July 16, 2026

Final Year of Multi-Make Tires
Yokohama and Dunlop Aim for a Chance at Suzuka.
The Decisive Tires and the Future of the GT500 Class Tire Wars

This year’s SUPER GT has many highlights, including the debut of the new car Honda HRC PRELUDE-GT, new drivers, and new teams entering the competition, but the biggest turning point for the series is the final year of multi-make tires.

It was announced that from 2027, SUPER GT will switch to a single-make tire format, making this year the last for multi-make tires, also known as the tire wars, in both the GT500 and GT300 classes. This year's Round 5, the 'SUZUKA GT 300km RACE' (August 22–23), will be the final race of the SUPER GT tire competition held at Suzuka, drawing heightened attention to the tires.

In the GT500 class this season, three brands—Bridgestone, Yokohama, and Dunlop—are fiercely competing in the tire battle. In the current GT500 class, where common parts have increased, the choice of tires brought to the race and the matching of the selected tires with the track conditions have become major factors that determine the outcome.

Among them, Bridgestone, which holds an overwhelming share with 12 out of 14 cars this year, has dominated the podium and the results have been skewed, but there is a possibility that the situation will change at Round. 5 Suzuka. Although only one car each, a great opportunity has arrived for the Yokohama-equipped No. 19 TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH and the Dunlop-equipped No. 64 Modulo Nakajima Racing.

TGR TEAM au TOM'S (au TOM'S GR Supra)

TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH (WedsSport BANDOH GR Supra)

Modulo Nakajima Racing (Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT)

Suzuka features many medium- to high-speed corners, making it the most demanding layout on tires among domestic circuits. Furthermore, since the event takes place in August, the hottest time of the year, the tires face even harsher conditions. Given that Yokohama and Dunlop have been developing their tires seemingly tailored to these conditions and have strong track records, there is a possibility that the GT500 class battle at Suzuka could break the current dominance of Bridgestone.

In fact, at Round 3 in Suzuka in 2023, the KONDO RACING Realize Corporation ADVAN Z, which was equipped with Yokohama tires at the time, set the fastest time in qualifying. However, it did not secure pole position due to failing the vehicle inspection over fuel tank capacity, which was unrelated to speed, but its outright speed was undoubtedly high.

And in that race, another car equipped with Yokohama tires, car number 19, TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH, achieved victory for the first time in seven years.

TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH (WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra)

For Dunlop as well, after winning the 2017 Round 6 Suzuka 1000km in SUPER GT, they secured consecutive pole positions at Suzuka in the summers of 2020 and 2021 (2020 / 4th place in the race, 2021 / retired in the race), making it clear that Suzuka is a course where Dunlop excels within the season.

Takuya Izawa, who secured pole positions in qualifying in 2020 and 2021 and is currently the team director of Modulo Nakajima Racing, is also highly passionate about this upcoming Suzuka race.

“From the pre-season test at Sepang, Malaysia, I got a very good impression of the compatibility between the PRELUDE-GT and Dunlop tires. Although we struggled more than expected in the opening round and Round 2, we reviewed the data after Round 2 and conducted several tire tests to identify the causes. There is no doubt that Dunlop has a good affinity with Suzuka, and since the pavement was renewed this year, it’s a difficult factor to predict how much that will affect GT racing. However, since we were able to deliver high performance at SUGO last year after its pavement was renewed, considering various combinations, I believe Suzuka is a race where we must achieve good results.”

Modulo Nakajima Racing (Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT)

Even the reigning champion Bridgestone camp, although this is the final year of the multi-make tire format, has clearly stated that the development team will "continue development as usual until the last race," showing no sign of slowing down. We definitely want to keep a close eye on the tire battle in the final year of the SUPER GT multi-make format, both in the GT500 class and the GT300 class, as the last tire wars race at Suzuka.

︎SUPER GT 500 Class Recent 5-Year Highlights at the SUZUKA Round

2020 Round 3

The 2020 season had an irregular schedule due to the impact of COVID-19. In qualifying, Takuya Izawa of Modulo Nakajima Racing NSX-GT earned his first pole position in his 99th race and 13th full season. The spectator-free Round 3 SUZUKA GT500 class race featured a fierce battle for the lead from the start, with three safety car deployments in a chaotic race. NISMO MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli) overcame the turmoil to claim their first victory of the season.

NISMO MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli)

2020 Round 6

The NISMO MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli), which crashed in qualifying the day before and started from the 15th grid position at the back of the GT500 class, achieved a dramatic come-from-behind victory with a brilliant pit strategy timed perfectly with the safety car deployment.

NISMO MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli)

2022 Round 3

NDDP RACING CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Akira Takahoshi) made a comeback victory after a major crash at the previous Fuji round. They achieved the first win for the new Nissan Z in the GT500 class, and it was also Takahoshi’s first GT500 class victory.

NDDP RACING CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Akisei Takahoshi)

2022 Round 5

Starting from the very back of the qualifying grid, TEAM IMPUL Calsonic IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine / Bertrand Baguette) took control of the race with the introduction of the safety car and a late-stage battle to achieve a tail-to-win victory. Riding that momentum, they secured the series championship, bringing a debut-year title to the Nissan Z.

TEAM IMPUL Calsonic IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hiramine / Bertrand Baguette)

2023 Round 3

Tsugio Matsuda of NISMO MOTUL AUTECH Z had a major crash on lap 59 of the race, colliding with a GT300 class car just past 130R before the chicane, severely damaging the car beyond recognition. The race was red-flagged and ended as is, with TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yusuke Kunimoto / Haruna Sakaguchi) claiming their first GT500 class victory in seven years. Matsuda suffered muscle tears in both legs and a right wrist injury, was hospitalized, but made a remarkable comeback in the next race.

TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yusuke Kunimoto / Haruna Sakaguchi)

2023 Round 5

At Suzuka, the final race for the Honda NSX-GT, ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Jin Hiratsuka / Hiroki Otsu) achieved a pole-to-win. This was Honda's first victory at Suzuka in four years.

ARTA MUGEN NSX-GT (Hitoshi Fukuzumi / Hiroki Otsu)

2024 Round 5

The Round 5 at Suzuka in August was postponed due to an approaching typhoon and rescheduled to December, marking the first official SUPER GT race held in December. In qualifying, TGR TEAM au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) secured pole position and earned 3 additional points, clinching the championship before the final race. They also won the race with a pole-to-win performance.

TGR TEAM au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita)

2025 Round 5

Car No. 23 NISMO MOTUL AUTECH Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Akise Takahoshi) came from second in qualifying to claim a come-from-behind victory. This was the first win for car No. 23 in 2 years and 4 months since Round 1 of 2023, ending Toyota’s winning streak. It was also the first victory for the Chiyo/Takahoshi pairing in car No. 23.