#23 Motul Niterra Z charges from ninth to GT500 podium at Autopolis
Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi drove the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z from ninth on the grid to third in Round 7 of the 2026 SUPER GT series at Autopolis.
- 3rd
- 9th
- 5th
- 2nd
What Happened
At Autopolis in Oita Prefecture on October 18, the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi climbed from ninth on the grid to finish third in Round 7 of the 2026 SUPER GT series. It was Nissan's first GT500 podium since Round 2 at Fuji Speedway. The #12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z of Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette finished fifth after leading during the three-hour race, giving Nissan two Z NISMO GT500s in the top five. Chiyo returned to the #23 Z after missing the previous round through injury.
Round 7 at Autopolis in Oita Prefecture; the #23 MOTUL Niterra Z finishes third.
Rescheduled Round 3 at Mobility Resort Motegi.
Round 8 at Mobility Resort Motegi; Nissan and NISMO aim to build on the Autopolis result and challenge for victory.
Two Safety Car periods shaped the race strategy. Baguette moved the #12 Z into fourth at the first corner, while Teppei Natori gained positions in the #24 Realize Corporation Z; the #12 Z took the lead on lap 23 shortly before the first Safety Car, and when racing resumed on lap 29 the #12 and #24 cars completed their first scheduled stops without changing drivers. Takaboshi extended the #23 Z's opening stint to the end of lap 36 before handing over to Chiyo, and after the first pit-stop cycle the #12 Z was fifth, the #24 Z sixth and the #23 Z ninth. A second Safety Car period on lap 50 brought more changes; after resumption on lap 56 the #12 Z returned to the lead as rivals made second stops, the #24 Z stopped at the end of that lap with Atsushi Miyake taking over from Natori, and Hiramine took over the #12 Z on lap 62 while Chiyo remained in the #23 Z after its second stop at the end of lap 64. By lap 72 all GT500 cars had completed their two mandatory stops; the #23 Z was third, the #12 Z fourth and the #24 Z 12th, and Chiyo closed to within a second of second place before traffic slowed him, then defended late challenges to secure the podium as the #12 Z dropped to fifth on lap 92 and the #24 Z finished 11th, just outside the points.
- Six Nissan entries competed: four Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s and two Fairlady Zs built to GTA GT300 regulations.
- The #360 RUNUP × SOL GT-R of Rin Arakawa, Yu Kanamaru and Atsushi Tanaka climbed from 28th on the grid to finish second.
- The #62 HELM MOTORSPORTS GT-R finished eighth.
- The #26 ANEST IWATA GAINER Z finished ninth.
- The #56 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R finished 14th, scored points and retained its GT300 championship lead.
- Nissan had four points-scoring cars in the class.
- Ninth on grid to third
- 28th on grid to second
“After suffering a fracture in the previous round, I felt I owed something to everyone who supported me and to the team for everything they had to deal with. That gave me extra motivation today, and I poured all of my energy into this race. Starting from where we qualified, a podium wasn't going to come easily. But we wanted to put together a performance that would lift the whole team, and thanks to great teamwork, strong strategy and maximum effort from both drivers, we were able to achieve that. There are still areas we need to improve, but I believe we extracted everything possible this weekend. With success weight reduced over the final two rounds, the races will become more about outright pace. We'll focus on addressing our remaining weaknesses and finding even more speed.”
“From the first session on Saturday, we struggled to find the right setup, but extending the opening stint proved to be a key strategic decision. Chiyo did an outstanding job in the final two stints, especially in situations where it felt like all we could do was defend and hang on. That effort ultimately earned us the podium. This is one of those results that feels especially rewarding because we know we gave absolutely everything we had. At Motegi, many of our rivals will be carrying less success weight, so the competition will become even tougher. We'll need to keep pushing and continue searching for every bit of performance available to us.”
Why this matters
The podium is Nissan's first in GT500 since Round 2 at Fuji Speedway and put two Z NISMO GT500s in the top five. Nissan's GT300 #56 car also retained its championship lead, with the final two races at Motegi next.
Terms in This Story
- GT500
- The top class in Japan's SUPER GT racing series, featuring high-performance race cars.
- GT300
- A class in SUPER GT for cars built to GT300 regulations, including GT3 and GTA GT300 machinery.
- Safety Car
- A race vehicle that leads the field at reduced speed during an incident or hazard, bunching the cars and affecting strategy.
- success weight
- A handicap system that adds weight to successful cars, which can reduce their performance in later races.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.