Katsumasa Chiyo put Team 5ZIGEN's Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 on top of the pre-qualifying timesheet at Suzuka. Two days later the No. 500 was classified 19th overall, five laps behind the winner.

The 50th running of the Suzuka 1000km on September 13 was the fourth of five rounds of the 2026 Intercontinental GT Challenge. Despite its name, the race was scheduled by time rather than distance, over six hours and 30 minutes. Team 5ZIGEN's entry was crewed by three Nissan Super GT GT500 regulars: Chiyo, Kazuki Hiramine and Atsushi Miyake.

According to autosport web, the car struggled for pace from the start, apparently because its tire pressures were too low for the damp surface; the report presents that as a likely explanation rather than a confirmed cause. A rear suspension problem then developed during Chiyo's stint and gradually worsened. The report does not specify what failed or how long the repair took.

Why Chiyo was frustrated with the GT-R's progress

The more consequential story emerged from Chiyo's post-race comments. This was his first SRO-sanctioned start since 2019, when he contested the IGTC full-time. Speaking to autosport web, he said the race brought back memories of seven years ago — and not in a good way. He found himself thinking that it had been like this seven years ago too, when what he had wanted to think was that the car had evolved since then. As a NISMO driver, he said, it was frustrating.

Coming from a NISMO-contracted driver, that assessment carries weight: his comments suggest he felt the GT-R program had not kept pace with the international GT3 field during its years away from top-level endurance racing. It is his reading, not a technical finding — and 19th is not a clean measure of it either, because it includes time lost to the repair. Chiyo said the repaired car could not match the winning Porsche, but that its pace was good enough to have joined the fight for the remaining podium places.

Team Daishin's GT-R and the overall result

Three GT-R NISMO GT3s were classified. Another of them, Team Daishin's No. 81, finished 16th overall and four laps down in the Bronze class, with two-time GT500 champion Tsugio Matsuda, 2020 and 2022 GT300 champion Kiyoto Fujinami, and bronze-rated Ryuichiro Oyagi. Matsuda told autosport web he joined the effort after meeting Oyagi at a drifting event, and was candid about not matching what he called Chiyo's remarkable lap time, pointing to his squad's limited running on Pirelli rubber. A third car, RUNUP SPORTS' No. 360, ran in the Amateur class and was classified 28th.

The race was won by the No. 8 AO by Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo of Alessio Piccariello, Laurin Heinrich and Julian Andlauer. The highest-finishing Japanese team was Ponos Racing, whose No. 45 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo placed sixth, two laps down.

For a badge whose earlier generations built their reputation partly beyond Japan, Chiyo's frustration reads as a warning about how quickly a GT3 program can lose ground when it steps away from international competition.