Tsuchiya Engineering
| Founded | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Base | Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Team principal(s) | Takeshi Tsuchiya |
| Founder(s) | Haruo Tsuchiya |
| Current series | Super GT |
| Former series | Japanese Formula 3 Championship Japan Formula 4 Super Taikyu |
| Current drivers | |
| Teams' Championships | JGTC: 1998 1999 Super GT 2016 |
| Drivers' Championships | JGTC: 1998: Keiichi Suzuki & Shingo Tachi 1999: Morio Nitta Super GT: 2016: Takeshi Tsuchiya & Takamitsu Matsui |
| Website | http://tsuchiya25.com |
Tsuchiya Engineering is a team located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, founded by Haruo Tsuchiya, and now ran by his son, Takeshi.[1]
Origins
[edit]Haruo Tsuchiya used to work at TOMEI Automotive, before leaving in 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 later entered JGTC, and not long after, in 1998, they set a record-breaking season. A partnership with Team Taisan and with drivers Shingo Tachi and Keiichi Suzuki earned them 5 wins out of 6 races.
In 1999, they partnered with A'PEX and had 3 drivers throughout the season, one of which, Morio Nitta (who had entered in all the races) won the title, giving Tsuchiya back to back titles in GT300.
They entered in GT500 in 2000, but they couldn't build on their massive success in GT300, only achieving a win, in the season opener of 2005.
The team folded in 2008 due to the economic recession.
Return to Super GT
[edit]Haruo's son Takeshi, founded team SAMURAI in 2010, with his father as manager.
In 2015, Tsuchiya Engineering made their official return to GT300, where they won the championship in 2016 with Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui at the wheel.
The team continued their strong form of results after 2016, but in 2020 the team switched to the Porsche 911[2][3] and began to struggle with results, leading them to ditch the Porsche after 2 disappointing seasons, switching to a self-built Toyota GR Supra.[4][5]
Despite the car change, the struggles didn't stop as the team failed to score points in the first 3 races of the season and pulled out of the 4th round at Fuji following a testing crash at Suzuka.[6]
In 2023, at the 4th 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.[7]
As of November 2023, Takeshi was still hoping to return to GT300, having started a fundraiser known as the "Hopico Revival Project" in order to help the small team return to racing.[8]
The team is set to return to GT300 competition for the 2024 season with 2016 champion Takamitsu Matsui and Togo Suganami, with a rebuilt version of "Hopico".[9]
Partnership with Max Racing
[edit]Before the 2020 Super GT season it was announced that Tsuchiya Engineering would support newcomers Max Racing, by servicing their car.[10] The partnership lasted until the Fuji GT 450km Race in 2023, where both cars caught fire and Max Racing ceased operations.[11]
Race Results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Car | Tyres | Class | No. | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Toyota MR2 | Y | GT300 | 25 |  Takeshi Tsuchiya Masaoki Nagashima
|
SUZ 3 |
FUJ Ret |
SEN 1 |
FUJ 5 |
MIN | SUG 3 |
3rd | 52 | ||
| 1998 | Toyota MR2 | Y | GT300 | 25 | Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
|
SUZ 1 |
FUJ C |
SEN 1 |
FUJ 1 |
MOT 6 |
MIN 1 |
SUG 1 |
1st | 106 | |
| 1999 | Toyota MR2 | Y | GT300 | 25 | Morio Nitta Yasushi Kikuchi Shinichi Takagi
|
SUZ 8 |
FUJ 1 |
SUG 2 |
MIN 2 |
FUJ 5 |
OKA 8 |
MOT Ret |
1st | 73 | |
| 2000 | Toyota Supra | Y | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Mitsuhiro Kinoshita
|
MOT 13 |
FUJ 10 |
SUG 14 |
FUJ 8 |
OKA 8 |
MIN 7 |
SUZ 13 |
13th | 11 | |
| 2001 | Toyota Supra | Y | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Seiji Ara
|
OKA 9 |
FUJ 11 |
SUG 11 |
FUJ DNS |
MOT 7 |
SUZ 7 |
MIN 10 |
12th | 11 | |
| 2002 | Toyota Supra | Y | GT500 | 25 | Shinichi Yamaji Seiji Ara Geoff Lees
|
OKA 6 |
FUJ 13 |
SUG 11 |
SEP Ret |
FUJ 4 |
MOT 9 |
MIN 5 |
SUZ 7 |
10th | 32 |
| 2003 | Toyota Supra | Y | GT500 | 25 |  Jérémie Dufour Seiji Ara Hideki Noda
|
OKA 10 |
FUJ Ret |
SUG 3 |
FUJ 13 |
FUJ 17 |
MOT 3 |
AUT 12 |
SUZ Ret |
10th | 26 |
| 2004 | Toyota Supra | Y | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Dominik Schwager
|
OKA 14 |
SUG 2 |
SEP Ret |
TOK 13 |
MOT 12 |
AUT 3 |
SUZ 10 |
10th | 31 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.
References
[edit]- ^ "Haruo Tsuchiya: 1945-2021". 13 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Tsuchiya Super GT squad switches to Porsche". 5 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Porsche Switch For Tsuchiya Engineering". 6 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Tsuchiya considering ditching Porsche after just two seasons". 23 September 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Tsuchiya to switch to Toyota Supra GT300 for 2022". 25 November 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Tsuchiya, Drago Corse teams to miss Fuji SUPER GT round". 1 August 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Hoppy Team Tsuchiya, Max Racing Out Of Suzuka 450km". 14 August 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Tsuchiya Engineering, Racing To Race Again". 3 November 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces 2024 GT300 & Super Taikyu Programmes". 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ "Tsuchiya to support new Lexus Super GT team". 8 February 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Max Racing Withdraws From SUPER GT, Ceases Operations". 23 August 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ a b "World Sports Racing Prototypes - All Japan Grand Touring Championship". www.wsrp.cz. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
- ^ Magazine, Speedsport. "Super GT & All Japan GT: Overview of seasons". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.