Nissan clarifies status of its relationship with axed Fujinami

Fujinami was part of the Kondo Racing squad that won the title in SUPER GT’s lower class in both 2020 and 2022 alongside Joao Paulo de Oliveira.

Last month it was confirmed that the 27-year-old Japanese driver would be replaced aboard Kondo’s #56 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 by Teppei Natori for the upcoming season.

Hours after that announcement, Fujinami issued a public apology in which he alluded to being caught up in an ‘incident’.

However, he was then announced as a Nissan reserve driver earlier this month ahead of the opening official pre-season test at Okayama.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Nissan SUPER GT executive director Motohiro Matsumura confirmed that Fujinami is a part of the Nissan family.

“At that exact timing, when we officially announced [the driver line-up for 2023], we couldn’t make a contract agreement with him [Fujinami],” Matsumura said.

“We investigated who it was possible to make a contract with. Later, he agreed to our [reserve] contract.

"He is still one of our potential candidate drivers and a graduate of the NDDP [Nissan young driver programme]."

Natori becomes a Nissan-supported SUPER GT driver after a 2022 season spent mostly on the sidelines, which followed a rookie campaign with the UpGarage Honda team in 2021.

 

Matsumura said Natori was handed the chance to partner the experienced de Oliveira in Kondo’s GT300 car this year in order for him to be assessed for future opportunities.

“He is one of our young talents, and from a driver allocation standpoint, #56 is one of our GT3 official customer teams [in which Nissan juniors can be placed],” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for him to challenge.

“Still, he has room to improve, because to win races and championships, not only driving skills are required, but also race management and tyre management, even in GT300. That’s why we decided to make him that offer.”

Nissan unusually goes into the new season with completely unchanged line-ups in the GT500 class across all four of its cars. The last time this was the case was in 2015, albeit with Lucas Ordonez temporarily standing in for Michael Krumm at Kondo for three races that season.

Matsumura said he felt it made sense for the marque to retain its existing eight drivers in the top division during a phase of rule stability.

“At this moment, there are no aerodynamic changes, and a new car is being developed for 2024,” he said.

“Given that we have completely the same regulations, and everyone is at a similar level, finally we decided to keep the drivers [the same] for at least 2023.”