Tsuchiya Engineering

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Haruo Tsuchiya (1945-2021), a former motocross rider, worked at TOMEI Automotive from 1968 to 1971 to create his own shop and team.^[1] The team initially competed in local touring car races, before entering JTC, where it won the Division-3 title twice, in 1989 and 1990.^[2] Tsuchiya entered JGTC in 1997 with a Toyota MR2 and won its first title in 1998, after winning five out of six races with Shingo Tachi and Keiichi Suzuki behind the wheel.^[3] The following year, the team partnered with A'PEX and scored a lone win at Fuji and two more podiums to secure the drivers' title with Morio Nitta, as well as taking their second consecutive teams' title.^[4]

Entering GT500 in 2000, the team fielded a Toyota Supra until 2006, before fielding a Lexus SC430 for the following two years.^[5] In their nine-year stint in the category, the team scored five podiums, including their only win at Okayama in 2005.^[6] At the end of the 2008 season, the team suspended its motorsport activities in 2009 due to the economic recession and the reduction of manufacturer support.^[7][2]

Haruo's son Takeshi, founded 25 Racing/Team Samurai in 2010, with his father as manager.^[2][8] Across the next four years, the team competed in Super GT until 2011, before then competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Japan, Super Taikyu and JAF Formula 4.^[9] In 2015, Tsuchiya Engineering made their return to GT300 competition, with Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui driving a Toyota 86 MC GT300.^[10] In the team's first full season since 2011, the Tsuchiya-Matsui pairing won at Sportsland SUGO and qualified on pole at Buriram to end the season ninth in points.^[11] Retaining both Tsuchiya and Matsui for 2016, the pair scored wins at Buriram and Motegi to secure their third drivers' and teams' titles.^[12] Ten days after the season-finale, Haruo was diagnosed with oral cancer, and as a result Takeshi retired from full-time racing to take over the running of the team.^[2]

For the team's title defence, Matsui remained for a third consecutive season as Kenta Yamashita replaced Tsuchiya as the team's second driver.^[13] In their only season together, the Matsui-Yamashita pair won at Autopolis and finished third at Sportsland SUGO to secure sixth in the teams' standings.^[14] Matsui remained with the team as the sole full-time driver for the 2017 season, finishing third at Okayama and second at Suzuka alongside Sho Tsuboi as the team ended the year eighth in points.^[15][16] In 2019, Matsui remained with the team as he was joined by Kimiya Sato, as they scored a best result of fourth at Buriram and qualified on pole three times to end the year 18th in points.^[17]

Ahead of 2020, the team switched to a Porsche 911,^[18][19] fielding it until 2021, scoring a best result of fifth at Motegi in the latter year, before the team switched to a self-built Toyota GR Supra.^[20][21] In their first year with the Supra, the team scored a single points finish at Sportsland SUGO, by finishing tenth, to end the year 34th in the teams' standings in a season in which they missed the second Fuji round following a testing crash at Suzuka.^[22]

In 2023, at the fourth 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.^[23] Tsuchiya then started a fundraiser known as the "Hopico Revival Project" in order to help the team return to racing.^[24] The team returned to GT300 competition in the following year with Takamitsu Matsui and Togo Suganami, with a rebuilt version of "Hopico".^[25]

Before the 2020 Super GT season it was announced that Tsuchiya Engineering would support series newcomers Max Racing, by servicing their car.^[26] The partnership lasted until the 2023 Fuji GT 450km Race, where both cars caught fire and Max Racing ceased operations with immediate effect.^[27] In their three-year partnership, Max Racing scored a lone win at Suzuka in 2021 and scored a best points finish of fourth the same year.^[28]