Kobayashi to make one-off Super GT return at Fuji

The second round of the 2026 Autobacs Super GT Series will have some added star power following the announcement that legendary Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi will make a one-off return to the championship this Sunday and Monday at the Fuji 3 Hour Race.

Instead of a Toyota or Lexus, however, Kobayashi will be behind the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, driving for Rookie Racing – the racing team founded by Toyota Motor Corporation CEO Akio Toyoda, whose headquarters is on the premises of historic Fuji Speedway. 

Kobayashi will make his first start in the GT300 class in the No. 32 Mercedes-AMG, in place of Toyota-backed young driver Tokiya Suzuki.

Suzuki, considered to be one of the top drivers in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge (TGR-DC) system in Japan, has been suspended from racing due to the suspension of his civilian drivers’ license. The 19-year-old rookie accrued enough minor moving violations to be forced to retake his test, meaning that he had to miss the most recent Super Formula Lights rounds at Autopolis, and the upcoming Fuji Super GT race.

Kobayashi last raced in Super GT full-time in 2018 for Lexus Team SARD, winning his first GT500 race at Chang International Circuit in Thailand. He returned to the series in a cameo appearance at the 2019 Super GT x DTM Dream Race at Fuji, but has since devoted his attention to the FIA World Endurance Championship and Japanese Super Formula Championship.

With Toyota, Kobayashi has won back-to-back FIA World Endurance Championship top-class titles, and won the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. He is one of three Japanese drivers to finish on the podium in a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and also achieved back-to-back Rolex 24 At Daytona overall victories in 2019 and 2020.

Kobayashi has raced the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO on several occasions, for Goodsmile Racing & TeamUkyo in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, and most recently for KCMG in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS).  His co-driver will be  former Toyota GT500 stalwart Hiroaki Ishiura, who is also one of the test and development drivers for Toyota’s upcoming GR GT3 race car.

Monday’s Super GT Fuji 3 Hours takes place during the extended Japanese public holiday period known as Golden Week, a series tradition which dates back to the very first season of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) in 1994. 

The race takes place every year on May 4, regardless of which day of the week it falls on. Because of its advantageous place on the calendar, the Fuji Golden Week race often draws the largest crowd of the season in Super GT, with approximately 80,000 spectators expected to pass through the turnstiles across the two-day race meeting.

It is also one of two three-hour timed long-distance races on the Super GT calendar, with the other taking place at Autopolis in October. All 43 cars – 14 in GT500 and 29 in GT300 – are expected to make at least two pit stops and one driver change before the checkered flag. In addition, several GT300 teams have signed a third driver to assist them in this longer race.

Preliminary forecasts predict rain on race day, which may lead to a more unpredictable race. Last year in GT500, Toyota swept all three Fuji races in GT500. And in GT300, Ferrari customer team Velorex won this Fuji 3 Hour Race from the last row of the grid, giving the 296 GT3 its first win in Super GT.

You can watch Super GT’s Fuji 3 Hours LIVE on the RACER Network and RACER+ App. Coverage starts Monday, May 4 at 12:50am ET   (Sunday, May 3 at 9:50pm PT), with commentary from Jonathan Green and Jon Massengale.