#12 Z wins at Motegi and ends season podium

#56 GT‑R clinches GT300 title

The 2026 SUPER GT season concluded with a double-header at Mobility Resort Motegi on November 7–8, bringing together the rescheduled Round 3 and the Round 8 finale. The #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z, driven by Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette, delivered the Nissan Z NISMO GT500’s first victory of the season with a commanding Round 3 win by more than 20 seconds.

Third place in the Round 8 finale completed a win-and-podium weekend for Hiramine and Baguette. They finished fourth in the final GT500 drivers’ championship standings, making them the highest-ranked Nissan Z NISMO GT500 pairing.*

In GT300, fourth place in the finale was enough for Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Iori Kimura to seal the championship in the #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT‑R. Having retained their points lead in Round 3, the pair secured Nissan’s first title in the class since 2022.

Detailed race report

GT500 Round 3 — Hiramine and Baguette charge to victory

Starting sixth, Baguette gained a place immediately by passing the #24 Realize Corporation Z. The 53-lap race, replacing the postponed Malaysian round, followed a 2:00 p.m. formation lap in cool conditions. A multi-car GT300 incident on the opening lap interrupted Baguette’s charge, with racing resuming on lap eight after a safety car period.

The Nissan entries continued to make progress. Katsumasa Chiyo in the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z took ninth at the 90 Degree Corner on lap nine before briefly slipping to 10th. Atsushi Miyake set the field’s fastest laps in the #24 Z, while Baguette’s successive passes on laps 16 and 17 brought the #12 Z into third.

Pit stops on laps 19, 20 and 21 for the #23, #24 and #12 Z respectively brought fuel, fresh tires and driver changes. When the order settled, Hiramine held virtually third, with Mitsunori Takaboshi seventh in the #23 Z and Teppei Natori 10th in the #24 Z.

Hiramine turned that position into victory with two decisive moves: second at the 90 Degree Corner on lap 36, then the lead at Turn 1 on lap 39. He pulled clear to finish more than 20 seconds ahead. The #23 Z remained in the midfield battle and the #24 Z fought to stay in the points; a post-race disqualification promoted them to seventh and ninth in the revised provisional classification, giving all three Nissan entries points.*

Driver comments:

Kazuki Hiramine | #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z: “It feels incredible. After some difficult races, I wanted to show TEAM IMPUL’s attacking spirit. Bertrand’s opening stint gave me extra motivation. The balance was excellent, and our warm-up changes worked well. I was determined to catch the cars ahead and could push flat out to the finish. Thank you to our sponsors, Bridgestone and the team. My family has supported me through the difficult moments, so it means a lot to reward them with this result.”

Bertrand Baguette | #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z: “The car was competitive even in traffic, and our tire choice worked well. I made several overtakes in a strong opening stint. After missing out on the result we felt we deserved at Autopolis, it’s fantastic to win here. Nissan, Bridgestone and TEAM IMPUL did an amazing job. We’ll give it everything in the final round.”

GT500 Round 8 — Late recovery earns finale podium

The finale brought another recovery drive for the #12 Z. Baguette lined up ninth, with Takaboshi seventh and Miyake 13th. Two formation laps preceded the 53-lap race in clear, cool conditions. All three Nissan cars avoided an opening-lap GT300 incident, and racing resumed on lap five following the safety car period.

Baguette reached eighth on lap 13, with the #12 Z and #23 Z each gaining another place in the following laps to stay inside the top 10. The #24 Z also advanced as rivals stopped to serve penalties.

The #24 Z was the first Nissan to stop once the minimum opening-stint distance had been completed. The #23 Z and #12 Z followed a lap later, but pit-lane congestion delayed the #12 Z, leaving Hiramine down the order than expected.

Chiyo in the #23 Z reached fifth on lap 38, while Hiramine recovered from ninth to sixth. Passing the #23 Z on lap 46, Hiramine closed to within a second of third place and kept the pressure on to the finish. He crossed the line fourth, followed by Chiyo in fifth under pressure from behind, with Natori 10th.

Post-race decisions changed the final order: the disqualification of the third-place finisher lifted the #12 Z onto the podium, while a 40-second penalty for a pit work area infringement left the #23 Z 11th. The #24 Z was classified eighth. Hiramine and Baguette finished fourth in the final GT500 drivers’ championship standings, the highest-ranked Nissan pairing.*

Driver comments:

Kazuki Hiramine | #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z: “With the time we lost in the pit cycle and the other challenges, fourth was about as far as we could recover on track. We’ve had several tough seasons with few chances to fight for wins, so yesterday’s victory meant a great deal. Delivering a Nissan win after such a challenging period made it even more special.”

Hiramine and Baguette were subsequently classified third following a post-race disqualification.

Bertrand Baguette | #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z: “Qualifying didn’t go as we wanted. I locked up at Turn 10 and flat-spotted a tire, so we had to fight back from ninth. Overtaking is difficult here, and I focused on saving fuel and handing Kazuki the best possible position. Without a few issues, we could have fought for second, but we showed again that we have the pace to compete at the front.”

GT300 class

Nissan’s GT300 field comprised four Nissan GT‑R NISMO GT3s and two Fairlady Zs built to GTA GT300 regulations. De Oliveira and Kimura protected their championship lead with 14th in Round 3 before clinching the title with fourth in the finale. Ryuichiro Tomita and Kazuki Oki added a third-place finish in the #. 11 GAINER TANAX Z—the first GT300 podium for a Fairlady Z built to GTA GT300 regulations.

* Round 3 GT500 results and the resulting championship standings remain subject to official confirmation.