Toyota Team CERUMO's season with the Lexus SC430 was the team's season used with the car from 2006 until 2013.
Season Overview[]
2006[]
The drivers was Yuji Tachikawa and Toranosuke Takagi.
In the final round of this season, In the first lap, at the Dunlop corner, they were battling for position and points against No.36. No.8 (Ralph Firman) suddenly hit Takagi (No.1) in the front left tire, and the front left tire was damaged. But No.18 (Ryo Michigami) and No.23 (Tsugio Matsuda) overtook Takagi and gained up in position. The front left suspension was damaged and Takagi (No.1) retired from the race. Their dream of back-to-back titles went up in smoke. Probably due to the collision, No.8 suffered a flat tire on the right rear in the second lap, and although it returned to the pit to replace the tire and came back to the race, the drive through penalty they received because of the collision with No.23 Z.
2007[]
The drivers was the drivers from the last year's season.
In the final lap of the first race, Daisuke Ito (No.8) encountered an engine trouble on his car, making his team unable to win. But Tachikawa (No.38) passed No.8 and took the victory.
At the seventh round at Autopolis in the 30th lap, a Lamborghini Gallardo spun out before the hairpin corner, and Takagi (No.38) lost control and crashed. Takagi's Lexus had a major damage and retired from the race. Firman (No.8) saw the crash and gained position. But No.24 crashed into the wrecked car, damaging the No.12 Nissan behind it, three of them retiring from the race.
2008[]
The car on its winning circuit.
With Takagi leaving the team to join Team SARD, Richard Lyons joined the team. Their victory was in the third round of the season, leading the race after Takashi Kogure in No.18 NSX spun out at the Dunlop Curve.
2009[]
Their victory came in the second round after a safety car period.
The drivers were same drivers from last season.
At Round 2 in Lap 46, Juichi Wakisaka in No.36 SC430 was holding the lead against Tachikawa in this team. But, in the Casio Triangle corner, Tachikawa overtook Wakisaka and took the victory after a safety car period involving 4 cars.
2010 LEXUS TEAM ZENT CERUMO[]
The drivers were the same drivers from the last year's season..
The team was battling for a podium position in the second round of the season. Tachikawa, who was behind Wakisaka in No.1, passed Wakisaka on the 4th corner.
2011[]
Without Richard Lyons to stay for the team, Team SARD's driver Kohei Hirate joined the team.
In the sixth round at Fuji, 10-20 laps before the finish, Tachikawa was in a battle against Iguchi for the lead. However, in the final lap, Iguchi (No.39) was hit by No.10 Ferrari and encountered trouble, finishing 9th and leaving Tachikawa and Hirate win the race.
2012[]
Photo of ZENT CERUMO SC430, 2012. Source: minkara.carview.co.jp
The drivers were same drivers from last season.
In the first round at Okayama, 10-15 laps before the finish, Yamamoto passed Tachikawa and took the lead. But Tachikawa took the lead again by passing Yamamoto. They had a big fight for the win. But, in the final lap at the 9th corner and the 10th corner, Yamamoto tried to overtake Tachikawa, but Tachikawa wins. The battle happene again next year, but with 3 cars.
In the last round held at Motegi, the team was 1st in the grid. Leading from start to finish, they won the race, but could not take the Driver's Championship, following the Driver's Champion MOLA Racing by more than 10 points.
The non-championship race event at Fuji Speedway was the team's best finish. At the second race of the season, Caldarelli (No.35) started on the front row. However, Tachikawa's super-start made him get on the lead until Lap 6, where Nakajima (No.36) were holding the lead from Lap 7 until Lap 16. But on Lap 15, Tachikawa tried to overtake Nakajima at the Hairpin corner, but failed and lookd another turn on the next lap. 5 laps before the finish, at the last corner, Tachikawa (No.38) passed Nakajima (No.36) and took the lead. However, at the main straight before the overtake, Nakajima tried to pass Tachikawa, but fails with Tachikawa leading the race. At the final lap, Izawa (No.100) were trying to pass Nakajima, but fails, leaving Nakajima as runner-up with Tachikawa as the winner of the race.
2013[]
The drivers were same drivers from last season. Their win at the same circuit and the same race were at Fuji Speedway since 2011, with the GT300 winner becoming Goodsmile Racing.
On the seventh round at Autopolis, 3 laps to go, Nakajima (No.36) rematched and passed Tachikawa at the hairpin turn, leaving Nakajima and his teammate, Rossiter win the race.
However, Tachikawa took the Driver's Championship with Hirate at the final round of the season.
Complete results[]
Coming soon!