The Lexus LC 500 it
developed for the series won every race so far this up until the last one,
which is when Lexus Enthusiast brought it to our attention. This past weekend
the ARTA team dominated the action at Fuji Speedway, taking pole position and
winning the race with its Honda NSX in GT500. A Nissan GT-R finished second, while
LC500s came in third, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth.
Still, with four wins out of five rounds so far this
season and only three races left to go, Toyota/Lexus is in a very good position
to claim the crown. There's no official manufacturers' standings, but the top
three teams in the rankings are all running Lexus machinery, as are the top
four drivers (or driver pairings) – with British driver James Rossiter (the
defending champion and one of the few gaijin in the series) leading the way. Of
course, it doesn't hurt that Lexus is fielding more cars in the series than any
of its rivals, but not by much: the GT500 field this season is composed of six
LC 500s, five Honda NSX-GTs, and four Nissan GT-Rs.
The field is much more varied at the GT300 level,
which has been opened up to all FIA-certified GT3 competitors. There you'll see
competition-spec versions of the Nissan GT-R, Subaru BRZ, Toyota 86, Toyota
Mark X, Toyota Prius (yes, the Toyota Prius), and Lexus RC F dicing it with
European competitors like the Audi R8, Mercedes-AMG GT, BMW M6, Porsche 911,
Lotus Evora, Bentley Continental, Lamborghini Huracan, and Ferrari 488.
Currently the Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO pairing of Nobuteru Taniguchi and
Tatsuya Kataoka lead the category in their Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Last year, the world's largest automaker took
top honors in both categories, with a Lexus RC F winning in GT500 and a Toyota
86 taking the GT300 crown. The year before that, Nissan dominated with versions
of the GT-R in both classes.
