tyres onto the back of the #88, dropping it track position but crucially giving Kogure more performance in the second half of the race. The #88 settled into third place after the pit-stop sequence, ahead of its main rival in the Mercedes, and proceeded to make ground on both the second-placed Lexus and the leading Toyota.

With a superior run out of the final corner, Kogure got ahead of the Lexus into turn one following a side-by-side battle down the main straight, to take second before chasing down the Toyota in the closing stages. With more grip and traction out of the slow corners, Kogure made his move on the Toyota to take the lead of the race with 10 laps to go, eventually streaking clear to claim the victory and the double title by 9.250s at the end.

This latest triumph is the sixth for JLOC – now in their 30th year of competition – and Lamborghini in Super GT, with the first coming at Fuji in 2019 in the hands of André Couto, Tsubasa Takahashi and Kiyoto Fujinami. Together, Kogure and Motijima have taken five of the six wins, with their first occurring at Motegi in 2023.

Takashi Kogure (#88 JLOC)

“I am really happy. I feel truly grateful to everyone, from JLOC Chairman Noritake to everyone on the team, to the people at Yokohama Tires and to Motojima-san for building us a lead in the first half [of the race]. Am I the third one to win a championship in both classes? I am grateful for this too. [When I left the GT500 class] I thought that my life as a racer was over, but Chairman Noritake gave me another chance and I am really grateful now to have won another championship.”

Yuya Motojima (#88 JLOC)

“I don’t know what to say. I’m at a loss for words. Ever since Chairman Noritake made me this offer, there were hard times when I thought I couldn’t win anymore, but he would tell me, “It’s OK, believe in yourself.” From the second half of last year, it seems that started to have an effect [on me], in the [team’s] 30th year at that. And nothing could make me happier than the fact that we finally won the championship. I am full of gratitude to Chairman Noritake, to all the people at JLOC and to Kogure-san. That is all that I can say.”