The 2022 Hoppy Team Tsuchiya GR Supra, built in the Tsuchiya Engineering shop in Fujisawa, was on display at Attack Tsukuba next to Under Suzuki’s Scorch Racing S15. Seeing the two carbon-clad bodies side by side was a highlight of the event off the track for me. Not having been up close to a Super GT car for many years, I was excited to get a chance to get an up-close look at the Tsuchiya built chassis.
This car was driven by Takamitsu Matsui and Seita Nonaka in the 2022 season of Super GT, and falls into one of the handful of GTA-GT300 Mother Chassis cars. However, unlike the other MC cars, this Supra shares only the frame and engine from the others on the grid. Everything else on the car was constructed in-house by the Tsuchiya team. The car is a testimonial to the memory of expert car builder Haruo Tsuchiya, supervised by his son Takeshi and built by the next generation of mechanics and engineers.
While Tsuchiya hopes for Matsui’s growth and success with his new team, he also wants Nonaka to step up to the GT500 class next season. The team’s goal is clear: to meet everyone’s expectations, fight for survival, and achieve strong results. Each member of the team has their own area of focus for personal growth to contribute to the team’s overall success.
As for Nonaka, he will continue his GT300 campaign while also competing in Super Formula Lights with Toyota’s flagship team, TOM’S.
Team Hoppy continued its partnership with Yokohama as their tire supplier, a long-standing collaboration that has proven successful over the years. With the new drivers on board and high hopes for the season, the team is ready to tackle the challenges and strive for a remarkable performance on the track. While they aren’t at a level to fight for podiums, it is good to see that they have improved over last year.
Enjoy the gallery!