Hitotsuyama Racing participated in the ST-X class of the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2025 Empowered by BRIDGESTONE Round 5 "Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis " held at Autopolis in Oita Prefecture from July 26th to 27th, 2025, with an Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Starting from third on the grid, the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS's race strategy was successful as it fought for the podium, and with the help of a penalty from a rival in the final stages, it managed to finish in second place, its best result of the season.

The #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS, which has been competing in the ST-X class since this season, did not take part in Round 4 at Sportsland SUGO, but returned to the race line-up for Round 5, held at Autopolis in Oita Prefecture. The car was driven by four regular drivers: A: Kenji Suzuki, B: Sota Ogawa, C: James Pull, and D: Anna Inozume. The team achieved a qualifying position of third place, putting them in a great position for the race. In the C driver qualifying section, Pull took second place with a time of 1:52.075.

On July 27th at Autopolis, the weather was windy with clouds moving rapidly overhead. The 5-hour race began under difficult conditions, with sunlight and fine rain falling as the race started at 11am.

Ogawa took the first stint in the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS. He made an excellent start from third place, overtaking the pole-sitter #31 DENSO LEXUS RC F GT3 on the inside at the first corner and quickly taking the lead.

Autopolis has many mid-speed corners, making it extremely difficult to overtake vehicles from other classes, but Ogawa managed to extend his lead in these conditions, setting the fastest lap of 1 minute 51.947 seconds on the second lap. After cars began to lap down, he allowed the #777 D'station Vantage GT3, which had risen to second place, to close in on him, but he managed to keep the lead by firmly holding off any opportunities to overtake.

Although Ogawa was occasionally overtaken by the #777 D'station Vantage GT3, he pitted in the lead after a 42-lap stint, handing the wheel over to Takeshi Suzuki. The #777 D'station Vantage GT3 also used an A driver for this stint, but on lap 44, Suzuki allowed the #777 D'station Vantage GT3, which had pitted earlier, to get ahead at the first corner. However, Suzuki did not let the gap get too far after that and continued his stint chasing the leader.

As Suzuki's stint was approaching the allotted time, an ST-TCR class car crashed at Turn 3 after just making a pit stop. It came to a stop on the side of the track, and the race went from a Full Course Yellow to a Safety Car. At this point, the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS headed to the pits and handed the car over to Inotsume. When the race resumed on lap 84, this strategy paid off, and the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS successfully moved up to third place.

In the second half of the race, as the track temperature began to drop gradually, all cars struggled with a loss of tire grip, but Inotsume completed a solid third stint and handed over to James Pull. Making a different pit stop timing to the other cars, he pursued the #777 D'station Vantage GT3, which was trying to make up for the delay caused by the safety car.

The #777 D'station Vantage GT3 struggled with tire grip, but managed to hold off Pull. Finally, on lap 116, Pull was able to overtake the #777 D'station Vantage GT3, putting him back within reach of the podium.

Pull continued to give chase, hot on the heels of the #31 DENSO LEXUS RC F GT3 in second place towards the end of the race. However, the time lost by the #777 D'station Vantage GT3 had an impact, and although the gap between them had been reduced to around 10 seconds, the race was heading into the final stages. It looked as if the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS would finish in third place.

However, with three minutes remaining until the checkered flag, the #23 TKRI Matsunaga Construction AMG GT3, which had been in the lead, made contact with the leading car in the ST-5R class. After the finish, 30 seconds were added to the race results, and the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS was promoted to second place, making it their highest finish of the season.

The #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS has been steadily climbing the ranks, finishing on the podium in third place in round three, and now in second place without any trouble, mistakes or penalties. With just two rounds left in the season, the team will continue to aim for victory, so please look forward to the #101 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS's performance.

‍