Round 6 of the 2026 SUPER GT Series at Sportsland SUGO was decided by rain, two Safety Car periods and a late mechanical failure. The #24 Realize Corporation Z recovered from the back of the grid to finish seventh, with the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z eighth, giving Nissan points with both GT500 cars after a difficult qualifying session. In GT300, the #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R came from 19th to second and stretched its championship lead to 21 points.

Sportsland SUGO handed the SUPER GT field a race shaped more by conditions and strategy than by outright pace. Nissan left the northern Japanese circuit with points from both of its GT500 Z NISMO entries and a podium in the GT300 class, even though its fastest car of the day never made the finish.

A Safety Car start under typhoon skies

Race day began with unsettled weather as a typhoon approached the region, and intermittent rain left parts of the track damp. Officials sent the field away behind the Safety Car at 1:30 p.m., with an air temperature of 23°C (73°F) and a track temperature of 25°C (77°F). Green-flag racing only began after four laps.

A second Safety Car on lap 26 bunched the field up again and handed the teams a strategic opening. The #12 and #24 Zs pitted on lap 32 for driver changes, fuel and tyres, with the #23 Z coming in a lap later.

The #12 Z’s podium bid ends with a gearbox problem

Bertrand Baguette had been Nissan’s quickest man in the opening stint, working the #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z up to seventh by lap 17 and closing on the group ahead. After the pit cycle, Kazuki Hiramine emerged fourth and set about the car in third, applying sustained pressure in the middle of the race.

The attack ended on lap 57, when the #12 Z slowed with a gearbox issue and was forced to retire — the clearest Nissan podium chance of the afternoon in GT500 gone.

Both Z NISMO GT500 cars in the points

Over 84 laps, Teppei Natori and Atsushi Miyake brought the #24 Realize Corporation Z from the back of the grid to seventh place, while Mitsunori Takaboshi and Daiki Sasaki took the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z to eighth. Sasaki was drafted in as reserve driver after regular driver Katsumasa Chiyo was injured at the circuit on Friday.

“The timing of our pit stop worked well, and I was able to maintain good pace throughout my stint. I felt we were able to put up a strong fight against our rivals,” said Natori.

Miyake pointed to qualifying as the weak point of the weekend. “Qualifying didn’t go entirely to plan, but we worked well together in the race, both as drivers and as a team. Finishing 7th place and scoring points was a positive result for us,” he said.

Success weight becomes a bigger factor at Autopolis

According to the team, the weight rules could work in the #24 car’s favour next time out. Because Round 3 was postponed, Autopolis becomes the sixth race of the season rather than the seventh, so success weight is applied at 2 kg per championship point instead of the usual 1 kg — and it will not be reduced there this year.

“That could create an opportunity for us, as we’re carrying relatively less weight than some of our rivals,” Miyake said.

GT300: a no-stop tyre gamble pays off

Nissan fielded four GT-R NISMO GT3s and two Fairlady Zs built to GTA GT300 regulations in the smaller class. From 19th on the grid, the #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R of Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Iori Kimura ran a no-tyre-change strategy to climb to second, despite carrying 98 kg of success weight. The result extends the team’s championship lead to 21 points.

The #11 GAINER TANAX Z of Ryuichiro Tomita and Kazuki Oki finished sixth, putting two Nissan cars in the GT300 points.

What it means

For Nissan’s GT500 programme, SUGO was damage limitation rather than a breakthrough: the pace was there in the #12 car, but the points went to the two cars that stayed out of trouble. The GT300 effort is the stronger story, with a 21-point buffer at the top of the standings and three races left to defend it.

Attention now turns to Autopolis and the closing stages of the 2026 championship, with three rounds remaining.

Source: global.nissannews.com