As long as I’ve known Shoichiro, which is going on 10 years now, he has been a beacon of positivity around the pit and paddock at every circuit he goes to. Time attack is inherently a very serious form of motor sport, and it’s not uncommon to find very focused and engaged individuals, fully immersed in their own environment the morning before events. Shoichiro is one of the outliers in this regard, and makes it a point to cheerfully interact with his friends and colleagues before anything else. This isn’t to say he isn’t centered, as he can count himself among the frontrunners of Japan having set a blistering 54.828 at TC2000 back in 2018; good for 31st overall in the rankings. Over the past 4 years, he has been working diligently, revamping the GTR into his final vision. We featured Shoichiro in 80R Volume 2 back in 2019, but haven’t yet got the chance to check in to see how the newly refinished Skyline has been coming along. The laid back atmosphere at this most recent Attack Suzuka event was the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Influenced by the world of international motor sport, Shoichiro Masumoto began his love affair with racing from an early age. Daydreaming his way through primary school classes, he would play with his race car eraser pretending he was famed Formula 2, Group 5, JGTC and JTCC driver Masahiro Hasemi; a name that would later become synonymous with Skylines in Japan. With the resurgence of car culture that Japan saw in the early 80’s, Shoichiro grew up in a time where automotive racing began to thrive once again. Japanese automotive manufactures were responding to a new worldwide demand and their increased role in the global market would bring about bigger budgets and new technology for race teams domestically. When the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile – the governing body for international race events) introduced Group A touring regulations in 1982, and the Japan Touring Car Championship adopted the new international regulations allowing the addition of foreign built cars to compete, Shoichiro fell in love with racing all over again. The concept of competing against not just domestic drivers, but competitors from around the world, really struck a chord with him. It was also in the JTTC that he would witness the dominating power of the Nissan Skyline BNR32; the car that brought home championships for Japan for four straight years (1990-1993; 1989 was also a Skyline, although it was an R31 GTS-R). This left little doubt in Shoichiro’s mind that he would one day own his own GTR32 and compete with drivers that shared the same passion as he did.
In 2007, Shoichiro was able to purchase the GTR he drives today and dove headfirst into the new project with the intention of becoming an integral part of the world he loves.
The car, and owner, have come a long way since then. Years of driving the GTR in varying degrees of modification has given Shoichiro a good base in which to take his campaign to the next level, and having had the opportunity to attend WTAC in its early years cemented his desire to compete globally. The now 54 year old contractor has a more honed sense of purpose and is looking to expand his current program to one that includes touring the racetracks of Japan with his good friend and fellow R32 enthusiast, Takanori Seyama.
“The base machine is good, and even if you select wonderful parts from all over the world, the machine can be the best or the worst way of breaking, depending on the people who make it and the ability to set it. Please come and find a mechanic who will face you and a shop with technical skills.”
For a full modification list for this GTR, please view our most recent Machine Check! video below:
The last time I saw Shoichiro at Suzuka was in 2017, which was actually the last time he had driven the track since this year’s event. Check out that feature here.
To give you an idea of what the car looked like leading up to rebuild, here are some photos from a Tsukuba event in the winter of 2019. There are slight changes from the 2017 event at Suzuka, but Shoichiro’s GTR didn’t change much aesthetically during this time period; this era was one of my favorite stages of his car. Flash forward to present day, and the culmination of his efforts has transformed the R32 into the car he always wanted. Enjoy the gallery, and be sure to give the video a watch.
