LEON Racing
 | |
| Founded | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Base | Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture |
| Team principal(s) | Motoharu Kurosawa Haruki Kurosawa |
| Founder(s) | Daisuke Endo |
| Current series | Super GT |
| Current drivers |
|
| Teams' Championships | 2018 Super GT |
| Drivers' Championships | 2018 Super GT |
LEON Racing is a Japanese racing team that competes in the GT300 class of Super GT.
History
[edit]In 2012, LEON Racing first participated in the GT300 class of SUPER GT jointly with Hironori Takeuchi's SHIFT Team. The team manager was Motoharu Kurosawa, and the car was the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The team competed under the banner of Green Tec & LEON with SHIFT. The drivers were Takeuchi himself, and Haruki Kurosawa who is the manager's son, along with Akihiko Nakatani as the third driver for Round 5. LEON Racing ended their partnership with SHIFT following the 2012 season. The team joined forces with by K2 R&D Co. Ltd., and fielded the number 62 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for Haruki Kurosawa and Masanobu Kato. In 2014, the car number was changed to 65 and the main driver remained Haruki Kurosawa, while the second driver was changed in quick succession to Kyosuke Mineo (Rounds 1–2), Tsubasa Kurosawa (Rounds 2–7), and Naoya Gamou (Round 8). The team achieved a podium finish in the 4th race in SUGO. In 2015, the director changed from Motoharu Kurosawa to Daisuke Endo. Haruki Kurosawa retained the seat, and the second driver became Naoya Gamou.[1] Both finished on the podium in 2nd place at the second race at Fuji Speedway.
The team switched from Yokohama to Bridgestone tyres in 2017.[2] Both Kurosawa & Gamou took pole position in the opening race and placed 2nd in the race. At the 6th race, the Suzuka 1000 km, they made a trick of pitting on the first lap, which turned out to be a good idea, and excellent pace allowed them to overtake Tsuchiya Engineering's VivaC 86 MC to win the race and take the top spot in the points rankings once again. However, in the next race in Thailand, the team made the mistake of lowering the jack while changing tires during pit work, and GOODSMILE RACING & Team UKYO, allowing the latter to lead by a large margin. In the final race, two front wheels were changed, and in the final stages Gamou caught ARTA's no-stopping car and took the lead, winning the race, but GOODSMILE RACING & Team UKYO finished in 3rd place, so they unfortunately missed out on the title. They finished 2nd in the championship, the highest in team history that time. In 2018, the team entered the final race in 2nd place in the standings, but there was a 12-point difference from car No. 55 in first place in the rankings. The conditions were tough, with the difference in points between 3rd place and lower, depending on the winning position and the No. 55 car. However, in qualifying, car No. 55 sank to 10th place, while it took 2nd place. In the race, they had trouble with car No. 0 right after the start, which caused them to drop in the rankings, but they were helped by the troubles of car No. 88, which was running in the lead, and were able to take the lead by staying in front of car No. 0 through a strategy of not changing tires. They overcame cars No. 31 and No. 0, which were also competing for the title, to take their first win of the season, while car No. 55 finished in 8th place, making them both the team's first to win the double titles of Driver's Champion and Team Champion.
For 2019, the team originally keep their same winning line up, but Togo Suganami replaced Kurosawa for the last two rounds of the season.[3] From the 2020 season, the team race in the new AMG GT3 EVO. The team keept Gamou, and made Suganami the second driver.[4] Takuro Shinohara transferred from Audi Team Hitotsuyama to K2 R&D LEON Racing, taking the place of Togo Suganami.[5] Team director, Haruki Kurosawa, entered the fifth round at Suzuka as the team's third driver. It marked Kurosawa's first Super GT appearance as a driver since the 2019 Fuji GT 500 Mile Race.
References
[edit]- ^ "LEON RACINGが体制発表。黒澤×蒲生のコンビに" [Leon Racing announce their team structure, a combination of Kurosawa and Gamou] (in Japanese). as-web.jp. February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
- ^ "LEON RACINGが17年体制発表。ドライバー変更なしもタイヤはBSにスイッチ！". AUTO SPORT web. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
- ^ "GT300チャンピオンのK2 R&D LEON RACINGが新体制を発表。黒澤治樹／蒲生尚弥のコンビを継続". autosport.web (in Japanese). 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "44 Cars On Entry List For Season-Opening Super GT Fuji 300km". dailysportscar.com. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "Gamou & Shinohara For K2 R&D LEON Racing in 2022". dailysportscar.com. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.